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20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” 26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent. ~ Luke 20:20-26
In spite of all the Old Testament revelation that pointed the Jews to the Lord Jesus Christ, they rejected Him. Herein, we have the general abiding principles of all time: being defined by good or being defined by evil. And, the hearts of the religious leaders were so hardened to God by evil, they were blind to the truth when He came.
As we wade back into Luke 20, it is still Wednesday of the final week of the Lord Jesus earthly life. By Friday, the Lord Jesus will be crucified. On this Wednesday, He spent the day in the temple surrounded by the masses of people who had flowed into Jerusalem because it was Passover. And when He came into the city, they, full of hope, wanted Him to be the long-awaited Messiah. And so they gave Him a triumphal entry and they were still hanging on His every word and deed.
In v.20 we read, "Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor."
The religious leaders hated the Lord Jesus so much they wanted Him dead. Yet, all their power, honor, position, and prominence came from the people. And the people were still feeling the euphoria of the triumphal entry that Jesus might be the Messiah. And so, the religious leaders were afraid to go against the crowd because they needed the crowd.
And yet, they had nothing but contempt for the people. They had not a heart for God, so it makes sense that they had no heart for the people. They fed their proud souls on the accolades of those that they intimidated and abused. And they knew that if the Lord Jesus was arrested by the Romans, the people’s hope in Him would be crushed, and they would get rid of Him.
That little phrase, “pretended to be sincere” is of utmost importance to consider. In this phrase, we see the root of all of mankind's problems. Our unwillingness to admit that we need help, that we need a savior is at the root of it all evil in our lives. The coming of the Lord Jesus was God’s answer to the slavery of self-salvation. But if we are not willing to admit our need for the savior, we undoubtedly must pretend to have it all together.
The Lord Jesus came to liberate us from the pressure of having to fix ourselves, find and free ourselves. He came to rescue us from the slavish need to be right, rewarded, regarded, and respected. He came to relieve us of the burden we inherently feel to trust in ourselves in order “to get life right.” The Lord Jesus came to secure for us what we could never secure for ourselves. As a result, life ceases to be a tireless effort to establish, justify, and validate ourselves.
In v.21-22 we read, "21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
Although, all they were saying is absolutely true, they did not believe it. They were trying to position the Lord Jesus into a place where He’s going to be forced to give them an answer that will pit Him against Rome.
In v.23 we read, “He saw through their duplicity and said to them.” “Caesar’s,” they replied.”
In the Jewish leaders minds, there was only one correct answer. They expected He would answer in such a way that once they got Him to do so, to speak against Rome, they were going to call the Romans who will arrest Him.
In v.24-25 we read, “24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
The denarius was a day’s wage coin made out of silver or gold. They were in circulation between 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. Minted by the Caesar, each coin had his image on it. There are certain things in this world that belong in the providence of God to the temporal realm of this world. Money is one of them. God Himself had brought Israel under Roman rule. And He expected them to support the rule of the government because all government is ordained by God. Their's is the power that is ordained by God who gave them that power to protect the innocent and punish the evil.
Caesar has his sphere of rule by God’s design, and we owe what we owe to him in the providence of God. In His answer, the Lord Jesus affirms the role and the right of government to collect taxes for its support because it is ordained by God for man’s well being and protection. In fact, without it we have anarchy, chaos and destruction.
The believer in Christ lives in two worlds. The Lord Jesus was not suggesting that we divide our loyalties between God and government. We are to give Caesar what’s Caesar’s and thank God that providentially we are under His government.
Our text today ends with "Give to God what is God’s.” That which is God's is what we owe to Him. We owe Him our being and all that goes along with it including our worship, praise, adoration, glory, obedience, love, and trust.
In v.26 we read, “They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.” The religious leaders went away perplexed because they failed to catch Him in a saying in front of the people that would have caused Him to be arrested and executed.
The alternative is quite different. Those who operate according to God's definitions do not go away from God because they have chosen for Him to define them. In addition, they go away in peace because they played according to God's rules. Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He insisted on being defined by the God of the Bible who used him to change the world as he played by God's rules.
