Friday, October 30, 2015

Clowney on Jesus transforming the second commandment

I have never seen this passage quite this way before. Jesus asks us, who do we belong to and whose image we bear. If it is God's, then the only appropriate response would be to give him our lives.


From pages 27 of: How Jesus Transforms The Ten Commandments

A true understanding of the second commandment must come as we look at Jesus, who transformed it. Jesus shows us the richness and depth of this commandment when he answers the hypocrites who ask him, "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" In response, Jesus asks to be shown a denarius, a coin used in paying Roman taxes. "Whose portrait is this?" he asks his opponents. "And whose inscription?" They were forced to reply, "Caesar's." As he always did in his responses to their provocation, Jesus avoids the trap and forces them to deal with the true meaning of God's law: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" is his stunning answer (Matt. 22:17-21).

In recognizing the authority of Rome, Jesus makes an enormous transition from Old Testament theocracy to a new notion of kingdom. But he goes much further in this simple
statement about a Roman coin. It becomes obvious that he is teaching us to give back to God what bears his image, just as people had to give back to Caesar the coins that bore his image. If Caesar gets a coin, what does God get? We give God back his image by giving him ourselves.

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