The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-05-12
Christianity and Patriotism

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Sunday, May 3.
Matthew 22:15-22. 34,4U.
Golden Text-Thou shalt love
the Lord thv God with all thy
soul and with all thy mind. This
is the first and great command
ment. And the second is like UNI
to it. Thou shalt love thy neign-
Dor as thyself.-Matthew ZZ:3I-
In the conflict between Christ
and the ecclesiastics in the tenn
ME on Tuesday of crucitlxlon
week he answered three capti-
Gus questions designed to entrap
him and discount his teaching,
Two of them we study today;
the political question of paying
tribute to Rome, and the theo-
logical question of differentiat-
ing divine commands.
THE PAYMENT OF TRIBUTE
TO CAESAR 49,.
The Duties of Citizenship
emerge from the discussion of
the poll tax due to Caesar, the
Roman ruler of the Hebrew
world. Cd The auestioners were
two conflicting parties: the Pharl-
sees who chafed under the Ro-
man yoke, and the HerodlanSs
who were truulent partisanS OF
Rome-bad citizens. all of them.
They united against Jesus. Their
evident purpose was to entangle
him so as to get a charge suttI-
cient to place him in the hands
of the Roman authorities, (2)
The question breathed a wrong
civic spirit. 1t opened with words
designed as the baldest of flat
tery rang with condescending
tone, and sought triumphantlv to
place Jesus in a political diem
ma. He saw and scored their
hypocrisy. But he did more 81
The answer was two-edged
sword, one edge cleaving in twain
the net that was spread, and the
other cleaving open knotty pub
lie problem. First. he made his
inquisitors bring a Roman coin
and confess that their currency
bore the stamp of Caesar. Having
thus barred the vulnerable point,
he thrust in the blade of truth,
Pharisees and Herodians alike
wincing under it. Render to
Caesar what belongs to him. Rem
der to God what belongs to him.
That is, be a good citizen of your
government, and be good citi-
zen of the Kingdom of Heaven.
We ought to be loyal to both the
commonwealth and the Kingdom.
No bad Christian is good citl-
zen, and no good Christian is a
bad citizen. (4) The victory of
Jesus was complete. His amazed
adversaries skunk away. And no
wonder!
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
IN THE LAW
The Spirit of Citizenship is
stressed in the discussion of the
great commandment in the Law
of Moses. % The inquirer was
we'll versed in both civil and
theological law. He seems per-
sonally to have been sincere, for
| he observed that Jesus had an
swered former questions wisely
and was commended by Jesus in
this conversation. But his queS-
tion was calculated to arouse an
tagonism against Jesus, particu-
larly if he should set aside the
oral law and thus invite rupture
with the masses, or if he should
magnify certain favorite COM
mands and omit other equally as
important. Instead of splitting
ethical hairs and differentiating
divine commands, Jesus based
every duty upon love. (2) The
first great commandmentment re-
quires supreme love to God. 1t
is a love from the whole heart,
gathering into one all the strands
of affection. 1t is a love domi-
mating the entire soul as the seat
of the will. 1t is a love absorb
ing the whole mind, bringing the
rays of intelligence to a focus in
burning love. And it is a love
twining together every strand of
our strength for the expression
of that love in every way posi-
BILE. (3) The second great COM
Crpcr MCrunnISr