Day 97

Luke 20:20–26 (NIV)

²⁰ Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. 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 portrait and inscription are on it?” ²⁵ “Caesar’s,” they replied. He said to them, “Then give 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.

Helpful Info

Part of the background needed to understand the seriousness of the question is to understand that in 6 AD the some Jews had rebelled against the tax of Rome. Rome came down hard on those Jews at that time.

The tax being referred to is a poll tax that all adult male Jews had to pay. It was one denarius (the very coin given to Jesus) which was worth an everyday laborer's day of work. This tax was actually the responsibility of the Sanhedrin (Jewish Leaders Religious & Government Heads) to collect. There was a strong debate about paying such a tax because some felt that to do so was to give Caesar (who called himself a God) a status that was not true. The idea there is no King but God.

Pray for God to show you something to use from the passage

Read the Passage

Who is in the passage?

What action verbs do you see?

What other words stick out in your mind

Questions

Why do the Jewish leaders send spies instead of asking the question themselves?

By Jesus’ answer what do we see about how He views earthly governments?

What does that mean for how we obey our government? When does one not obey the government because of your faith?

Notes

vs 20- Jesus has embarrassed the Jewish leadership in 20:1-8, He has ridiculed them as evil in 20:9-19. To the point where the leaders now do not want to confront Jesus outwardly for it has gotten nowhere and they are afraid of the crowd’s reaction. So they develop the scheme of sending people pretending to be followers of Jesus to trap him with a question that will bring the wrath of Rome upon Him.

vs 21 In the question they try to butter Jesus up.

· He teaches Truth,

· you defer to no one. Remember Jesus calls out the Jewish leaders, yet raises up the status of sinners (chap 15) and children (18:15-16) .

· You are telling the people the way to get to God

The second one, not showing partiality, is where they seek to trap Him. Surely Jesus will speak against Caesar is the thought.

vs 22- The question is meant to trap Jesus. If he says do not pay then they can hand Jesus over to the governor. If He says pay the tax then He is belittled in the eyes of the people and loses clout. Then the Jewish leaders can take care of Him. (vs 19 points out they are scared to do anything with Jesus because of the people)

vs 23- Jesus knows their motives

vs 24 - probably the picture is of Tiberius with the inscription "Tiberius Caesar, son of divine Augustus"

vs 25- The answer is interesting. There is a sense that Jesus accepts the claim of the government of Rome. Very similar perhaps to Paul's thoughts in Rom 13:1-7. But he places that governing power under the direction of God. Jesus point may also be that the things of this world are not what He is about. His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) so it is possible to live under the rule of an earthly kingdom. The key however is while we are under the rule of the earthly kingdom that we realize the earthly kingdom is not what life is about. It will go away. What does matter is Jesus' kingdom an how one responds to it. (12:33-34). So Caesar can take his tax, but that doesn't prevent one from living for what really matters.

vs 26- The answer leaves them dumbfounded. The plot this time fails although when the charges do come against Jesus it is one the Jewish leaders accuse Jesus of (23:2)