Spotting Spiritual Snares
Matthew 22:15-22
July 8, 2012
Hebrews 4:15 makes a great statement about Jesus.
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
The point of that writer is that we have an Ally, we have an Advocate
And our Advocate is both experienced and successful.
Jesus was fully God who came to this earth as fully man.
And in order to be a faithful and merciful high priest
He walked through every single temptation that you and I face.
Hebrews 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
And that is certainly good news for us.
Because Jesus faced every possible temptation and because
He resisted every single temptation He is a merciful high priest.
FURTHERMORE HE IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE.
We are blessed to be able to witness various times of His temptation
And see how He overcame.
We remember that period in the wilderness back in Matthew 4.
Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
And we saw how Jesus overcame temptation with a definite trust in God,
A denial of self and commitment to the Scriptures.
One of the misnomers about that event
Is that Satan only hit Jesus with three temptations.
• Turn the stones into bread
• Throw Yourself off the temple
• I’ll give you the kingdoms of this world if you bow to me
But that isn’t even close to all that He faced.
Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”
Luke says “every temptation”.
Do we really suppose that Satan would withhold anything in seeking to get the Son of God to sin?
Absolutely not!
Jesus suffered it all at the hands of the enemy.
And of course that wasn’t the only time.
We all remember when Satan tried to get Jesus to skip the cross.
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
THE POINT IS, JESUS UNDERSTOOD TEMPTATION.
He felt it all.
He resisted it all.
And that makes Him not only a merciful high priest but a definite example.
And this morning we get to see Him at His finest yet again.
We all know the context.
• If Jesus didn’t anger the religious big wigs at the triumphal entry…
• If Jesus didn’t anger them by clearing the temple…
• Then certainly this debate on Wednesday has done the trick.
They questioned His authority
And He has dumped the entire bucket load on them.
He gave them three parables,
Each of which indicated either their lack of recognition of God’s authority,
Or their outright denial of it.
And we are not under any misconceptions
About how they feel towards Him.
Matthew 21:45-46 “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.”
And so we have the chief priests and the Pharisees all desperately wanting to destroy Jesus, but too afraid to just come right out and do it.
That means their best option to destroy Him is to trap Him.
This morning we see an attack.
This is not a physical attack, it is a spiritual one.
And as we witness the tremendous discernment of Jesus
We get an example of how to avoid spiritual snares in our lives.
There are three main points in our text this morning,
But we’re going to break them down a little further.
#1 THE HUNTERS
Matthew 22:15-17
This is actually the first of three attacks that are coming.
• First by the Pharisees
• Then the Sadducees
• Then the Pharisees again
This is an all out attack on Jesus,
And it paints the picture of a hunter who is seeking to trap his prey.
There are actually three things I want you to see here.
1) THE SCHEMED PLAN (15)
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.”
Now we know all about Satan.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Last Sunday night we also learned he can be a wolf,
And we have all seen him as the deceptive serpent.
But the point is, Satan is on the prowl.
Remember the book of Job.
Job 1:6-10 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
There you notice that when the Lord spotted Satan
He had been “roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Why?
He was seeking someone to devour, to which God brought up Job.
“Have you considered my servant Job?”
To which Satan said, “Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side?”
“Yeah, I’ve considered Job,
But You have him protected to where I can’t touch him.”
But he is always prowling, he is always looking, and is always ready to attack.
Well he is at work here as well through these Pharisees.
They are scheming, they are plotting
And I find their scheme especially dangerous.
“plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.”
That may look insignificant, but it is far from it.
James 3:2 “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”
James went on to say:
James 3:8 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”
Even Jesus said:
Matthew 15:18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.”
This is a deadly trap.
They are pulling no punches, looking to see if they can get Him to slip up
And say something that will either condemn Him before Rome
Or cause some of the Jewish support He has to fade away.
• If they can make Him a Roman traitor, Rome will kill Him.
• If they can make Him a Jewish traitor, His popularity will fade and they can.
And all they need is one juicy sound bite.
The schemed plan.
2) THE SPREAD BAIT (16)
Every hunter knows that when trapping an animal,
You first have to figure out how to do it, and once you figure out the trap,
The next thing to do is place the bait to lure the animal to it.
And that is what is happening here.
And the bait?
FLATTERY
“And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians…”
Now this is interesting namely because
The Pharisees and Herodians were not allies.
They couldn’t agree on anything, except that Jesus needed to go.
• Pharisees were Jewish patriots, originating during the war with Greece.
• Herodians were Roman loyalists and the two hated each other.
And yet here we find them together.
WHY?
Because the trap they are setting needs to either
Condemn Jesus before Rome, or condemn Him before Israel.
• If what Jesus says is offensive to Rome, the Herodians will condemn Him.
• If what Jesus says is offensive to Israel, the Pharisees will.
They have thought this out.
But watch them here first conceal the trap and bait the hook.
They came “saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.”
And I think it’s safe to say they are spreading it thick.
They talk about His HIGH POSITION.
They called Him “Teacher”
Now if you will remember that was the very issue they had with Him.
“Who gave You this authority?”
And now, they are calling Him “teacher”
Furthermore to them this was a very flattering name.
Matthew 23:6-7 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”
They also comment on His THEOLOGICAL PERFECTION
“we know that You are truthful”
That is to say, “we, the scholars, the religious elite, the educated…have done our homework and we find that all You say is Scripturally accurate.”
When You teach, You teach truth.
They also comment on His DIVINE PURPOSE
“and teach the way of God in truth”
In other words, we know You to be on a divine mission.
You are here to tell people “the way of God”
“where as other people don’t really understand God, You do, and You are truthfully teaching us about what matters to God.”
They also comment on His LACK OF PARTIALITY
“and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.”
You also have tremendous conviction.
You are the ultimate teacher, always true, on God’s mission
And won’t compromise Your message for anyone or any reason.
You are the ultimate super teacher.
The ironic thing here is that
They couldn’t have spoken more accurately about Him.
Everything they said about Him was absolute truth,
It’s just that they didn’t believe what they were saying.
They were baiting their trap with flattery.
They were tempting the pride of Jesus.
DO YOU KNOW WHY?
Because with Satan there isn’t anything more difficult to resist
Than a trap that appeals to his pride.
Remember why Satan was removed from heaven?
His pride.
Isaiah 14:13-14 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
And he loves to attack men based on their pride.
Remember when Paul gave qualifications for overseers?
1 Timothy 3:6-7 “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”
It is also how he tempted Jesus in the wilderness,
Three times asking Him, “if you are the Son of God…”
He was pushing Jesus’ pride seeing if he could get a response.
Well, he is still up to his old tricks attacking the pride once again,
This time seeking to puff Jesus up with flattery.
So let me just say here, anytime people start flattering you, watch out.
Satan loves to use that trick to get people to drop their guard.
But none the less we the schemed plan and the spread bait
3) THE SET TRAP (17)
Did you just hear the “click” as the trap was set ready to spring?
After puffing Jesus up with all their flattery
About how He always speaks truth and isn’t afraid of anyone,
THEY HIT HIM WITH A VERY CONTROVERSIAL QUESTION.
“Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”
A poll-tax was the most offensive tax the Romans imposed.
It was simply a head tax that you paid as sort of a gratitude
To the Roman government for all they benefits you received from them.
And the Jews absolutely hated it.
• They weren’t grateful to Rome.
• They didn’t like being under Rome.
• And the thought of having to pay a tax to that end was ridiculous to them.
They didn’t want to have to pay that tax.
And so here is the scene.
• You have Pharisees who were against it.
• You have Herodians who are for it.
• And whatever Jesus answers, they think they have Him.
If He says don’t pay it (which is probably what they expected) the Herodians will arrest Him as a traitor who leads insurrections by trying to get people not to pay their taxes.
If He says pay it He will shock the masses of people who thought it was wrong and the Pharisees will pounce on Him for not being loyal to God.
It looked like a perfect trap.
And so there you have the hunters.
• Scheming their plan
• Spreading their bait
• Setting their trap
This is what the enemy does, not only to Christ, but also to us.
Let’s see how Jesus responds.
#2 THE HUNTED
Matthew 22:18-21
And so now that the trap is set let’s see how Jesus reacts.
1) RECOGNITION (18)
“But Jesus perceived their malice”
We love that.
He was “on the alert”
He didn’t drop His guard.
He knew Satan was out to trap Him.
Didn’t Jesus tell us:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
He spotted the trap.
“Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?”
He knew the hearts of all men, and He knew this was a trap.
Pharisees and Herodians didn’t work together,
And neither ever flattered Him like this.
See, Satan appealed to His flesh,
And He knew to never follow the flesh.
And we need to know this.
James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
Satan doesn’t tempt you according to the Spirit,
He tempts you according to the flesh.
In the wilderness with Jesus,
Jesus’ hunger
Jesus’ desire for fame
Jesus’ desire to skip the cross
Satan tempts the flesh.
That is why Paul said:
Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
When you or I start making decisions based upon the flesh
We are only setting ourselves up for the trap of the enemy.
This is why we have kill the flesh.
This is why we have to deny self.
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”
Jesus was not interested in gratifying the flesh and He spotted the trap.
2) RESPONSE (19-21)
And having recognized the trap notice the wisdom and conviction
With which Jesus answers the question.
“Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
And I have to tell you at this point,
They were licking their lips, they thought they had Him.
• See aside from hating Rome, another reason Israel hated this tax was because they perceived the coins to be a sort of graven image.
It had a graven picture of Caesar on it,
And that appeared to be an abomination and blasphemy.
And so when Jesus asked about the “likeness”
They just knew He was about to say,
“Have nothing to do with this idolatrous coin!”
They were ready.
“They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
And then Jesus blew them away.
“Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”
What a tremendously wise answer.
Like him or not, Caesar is in a position of authority,
And as such he demands your respect and submission.
Romans 13:1-7 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”
1 Peter 2:13-17 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”
Now Jesus was not obeying what Paul and Peter wrote,
They were writing what Jesus taught.
And that was that no authority exists accept from God
And they must be honored.
We even remember earlier in Matthew
Jesus taking money from a fish to pay the temple tax.
Jesus here understood authority.
But we also have to notice exactly how Jesus answered.
Earlier they said (17) “Is it lawful to give a poll-tax..?”
Here Jesus says, “Then render to Caesar…”
They asked about giving, Jesus said to render.
“give” translates DIDOMI
Which means simply “to give”
“render” translates APODIDOMI
Which means “to give back” or “return” or “restore”
Jesus turned this into a moral obligation or Godly living.
Like it or not Caesar has given to you.
• You drive on his roads
• You live in his economy
• You even to a degree live under his protection
Those things he has done for you,
Require that you give back in payment for what he has done.
We aren’t talking about free gifts of generosity
By which you would show your approval,
We are talking about you paying for the services you use.
Jesus turned this into a moral obligation.
And by the way, that is what taxes are.
I’m not saying any of us agree with all the beliefs or morals of the government,
Or even the direction they seem to be headed.
But because we are under God’s authority, and because we do live
Under the services that they provide, taxes are a moral obligation.
And that is what Jesus told them here.
But He wasn’t finished.
“and to God the things that are God’s.”
Jesus takes it a step further, but revealing that
Caesar isn’t the only one you owe things too.
You owe Caesar payment for his services.
You owe God worship and obedience for everything else.
And with that Jesus is right back to the issue of authority.
You’re problem is that you don’t submit to authority.
• Not Mine…
• Not John the Baptist’s…
• Not Caesar’s…
• Not God’s…
And so Jesus takes their trap and ends up convicting them again
For their lack of submission both to Rome and to God.
TALK ABOUT HANDLING THE TRAP WELL!
The Hunters The Hunted
#3 THE HUNGRY
Matthew 22:22
And the point here is that because Jesus was so perceptive
And because He walked by the Spirit not the flesh,
And because He understood submission to authority
The hunters went home empty handed.
And so, if you want to overcome the snares of the enemy,
Follow the example of Christ.
• Walk by the Spirit not the flesh
• Watch out for anything that appeals to the flesh
• Always submit to the will and word of God for guidance.
And when those times of temptation come,
Know that you have an experienced Advocate to help.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
And with that we can overcome the snares of the devil.
