Eat your crusts

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. (Matthew 22:15 ESV)

Was there a particular food you hated to eat when you were a kid?  I hated peas and bread crusts! I would hide the under the rim of my dinner plate until I could safely slip them to Whiskers, my black lab. She was always conveniently poised under the table by my chair, anticipating the forbidden treat.

Sometimes I would get away with this trickery, often I did not.  For my punishment, I had to sit at the table until I finished every bite. Some days this took hours.

As adults, we find some things difficult to swallow; taxes for instance.  We explore every legal option available to avoid paying more than we need to pay.  Like peas, taxes are part of our life, even if unpleasant to many citizens.  We see the value of each, but that doesn't mean we enjoy them.

When Jesus was asked about taxes and if He paid them to Caesar or not he said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's..." He further told His listeners they needed to acknowledge the authority of Caesar. Those who asked this question held ulterior motives, for this was an attempt to discredit our LORD. But, Jesus knew what was going on and called them on it.

There is more to the scripture verse quoted above.  The last part of the sentence is, "and to God what is God's." Perhaps Jesus is referring to the tithe with this statement.  As citizens of this land, we have a responsibility to our nation to pay taxes and the privilege to tithe to our God.

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? (Matthew 22:18) Jesus knows our hearts in any situation. We may be able to fool others; we may even be able to lie to ourselves, but not to God.


Matthew 22:15-22