Thank you, Josh. Pastor Mike had some well-earned time off this week, so it's up to me to bring the word. I'm so excited. We're going to pray again here in a moment, and here's the reason I want to pray. When we're in this room together, there's something spiritual going on, and we need prayer for this really to be a good thing. I need prayer that I would speak what's accurate and true to the text. And you need prayer that your heart would be open, not just to what I've got to say, but to what God has to say. And so let's spend a moment just praying together, you praying for me and us praying for one another, that God would do something in our hearts this morning. Let's pray. God, we do come to you asking for help. Lord, as I bring the message. I pray that you would help me to say the right things the right way. Help me to speak what's accurate and true. Lord, I pray for each one of us as we come to your word. Lord, would you teach us what is right and true. Pray that everyone here would be good Bereans and that they would test what I say according to what the Bible says. Lord, be with us now. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. We're preaching through the book of Matthew. That's what we do here. We just go verse by verse, preaching through different books of the Bible. Last week, Pastor Mike taught through verse 14 and the great marriage feast. This week, we're just diving into the next verse, starting at verse 15. So if you're not there, go ahead and turn your Bibles to Matthew 22, verse 15. Here's how you can divide up this text. You can divide up the second half of Matthew 22 really into three different scenes, three different times that people are questioning Jesus. First, there's the Pharisees. They're testing Jesus, questioning Jesus. Then you have the Sadducees, another religious sect, and they're questioning Jesus, testing him. And then last, you find a lawyer and he's asking Jesus a question. Three tough questions and three astonishing answers. This morning we're actually just going to look at the first two scenes, and these are both trick questions. They're designed to trip Jesus up. So we're going to look at those first two scenes this morning. Two trick questions. Trick question number one. Here's what we're going to look at. We're just diving right in. Is it lawful to pay taxes to a pagan emperor? That's the question. Look at your Bibles in verse 15. It says this, Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap him and what he said. And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians 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. Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll text to Caesar or not? All right, now you've got to understand, this is what you call a loaded question. This is absolutely a loaded question. And in order to understand why, you've got to know a couple of things. First of all, it's important to see who these people really are. These people are clearly trying to trap Jesus. They have ill in mind for Jesus. Matthew says that pretty clearly. Their hope is that Jesus says something foolish and then they can turn around and use that on Jesus as a weapon. In fact, when Luke tells this account in his gospel, he says, so they watched him and sent spies. So Luke calls these questioners spies who pretended to be righteous in order that they might catch him in some statement. And then Luke adds this comment so that they could deliver him to the rule and the authority of the governor. So listen, these people, they're not just trying to get Jesus to say something embarrassing or foolish. They want Jesus in jail. That's their goal. They think that they can accomplish this. Now, so they ask this question about taxes. Now, why is that such a big deal? Like, if you're just talking to a buddy and he's complaining about taxes, like, it's not like a SWAT team is going to come in and arrest you. Like, like, what's the big deal? Why is this? something that might get Jesus really into trouble. Well, here's where you got to know some things that may influence why this is such a loaded question. Not long before this, in AD 6, so in the year 6, a new tax was added onto the population. This was the poll tax. And it wasn't based on your income. It wasn't like you make this much money, so you've got to pay this much taxes. It's just based on the census, okay? And so everyone's eligible has to pay a set amount for this tax. Now, on Jews, there were different taxes that you had to pay. You may be thinking, didn't we just have a message on money and taxes a couple of months ago? Yeah, we did. In Matthew 17, there was a tax that Jews had to pay for the sake of the temple in Jerusalem. But this is a different kind of tax. This doesn't go to Jerusalem. This money goes to Rome. A lot of people didn't like this new tax. There's a guy named Judas. He was from Galilee. And he was right in step with the Pharisees. He was right in line with what they thought. And essentially what he said is that is it. One new tax. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back. It's not that this particular tax was particularly burdensome. It was a day's wage, a denarius. And so it's not like this particular tax was all that weighty. It's just that it was one more on an already taxed people. And on top of that, you had tax collectors and they weren't always fair. And so the people really were under a burden. And Judas, we know from ancient historians kind of some of what he was thinking and what he was using to incite the insurrection. Basically, he was saying this tax is an infringement on our freedom. He said things like this is just an introduction into slavery. And so basically, it's just we're just flat out not going to pay it. So he takes up arms and this guy leads a revolt against Rome. Now, he's a Galilean guy. He's from Galilee. He's got a big following and they're fighting so they don't have to pay the tax. Now, here's the thing that you got to understand, really, if you're going to get the message today. This guy, Judas, he kind of made an assumption. Here's his assumption. paying this tax was selling out on God. Paying this tax was like saying, I'm loyal to Caesar and not loyal to God. His assumption was that if I recognize the authority of a pagan government over me, that's like supplanting God. That's like me not recognizing God's authority. So either you protest the government and you rebel and you don't pay or you cave in, you compromise and therefore abandon God. And so he says, we're not going to do that. So we're going to revolt. The revolt doesn't go so well against Rome. You can imagine he gets wiped out, but they made some waves. Okay. And there was, there was some suffering because of, of his actions. Okay, a couple years, that was 86. So think about Jesus' ministry a couple years after that. Here comes another guy from Galilee, another Galilean, and he's got some new ideas and he's got a following. I mean, large crowds are following Jesus. So here's the deal. The Pharisees are going, how can we trap Jesus? How can we get him arrested? And one of them goes, I know. I know what we can do. Jesus is from Galilee, so is this Judas the zealot guy. Let's paint Jesus as Judas 2.0. If we can get Jesus to say, don't pay your taxes, well, the Romans are gonna be quick to come in and squash another Galilean leading a revolt. So they sneak in. Luke calls them spies. You can you can hear them, can't you? Just buttering Jesus up. They say things like this. You are truthful. They say you teach the way of God in truth. You can kind of hear the fake humility here, just like, oh Jesus, you are so wise and you're teaching the things of God. We just really respect your opinion and we need your advice. You can hear, right, the fake humility. The next thing they say, it's actually kind of difficult to translate it, but probably the idea is this, Jesus, you are an objective person. You're not like all those other guys who are just always trying to be politically correct. The NSB says it like this, you quote, defer to no one, for you are not partial to any. Like Jesus, you're an objective person. We can trust your opinion. So tell us, What do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not? Now, what are they asking here when they say, is it lawful? I mean, of course it's lawful. It's the law. Pay your taxes, right? Here's what they're asking. They're not asking, what is the Roman law? They're saying, what does God want us to do? You teach the things of God. So what do you think? What does God want us to do? Is it really right in God's eyes I mean, it's one thing to give a tax that goes to Jerusalem, but this tax ain't going to Jerusalem. It's going to Rome, to a pagan and cruel emperor. Now, these Pharisees, they kind of had some nefarious intentions here. But this question, is it really right for us to be giving our money to a pagan emperor? This was a genuine crisis for a lot of Jews. I mean, they just really kind of had this crisis. Am I caving? Like if I'm recognizing pagan government authority over me, is that me rejecting and supplanting God's authority? Am I just caving? This was a real question for a lot of Jews. And there's a couple reasons for this. First, first is this. You got to know who the Jews were sending their money to. They're sending their money to a pagan, lustful and cruel man. Like once, if I'm a Jew and I'm giving, it's one thing for me to give my money and it goes off to Jerusalem. I know where that goes, but I'm giving this tax collector my hard earned money. And where's that money going to go after it's out of my hands? Like, how's that going to be used? Let me tell you one thing. It's not going to be used to promote the things of God. So, uh, This is tough. The emperor at the time is a guy named Tiberius. Let's talk about him a little bit. He was actually a really good military mind. He had some decisive, important victories militarily in Roman history. But an ancient historian described him with these two words that stuck out to me. He was a lustful and cruel man. So if you're giving your money, that's who you're giving your money to in this tax. It actually gets worse than this. So the coin that they used was this coin. It's a denarius. And in this day, at this particular moment, this coin had Tiberius's image on it. That's Tiberius there. Now for a Jew, this is like the most offensive coin you could possibly have. A couple of reasons. Number one, it has an image on it. One of the Ten Commandments, you're not supposed to have any graven images. So that's a real question. Like, am I breaking the law of God by having this coin in my pocket? It's a fair question. Second, you've got to know something about the inscription, what the words say. Get this. The words say this. It says that Tiberius, it says, this is the son of the divine Augustus. So what is Tiberius claiming about himself as he's printing these coins? Third reason this coin is so offensive to a Jew and this tag so offensive to a Jew is that the other part of the inscription says this, that Tiberius was a high priest. So get this, this coin has a graven image. Like, is this kind of like an idol? I mean, the guy's claiming to be the son of a God and he's the high priest in a pagan religion where he's the son of the god. So this is a real question for Jews. Like, is this wrong for us to even have this coin? By the way, Rome actually made some exceptions, I think. I think the Jews could pay the tax with a different coin if they wanted. But the whole tax itself was very offensive. Second reason beyond the coin why this was a real crisis for people. Do I pay this tax? is that you've had people like Judas the zealot saying paying taxes is akin to rebelling against God. Like if you had gone to Judas the zealot and asked, does God want you to pay taxes? He would have said, no, it dishonors God to pay taxes. God is your authority, not Rome. And when you submit to human government, that equals you rejecting God. Paying taxes to Rome equals you rebelling against God. So they pose the question to Jesus. We know what Judas would have thought. But Jesus, what do you think? Is it really right for us to pay taxes to a pagan, lustful and cruel emperor? It's actually kind of a brilliant question in a way. I mean, you got to at least admire them for their attempt at cleverness to get Jesus. In a way, it's a brilliant question, because if they catch Jesus telling a crowd of people, don't pay your taxes. Well, they got him. I mean, they got him. They've got witnesses of him inciting this rebellion. And he's just another zealot from Galilee, Judas 2.0. And Rome's going to be pretty quick to arrest him. So They've got him if Jesus says that. But if Jesus goes the other route and says, no, actually submit, submit to your government and pay this tax to Rome. Well, who's his following? His fans, his followers are a lot like a lot of Jews from Galilee. And frankly, a lot of them resonated with Judas the zealot. And so if Jesus says, yes, pay your taxes, Well, according to the Judas guide, that's akin to rebelling against God. And so a lot of Jesus followers are going to hear just cave in, compromise and rebel against God. So Jesus is going to have to choose. What is he going to tell people? And you can kind of just imagine the Pharisees anticipating Jesus is going to have to choose one of these things, tell people to rebel against Caesar or tell people to rebel against God. It's the perfect trap. Except for one tiny detail. Jesus is God. You just don't go fooling Him. Verse 18 says this, But Jesus perceived their malice and said, Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Yeah, spies don't do so great when it comes to trying to trick God the Son. Like, I think they actually thought that they were going to trick Him. I thought, I think they actually had in their mind, oh, we got this. Like, as long as we come in a humble way, we'll trick Him. And Jesus sees right through this. I mean, I love that. He just, not skipping a beat, you hypocrites. They're posing to be humble truth seekers. They're just spies. He says, why are you testing me? He can tell they just want to trap him. Then Jesus says this, show me the coin used for the poll tax. And they brought him a denarius, verse 20. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? They said to him, Caesar's. So Jesus, he's going to kind of use a little illustration here. He's like, let's talk about the actual coin we're talking about that you use to pay the tax. Someone pulls out a coin and Jesus says, well, whose likeness is that? The image there, who is that? And the words around that, who's that talking about? They answer, well, it's Caesar. Specifically, it's understood, Tiberius Caesar. So remember, we're talking about blasphemous coin here. Here's the moment of truth. What will Jesus answer? This is what he says, verse 25. And he said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's. You know what? What in the world does that phrase mean? Like sometimes Jesus has a way of saying things and you're like, wait, what does that mean exactly? Well, let me try and explain. The Pharisees could only imagine two possible answers to their question. Either Jesus could say refuse to pay taxes and rebel against Caesar, or he could say cave in to Caesar, compromise, pay your taxes and rebel against God. But Jesus gives a third answer, an answer they never even imagined. What if you could submit to Caesar and submit to God at the same time? What if submitting to a pagan human governing authority doesn't count as rebellion against God? What if the reason that you submit to a pagan government is because you recognize that God is the authority over that government? Think about that last phrase of that statement for a moment. Give to God the things that are God's. I think what Jesus is doing here is he's calling everyone to treat God as the ultimate authority, like above all else, be loyal to God. Because think about what belongs to God. Everything. Who does God rule over? He rules over everyone. Whose authority ultimately must you obey? You must obey God's authority no matter what. So what do you do if it's God who tells you to submit to the authority of your pagan government and pay taxes? Like in that scenario, who is it really that you're submitting to? Well, in that scenario, really it's God that you're submitting to. If God tells you obey your government, well, and then you obey. Yeah, you're obeying your government, but really it's not just ultimately out of loyalty to them. It's out of loyalty to God. So if God tells you to pay your taxes, you do it because you just want to be loyal to God, even if it's to a pagan government. Listen, when God tells you to obey your government, that means that submitting even to an emperor who is cruel and lustful and claims to be a high priest and a pagan religion where he himself is the son of a god, Even submitting to him is not an act of rebellion to God. It's actually an act of loyalty to God. There are difficult questions here, I grant. These are not easy things, but these are real questions I think that Christians are facing. I might boil it down to say it like this. How should Christians relate to a godless government? It's a real question. How should a Christian relate to a godless government? No easy answers, but here's how some think about it. There are some who have this line of thought that goes like this. Recognizing the authority of a pagan government over me equals me caving and rebelling against God. Or the line of thought goes like this, paying taxes that will be used by pagan leaders for pagan purposes, that equals me caving to culture and rebelling against God. That's essentially the Judas, the zealot line of thought. He would say something like this, don't you know what Rome is going to do with the money you're going to give to them? I can't recognize Rome, this pagan authority, to be my government. That counters me rejecting God. But Jesus says something that's incredibly shocking. Something, frankly, that I wouldn't really expect him to say. Something I wouldn't expect unless I read the Bible. No, paying taxes is not an act of rebellion to God. Not even paying taxes to a man who claims to be the son of a God and is the high priest of a pagan religion who is a cruel and lustful man. Not even that is necessarily an act of disloyalty to God, because if it's God who tells you to submit to your government, then at the end of the day, it's God you're submitting to because you're still seeing God as the ultimate authority. So in other words, why pay taxes? Why submit to government? Listen. You submit to the government for the Lord's sake. It's for it's out of love and loyalty to God that you submit to the government. For the Lord's sake, this is exactly what Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 13, he says this, submit yourselves for the Lord's sake. To every human institution, since you understand that God is the authority over everything, submit yourself for his 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. Why should a Christian submit to the government? They do so for the Lord's sake, out of loyalty to God. They just want to obey God. Listen to this. It's not just when you live in a democracy that you submit to the government. Even if you live in a country that has a king, you're to submit. Like, imagine this. You live in a country that has a king, one guy making all the decisions. No checks and balances, no House and Senate. Even if you live in a country with a king, as long as he's not commanding you to sin, you obey for the Lord's sake. Romans 13 says this. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there's 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. 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." Here we are at taxes again. For rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them, tax to whom taxes due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. You remember, I assume, who was emperor when Paul wrote these words to the Romans? Nero. Like picture this, Paul's writing to Christians living in Rome and in that same city, who's their governing authority? Nero. Paul is saying to those Christians, every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. We have to ask a really important question. in order to understand some of this. Where do humans get, where do governing authorities get their authority from? They get their authority from God. It's God who grants authority. Daniel writes this. He says, it is he who changes the times and the epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. You may think that it's humans who decide these things. It's not. It's God. God was the source of the authority of someone like Pilate. Listen to what Jesus says. Jesus looks at Pilate and says this, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above. So even a guy like Pilate, where did he get his authority from? From God. What about someone like Nebuchadnezzar who does a lot of wicked things? Jeremiah says this of him, he's God, and now I have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant. Where on earth did Nebuchadnezzar get his authority from? He got it from God. So when a Christian refuses to obey their government or when they resist their governing authority, maybe by refusing to pay taxes, who are they really rebelling against? God. Listen to Romans 13 again. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. See, when it's God who tells you to pay your taxes and submit to your government, disobeying that equals rebelling against God himself. The king's authority comes from God. Listen, the king, he has authority over you, whether or not he is a competent leader. His authority doesn't stem from his being competent or not. His authority, he has authority over you whether or not he is a godly man. Tiberius was not a godly man. He has authority over you whether or not he had a fair tax rate. Why does he have authority over you? Because his authority comes from God. So when you resist, you are rebelling against God Himself. Okay, but are there exceptions to this? Yes. There are there are times when Christians should disobey the government that God himself has set in place. Very clear example is Nebuchadnezzar. We just read the verse here in Jeremiah that says that God, he's saying, I handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar. I he's my servant. I placed him in authority. So God very clearly places Nebuchadnezzar in authority and very clearly honors The three who rebelled against that authority, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they disobeyed the authority God set in place. They didn't worship the golden statue. So, yes, there are times when it is right for a servant of God to disobey the very government that God set in place. But when? If your government tells you to sin, then you obey God. When these two contradict, and sometimes they do contradict, we obey God rather than man. Higher authority trumps lower authority. You are a Christian first and then a citizen of whatever country you live in. If you are faced with a decision and a lower authority tells you to do one thing and a higher authority tells you to do another thing, you obey the higher authority. Saints, the day may well come when your government commands you to sin. And quite frankly, that day may come soon. When that day comes, you and I must remain loyal to Christ. You and I must lock arms and obey God rather than man and leave the consequences to God. But until that day comes, when the government commands you to sin, you must submit. Why? For the Lord's sake. Because you see him as the ultimate authority. Saints, when a Christian rebels against authority too soon. When a Christian rebels against authority before the government commands them to sin, listen, they're not rebelling against the government. They're rebelling against God himself. When a Christian rebels against authority too soon, they damage their credibility, and they undermine their witness and impact when the time does come to rebel. Okay, we need wisdom for this stuff. This stuff isn't always cut and dry. This stuff is hard. We need to be praying, God help us. We need to be giving grace and supporting one another as Christians. But for now, Christians, drive the speed limit, even when you think that it's an incompetent government that has made this speed limit too slow. If you're building a fence, you go and you buy a permit for the fence, even though probably no one's going to catch you if you just go ahead and build that fence on your own. Why would you do that? A lot of people just say, I'm never going to get caught. No, you live under God's authority and he tells you to obey your governing authorities. So get the permit. Why? For the Lord's sake, out of loyalty to God. And yes, pay your taxes, give to Caesar that which is Caesar's. Because in the end, everything belongs to God. So submission to secular government is not rebellion to God necessarily. It is done out of the fear of God. I think that's really the heart of what Jesus is saying when he says, render to Caesar what Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's. Well, this answer isn't exactly what the Pharisees were expecting. Verse 22, and hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving him, they went away. Pharisees fail to trap Jesus. Okay, that was trick question number one. Now on to trick question number two. Trick question number two is this. This comes from the Sadducees. How can there be a resurrection if polyandry is sinful? I'll read the text and then we'll talk about it 23 on that same day Sadducees who say there's no resurrection came to Jesus and questioned him asking Teacher Moses said and then they quote Moses if a man dies having no children His brother is next of kin shall marry his wife and raise up children for his brother and quote They go on then with their example. Now there were seven brothers with us and the first married and died and having no children left his wife to his brother. So also the second and the third down the seventh. Last of all the woman died in the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven will she be for they all had married her. The Sadducees, so they're questioning Jesus and they're quoting Moses. There's an Old Testament law that says a woman like, say, Ruth, who was a widow, her husband dies, she could hope that the closest male relative would marry her to keep the line going. So you have Boaz, a single guy, marries her. This is a way of caring for widows in the Old Testament. The sad you see what they're trying to do is they're trying to prove one of the core tenets of what they believe They believe that there is no life after death So they read the Old Testament and they said we don't see any examples of life after death Now, how can that be? I mean there seems to be some pretty clear evidence like say Daniel 12 to which says that Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt." I don't know about you, that sure sounds a lot like life after death to me. Or Job 19.26 said this, "'Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God, whom I myself shall behold and whom my eyes will see and not another.' Seems pretty clear, like there's life after death, right? Here's the problem. The Sadducees didn't accept any books after the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. They didn't accept any books after that as scripture. So they read that and they go, oh yeah, well great, but that's not the Bible. That's not scripture. So in their minds, they're going, there's no talk in the Pentateuch about life after death. And now they try to prove their point. They bring up what sounds like, to me, a hypothetical question. Maybe this really happened, but it sounds more like a hypothetical question to me. So say you have a woman, and she's married, and her husband dies. And kind of like the whole Ruth and Boaz thing, the brother marries her, but he dies, and so on. Seven down the line, she's been married to seven different guys. So, Jesus, if there really is a resurrection, Whose wife will she be? It's not like there could be polyandry in heaven. Polygamy is one man, many wives. Polyandry, one woman, many husbands. Sinful thing. These guys are saying, you can't have such a sinful thing in heaven. So there can't be a resurrection. It's impossible. You can see the Sadducees now. Is this like their question no one's been able to answer? They're like ready for Jesus. Good luck answering that one. But Jesus responds, verse 29, but Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken, not understanding the scriptures, nor the power of God or in the resurrection. They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. He says, you are mistaken, or perhaps better put, really, it's you have been led astray. And then he starts laying the rebuke on them. You don't understand the Bible. That's a thing to say to a religious expert. You don't understand the scriptures. And number two, your estimation of what God can do is severely limited. See, here's the thing, the Sadducees could only Imagine, they assume that life after death must, if it exists, must look exactly like life before death. Jesus says, no, it's actually not like that. It's different. But really the heart of their question isn't about marriage because they don't believe there is a resurrection. They don't believe this thing actually happens. They're really just trying to prove there is no resurrection. So that's what Jesus turns to now. Verse 31, but regarding the resurrection of the dead, Have you not read what was spoken to you by God? This is just rich. I love this. Jesus looks at the religious experts and he says, oh, oh, haven't you guys read the Bible? Now notice Jesus doesn't quote from Daniel and he doesn't quote from Job because they wouldn't respect those responses as being authoritative. He quotes from Exodus. They would appreciate that authority. This is what he quotes, the scene where God is speaking to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. In other words, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive. Jesus didn't say, I was the God of Abraham back when he was alive. He's saying, I am the God of Abraham right now. So therefore, Abraham still exists. Therefore, there is life after death. Others think that Jesus is making the same argument a different way. Others think maybe Jesus was saying when God makes a covenant with someone, that covenant lasts as long as God lasts. So if you're Abraham and you have a covenant with God and God still lasts and the covenant still lasts, that means that you still exist. Maybe Jesus was proving his point that way. In any event, Jesus' answer has the same, or has the intended result. Verse 33, when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. All right, there's a lot to be gleaned from this last little scene here, but I'll just pick out one thing. It's this. Jesus was a passionate defender of the truth of the resurrection. Like when you talk to Jesus about the resurrection, it's not like he was going, oh, yeah, I think maybe, you know, it's not like you walk away going, boy, what did Jesus think about? No, he has very clear, very definite opinions. The resurrection does exist. There is life after death. You know, personally, just for me, that brings me great comfort knowing that it's Jesus who defends the resurrection. Do you ever find yourself just secretly wondering if is this life after death stuff? Is that really true? Like, I hope it's real, but but is that reality? It brings great comfort to me to know that I can come to the Bible and I can read Jesus passionately, intelligently arguing for the truth about life after death. It matters to Jesus that we believe in the resurrection. All right, we got to stop it here. A couple application points as we wrap it up. Number one is this submission to secular government is not necessarily rebellion against God. We are to submit to our governing authorities for the Lord's sake. So until your government tells you to sin, you must submit for the Lord's sake. Recognizing the authority of a secular or pagan government, that's not necessarily an act of rebellion against God. It could be an act of loyalty to God. So, saints, wear your seatbelt. Drive the speed limit. Not because you're going to get caught, but out of loyalty to God. Get the permit to build your fence, even when nobody's going to know if you don't do it. Christians have a unique way of living their lives. People who aren't Christians, they still drive the speed limit sometimes and buy the fence permit sometimes. I'm not saying unbelievers never do those things. I'm just saying the Christian has a unique thought process. We are unique in how we think about these things. We obey even when nobody else is looking because we want to be loyal to God. Second is this give to God that which belongs to God. This little application, I was talking to Fred, he was reading my sermon, we were talking about it, and he pointed this out. Perhaps you could say this, why did that coin belong to Caesar? Well, because it had his image on it. Maybe you could say this, every human rightfully belongs to God. Why? Because his image is on you. You bear his image. You, right by all rights, you belong to God. So will you give your life to him? Maybe you're here today and maybe you're not a Christian. Maybe you're not a follower of Jesus. You need to realize that you bear God's image. Ultimately, you belong to him and you ought to submit your life to him. And third and last, celebrate the certainty of the resurrection. Jesus is the biggest apologist that I can find for the truth of the resurrection. We look forward to the hope of heaven. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we pray that you would help us to honor you in all that we do. We want to be loyal to you first and foremost above all. So help us as we think about these questions. How do we relate to a godless government? Give us wisdom and strength and backbone. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.