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ceived taxes from th e sources conse crated to these tith es and gifts to Je hovah ?— Geikie. v. 23. He perceived th e ir craftiness. No one can impose upon Him. They ex pected a yes or no. A yes would have set th e people against Him. A no would have p u t Him a t the mercy of the government. He not only avoided the n e t they had spread but gave th e very best answer to th eir question by doing so.—Gibson. v. 24. Show me a penny. While the people stood around in wondering si lence, they brought Him a denarius and pu t it in H is hand. On one side were stamped the haughty, beautiful features of th e Emperor T iberius, w ith all the wicked scorn upon th e lip; on th e ob verse side, his title of Pontifex Maxi mus.—F a rra r. v. 25. R ender un to Caesar. If we accept the Roman coin we must be sub missive to the Roman government.—Sel. Here is our lesson in politics— a rule in which all Christian folks may safely agree (Rom. 13:1, 6, 7 ).—Lewis. Every citizen is bound to perform his p art in the support and direction of the govern m ent under which he lives, to cultivate friendly feelings toward all his fellow- citizens and to render peaceful subm is sion to th e exercise of lawful authority. ■—Van Dyke. R ender un to God. How much th ere is in this profound bu t to them , sta rtlin g addition to th e maxim, and how incomparable is th e whole for fulness, brevity, clearness and weight. — Brown. This rem inded them of a duty to which they were most unfaithful. As man, bearing the stamp of H is image, belonging to Him, we should be dedi cated to Him.—Neander. In rendering to Caesar th e things th a t are righteously his we can never be keeping from God the things th a t are righteously God’s. If th e things th a t are God’s be duly and fully rendered, Caesar shall get what is his as one of the very things th a t God requires a t our hands.—Hanna. Are we as careful in rendering to God as we are in paying our taxes and serving the S tate?—Meyer. v. 26. Could n o t ta k e hold of His words. Christ is never a radical, never a conservative. He exposes the oppres sions of th e Pharisees in Moses’ seat, bu t encouraging no factious resistance, says, “Do as they command you.” Ac cording to His position, almost nothing, w hether in church or state, or in social life, was right. Yet He is thrown into
no antagonism against th e world. He will not allow His disciples to deny Him before kings and governments, nor will He let them before Him renounce th eir allejgiance to Caesar. So perfect is the balance of His feeling, so intuitively moderated by a wisdom no t human.— BushnelL They marveled. Jesus may be marvelous in the eyes of a person and yet not be precious.— Aldrich. 21:1. He looked up. As temple of ferings are still needed for the service of Christ a t home and abroad, so now He looks down as then He looked up. He sees who casts in, and how much.— Jam ieson. Saw rich men. It is the h eart which fixes th e character of ac tions. The g reatest gifts are valueless w ithout pure motives.—Nares. v. 2. Saw a poor widow. This widow’s m ite, which had noiselessly dropped into th e almsbox, deserved more atten tion th a n th e stones and o r nam ents of th e temple. I t was not a m ite bu t an invisible coin which the alms had made visible.— Yinet. Cast in g in two m ites. She m ight have kept one.— Bengel. Many a poor man whose gift is so small th a t it awakens con tem pt in th e h ea rt of many a church treasu rer, is nevertheless so large th a t it awakens adm iration in th e h ea rt of our Savior.— Torrey. v. 3. Of a tru th I say unto you. As she drew back her empty hand and went her way to toil for more, what countless riches Christ poured into her everlast ing keeping. New measurements, new standards of value, new reckonings of much and little, high and low, humble and exalted, strong and weak, th e Gos pel brings.— H untington. He intended to give world-wide circulation to the tru th th a t in His sight greatness con sists not in the doing of g reat acts th a t every eye must see, bu t in doing what may be little things, so small th a t they shall escape all hum an notice, bu t doing them in a g reat sp irit and noble and holy end.—Hall. Cast in more than they all. One coin out of a little is b et te r th an a treasu re out of much, and it is no t considered how much is given but how much remains behind.—Ambrose. The tru e estim ate of hum an actions is according to th e ir quality, not th eir quantity.— Godet. The givers of time are the m illionaires of eternity.—Mon- crieff. P roportion thy charity to the streng th of thy estate, lest God propor tion thy estate to the weakness of thy charity.—Quarles. From the hand of
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