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“PULLED FROM THE DITCH”
Text: Matthew 22:15-22 – Pentecost 20
Sunday October 18th, 2026
Trinity – Creston
Grace, mercy, and peace is yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Our text for this 21st Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel Lesson from Matthew 22 that was just proclaimed.
Let Us Pray: Dearest Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to remind that your rule extends and applies to both kingdoms. Remind us that when we follow you that also means obeying those who rule over us on this earth are an extension of your kingdom. Amen.
Dear Fellow Redeemed in Christ:
There is a warning sign that most of have seen just before we drive across a bridge: BRIDGE FREEZES BEFORE ROAD SURFACE. The sign is an attempt to warn us that even though the road you are driving on is perfectly clear, the bridge you are about to cross may be iced over.
It is a warning to slow down just in case the bridge is slippery. We are getting closer and closer to that time of year when we must take such signs a little bit more seriously.
Winter driving can get quite interesting - especially out in the country. I can remember driving along at the blazing speed of twenty miles per hour on HWY 30 on our way from Boone to Marshalltown. It wasn't a traffic jam. Instead, the surface of the road was a sheet of ice, especially on those curves between Boone and Ames. Even the trucks were taking their time.
As we were driving along, I saw a car come onto the highway. It was going too fast. Apparently, the entry ramp was clear and dry and this driver did not know what lay before him on the Interstate. I knew this driver was in trouble. He was about to have a lot more excitement in his day than he really wanted.
He hit those curves at high speed and immediately lost control of the vehicle. He was headed toward the center ditch, but managed to avoid it. However, his maneuvers had spun him around so that he shot back across the road and went down into the ditch on the other side. As I caught up to him, I could see that he was uninjured and using his cell phone to call for help.
I didn't count the number of abandoned cars down in ditches that afternoon, but there were quite a few. No doubt many of them had an experience similar to the one we witnessed that afternoon.
Of course ditches have been around for a long time before there were automobiles and there have been many reasons for travelers to get stuck in ditches down through the ages.
For centuries thinkers of all kinds have used the idea of ditches as a metaphor for two ideas that were both wrong, but were on opposite sides of the truth. In fact, the Pharisees and the Herodians in today's Gospel hoped to get Jesus stuck in just such a ditch.
We've met the Pharisees before, but the Herodians don't get all that much ink in the New Testament. The Herodians as their name implies were supporters of the Herod family dynasty. The interesting thing about the Herod family is that it was not Jewish.
They maintained their rule with the support of the Roman occupation. Ordinarily, the Pharisees and the Herodians hated each other. It says something about the desperation among the Pharisees that they were willing to work with the Herodians.
The Pharisees and the Herodians hoped to present Jesus with two ditches with no road in between. They asked this question, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" If Jesus said no, then the Herodians would have the evidence they needed to get Jesus arrested.
If Jesus said yes, then He would instantly become unpopular with the people who hated the Roman occupation. Either way, Jesus would be out of the picture and life could return to the way it was before.
Of course, Jesus saw through their plan immediately. He also understood something that they did not understand. Jesus understood that both civil authority and religious authority are from God. God authorizes and is in control of both types of authority.
The physical kingdoms of power and the spiritual kingdom of grace are not an "either / or," but a "both / and" situation. In the Old Testament Reading for today, Isaiah points out that Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, in spite of all outward appearances, is God's instrument.
The Lord used him to work out history for the ultimate good of his people. Likewise, when Pilate boasts of his authority either to punish Jesus or to let him go, [John 19:11] Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.
When Jesus said, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," he was telling us that Caesar and all government is God's instrument at work in the physical world. Obeying the laws of the land and participating in our democracy are a part of our obedience to God.
Now, as interesting as this little run-in was, and as nice as it is to know that faithful Christians are also faithful citizens of the civil authorities, surely there is more to learn from today's Gospel reading.
Here is where context comes to our aid. This little run-in took place in the temple on the Tuesday before Jesus was crucified. In a few days He would die and with His death, He would pull us out of the ditches into which we have fallen.
You see - the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh work together to drag us into one of two ditches.
An investigation of the people in one of the ditches finds people who look at God's law in a superficial way and say, "Hey, I can do that." In this ditch are people who say things such as: "I lead a pretty good life.
I've never murdered anyone or robbed a bank or anything like that. I'm faithful to my wife. I spend time with my kids. Yeah, I think there's a pretty good chance that I'll end up in heaven."
This is the ditch of self-righteousness. This is the ditch that we often associate with the Pharisees. This ditch is full of people who believe that they are pretty good and God grades on the curve anyway.
An investigation of the people in the ditch on the other side of the road finds people who are really depressed. They have looked at God's law thoroughly and deeply. They fully understand that they cannot keep it.
An interview with these people would find thoughts such as, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks. I am just too old to be saved." "No matter how hard I try, it just isn't good enough."
"After all I have done, there is no way that God will let me into heaven." This is the ditch of despair. The Biblical poster child for this ditch is Judas who hanged himself after he betrayed Jesus. This ditch is full of people who believe that their sin is stronger than God's forgiveness.
These ditches actually have something pretty important in common. They both depend on self. The people in the one ditch say, "I am good enough to get into heaven." The people in the other ditch say, "I am not good enough to get into heaven."
Every time we look to self, we get pulled into one of these two ditches. Even those who say, "I will do my best and God will do the rest," are in the self-righteous ditch. As long as it is up to me, I am in a ditch.
Just as Jesus stayed out of the ditch when His enemies sprang their trap in today's Gospel, He also provides a way out of the ditch for us. He instructs us to give up on ourselves and rest in Him.
The people in the ditch of despair are right about one thing: We can't live the perfect life needed for eternal salvation, but Jesus did. He lived a perfect, sinless life. A few days after the events in today's Gospel, He died a sacrificial death on the cross. The following Sunday, He rose from the dead.
Forty days after that, He ascended into heaven. He did all the things that we confess in the creed and did them all for us - to pull us up out of the ditch that leads to hell and up onto the road that leads to eternal life.
In today's Gospel Jesus said, "Therefore render … to God the things that are God's." With His sacrificial death, Jesus rendered to God the payment for the sin of the world - that is every sin - for every person who has ever lived - for every person who lives now - and for every person who will ever live until the end of time.
He has paid for your sin. He has paid for my sin. All our sins are paid in full.
The Pharisees and the Herodians in today's Gospel tried to make Jesus irrelevant by asking a trick question. When that didn't work, they gave up on subtlety. They decided that the only way to remove Jesus from the scene was to remove Him from this life - to kill Him.
During the next few days they carried out their plan and arranged to have Jesus crucified. When Jesus was dead, the powers of sin, death, and the devil thought they had won. They didn't understand that the death of Jesus is His greatest victory.
It is by this victory that we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation. It is by this victory that even though we die, we shall rise again. For Jesus Himself did not remain in the grave, but became the first fruits of those who rise from the dead.
His resurrection is the assurance that the work He did on the cross is the ultimate victory - the assurance that we no longer live in the ditch, but are now safe on the road that leads to life.
The coin in today's Gospel had an image. On the cross Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews is, for us, the image of the invisible God. In that image you see what the God of the universe has done to make you his own! [Romans 8:32]
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Amen
Now may the peace of God which far surpasses all human understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen
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