Christmas has come around again. Not even a pandemic can stop it! It’s the time on earth where we can shout with the angels “ peace, joy and goodwill to all men”.
So rightly we acknowledge the birth of Jesus at Christmas and the universal affect His arrival meant to this little blue planet.
But I want to jump ahead in His timeline to closer to the end of His life on earth, as I understand, when He was just in His early 30s.
He’s grown into an intriguing, fascinating man. He’s got a pretty good following and an equal amount of enemies He’s ticked off. Sometimes He speaks in parables, sometimes He speaks straight up and sometimes He drops the mike with a Holy Zinger.
The religious leaders of the day, the very ones you would think would be backing the King of the Jews, have some suspicions about this young upstart.
So they conspire on how to trap Him. They start with a little sugar. “We know that you are sincere, and teach God’s way truthfully, that you treat everyone the same and don’t play favourites. So tell us, is it permissible under Jewish law to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
I can almost hear Jesus’ exasperated sigh. Perhaps a slight rolling of the eyes…
“Why are you testing me, you hypocrites. Show me the money…(they hand over a coin). “Whose likeness and inscription is on it?”
“Caesars” they reply.
Jesus replies, “then give to Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is Gods.” BAZINGA.
The religious leaders are speechless and shuffle on out of there.
You may know Jesus as just a little babe in a manger. You might envision him as a strict legalistic, no-fun kinda guy. But He was so much more. He had all the time in the world for the rough-around the edge, broken humanity and very little patience with the Spiritual Giants of the day. And He could really dish out a Holy Zinger!
