Monday Devo
Scripture:
Luke 20:20-26
20 Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. 21 “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully. 22 Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 He saw through their trickery and said, 24 “Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
25 “Well then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
26 So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they became silent.
20 Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. 21 “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully. 22 Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 He saw through their trickery and said, 24 “Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
25 “Well then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
26 So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they became silent.
Commentary:
20:20 Governor can refer to a procurator or prefect (see 3:1). Here it refers to Pontius Pilate.
20:21 You speak and teach rightly is an insincere compliment (see v. 20).
20:22 Is it lawful …? …? Since Jesus purports to be teaching the way of God, they figure that he must have an opinion on whether it is lawful to pay poll taxes or property taxes to the oppressive Roman emperor. A rejection of paying taxes would seem to entail rebellion against Caesar; a willingness to pay taxes appears to compromise devotion to God
20:25 render to Caesar. Jesus is not establishing a political kingdom in opposition to Caesar, so his followers should pay taxes and obey civil laws. There are matters that belong to the realm of civil government, and there are other matters that belong to God’s realm. Jesus does not here specify which matters belong in which realm, but many Christian ethicists today teach that, in general, civil government should allow freedom in matters of religious doctrine, worship, and beliefs about God, and the church should not attempt to use the power of government to enforce allegiance to any specific religious viewpoint. All forms of the Christian church throughout the world today support some kind of separation between matters of church and matters of state. By contrast, totalitarian governments usually try to suppress the church and subsume everything under the realm of the state. And some extreme Islamic movements have tried to abolish independent civil government and subsume everything under the control of Islamic religious leaders. Historically, when the church and state have become too closely aligned, the result most often has been the compromise of the church
The denarius has Caesar’s image and represents the tribute they should give to him. Jesus adds a more important command: people should give to God that which bears his image and likeness, namely, themselves (cf. note on Rom. 12:1).
20:26 The wisdom of the one “greater than Solomon” (11:31) thwarts this attempt to catch him in his speech. Even Christ’s opponents were marveling and were reduced to silence (cf. 14:4, 6).
20:21 You speak and teach rightly is an insincere compliment (see v. 20).
20:22 Is it lawful …? …? Since Jesus purports to be teaching the way of God, they figure that he must have an opinion on whether it is lawful to pay poll taxes or property taxes to the oppressive Roman emperor. A rejection of paying taxes would seem to entail rebellion against Caesar; a willingness to pay taxes appears to compromise devotion to God
20:25 render to Caesar. Jesus is not establishing a political kingdom in opposition to Caesar, so his followers should pay taxes and obey civil laws. There are matters that belong to the realm of civil government, and there are other matters that belong to God’s realm. Jesus does not here specify which matters belong in which realm, but many Christian ethicists today teach that, in general, civil government should allow freedom in matters of religious doctrine, worship, and beliefs about God, and the church should not attempt to use the power of government to enforce allegiance to any specific religious viewpoint. All forms of the Christian church throughout the world today support some kind of separation between matters of church and matters of state. By contrast, totalitarian governments usually try to suppress the church and subsume everything under the realm of the state. And some extreme Islamic movements have tried to abolish independent civil government and subsume everything under the control of Islamic religious leaders. Historically, when the church and state have become too closely aligned, the result most often has been the compromise of the church
The denarius has Caesar’s image and represents the tribute they should give to him. Jesus adds a more important command: people should give to God that which bears his image and likeness, namely, themselves (cf. note on Rom. 12:1).
20:26 The wisdom of the one “greater than Solomon” (11:31) thwarts this attempt to catch him in his speech. Even Christ’s opponents were marveling and were reduced to silence (cf. 14:4, 6).
Questions:
- The religious leaders sent spies to try to trap Jesus with His own words. Should they pay their taxes? This was a pretty ingenious plan. If Jesus said no, He'd be seen as a revolutionary and the Romans would arrest and kill Him. If He said yes, He'd lose the hearts of the people, who were expecting the Messiah to come to overthrow the Roman government. But Jesus sees through the plan and says to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. We are all careful to pay our taxes, but how diligent are you in making sure you give to God what is God's; namely your worship?
- Some translations use the term "render" instead of give. This word is rooted in a verb that means to repay what is owed. So Jesus is saying that we owe a debt of worship to God. We have an EARTHLY obligation, but we also have a HEAVENLY obligation. There is One that doesn't just make coins... there is a true King that made us and stamped us with His image. Caesar has the right to collect your TAX, but God has the right to collect your WORSHIP. We are to give back to Him the thing that bears His image; we're to give Him us! Does God have all of you? How would HE answer that question?
Pray:
- That you would give God the worship that is due Him.
- That you would surrender your whole life to Him.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
5. Why do I follow Jesus? I follow Jesus because Jesus rose from the dead proving that He is the way, the truth and the life.
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
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