In the 22nd chapter of Matthew’s gospel we find a group of Pharisees asking Jesus if it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar, the god of the ruling Roman Empire. Realizing their intent, the Lord confounded them by telling them to “… render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s ….” Those eight Words, whose meaning everyone understood, were summarily rejected by the Jewish religious hierarchy along with most of the population. Jesus then added eight more words whose unspoken meaning has remained a mystery to the Jews, along with the rest of mankind, ever since. Those Words were: “… and unto God the things that are God’s” (vss 15-21). Note that in both cases the Word “things” is plural. Not recognizing this, salvation seekers focus only on the monetary aspect of Christ’s answer which refers to the taxes owned to the government and the tithe which is owed to God.

What the Christian world does not recognize is that there is another aspect to the Lord’s Words that has been ignored for some 2000 years. The Words: “… the things that are God’s,” though extremely important, have created a serious problem within the Institutional Church. With the exception of the tithing command, church people are oblivious to the other “things” Jesus mentioned. We have all been ignorant of those “things” in the past. God commands us to open our spiritual eyes so that we can see what He has written concerning those super-important “things.”

The church-wide ignorance of those “things” that must be “rendered” to the Lord is astonishing when we consider that He left us a Book in which He explains exactly what those “things” are and how to render them unto Him. Some two billion of those Books have been printed in some 300 languages, with more rolling off the presses every day. Let us carefully study that Book in order to understand the demands God makes upon those who would inherit what is written on Its pages. The Apostle Paul wrote that we must study the Scriptures in order to be approved by God (2 Tim. 2:15). As I have written and said many times, the promises of God all revolve around a two-letter word: “IF.” Though God’s promises to mankind are sure, they will be awarded only IF man will render unto Him the things that are His. As it turns out, those two letters form the most important Word in the entire Bible.

The Word “render” in the Greek language of the New Testament is “opodidomi,” which means “to pay.” In this case it refers to the payment of a debt that is owed. The Pharisees’ question concerned the tax the Romans had levied on the Jews. The Lord’s response to the question involved both political and spiritual aspects. In it He was telling the ancient Pharisees the same two things He tells us today when we read His statement. One, we must pay (render to) the government what it’s written instructions tell us we owe it, and two, we must pay the Lord what He declares in His written instructions we owe Him. Because of Christ’s Words, professing Christians read the tax form, then dutifully “render” unto the government the amount the form declares they owe. To reinforce this command, the church is periodically reminded from pulpit and podium that it is their Scriptural duty to obey what is commanded in the first half of Christ’s Matthew 22 statement. But something happens when the second part of the statement is addressed. The first part is clear to parishioners who obey it without fail. However, as future postings will reveal, the Lord’s  clarity becomes cloudy when the second half of His statement is addressed. Paul once wrote that in this life “we see through a glass darkly.” In the case of the Matthew 22 statement, we don’t see through that glass at all. L.J.