The Roman Empire and every empire before it and since exists under the sovereign control of creator God. And don't forget you've been stamped with His image, redeemed by faith in the true Son of God, not Caesar. You have a true high priest. You belong to the royal family, not Caesar's. We're waiting, watching for our soon coming King.
Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. In Luke chapter 20, we see two opposing groups, the Pharisees and the Herodians. They come together with a common goal to trap Jesus. They posed a tricky question about paying taxes to Rome, hoping to discredit Jesus. Stay tuned to discover how Jesus navigated this political trap and the profound lessons we can learn from it.
This message is called Paying Your Dues. Now if you were with us in our last study, Jesus had told a parable that it exposed the religious leaders defiance against the prophets of God. They were rejecting the heir apparent, the Messiah, the cornerstone of the nation. And in this parable, Jesus predicted that because of their unbelief, God's judgment was going to come upon the nation. It would crush them. You could literally translate that.
It will grind them to powder. In other words, their unbelief and rejection of Jesus will one day be judged. And of course this parable infuriated the religious leaders because they knew Jesus was talking about them. And so did all the people. And so that's why we just read at this very hour. In other words, as soon as Jesus finishes this, they want to seize him, but they knew they couldn't without causing a riot.
The people are packing into Solomon's porch to listen to him. Remember the people have only recently announced that he is their king. So they got to come up with plan B.
What's that? Well they're going to try to shut Jesus down now here with this plan, verse 20, tells us what it was. And they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere that they might catch him in something he said so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. Now this is the same cat and mouse game they've been playing for three years. They're trying to catch Jesus.
In fact, that word catch was used for catching a mouse back in these days. They're going to bait Jesus. They wanted to say something that he's going to regret. Now Matthew and Mark inform us that these spies were members of two competing parties in Israel, the Pharisees and the Herodians. They didn't like each other at all, but they had a common enemy. The Pharisees, if you're newer to the faith, were what we might call today nationalists. They were red-blooded patriots for the nation Israel. They hated the government. They hated the authority of the government.
They hated anything related to any reminder that they were subjugated by Rome. On the other hand, the Herodians were Jewish people, but they were loyal to Herod's rule and to Herod's dynasty. They thought the nation Israel was better off if they would support Herod Antipas, in this case. He had even married a Jewess.
They were thrilled about that. The Herodians were a political party. The Pharisees were a religious party, and they were constantly at odds with one another. One of their fundamental disagreements was this, paying taxes to Rome. Keep in mind that the Law of Moses didn't provide any counsel on how Israel was to pay taxes or tribute to a conquering nation. That's because in the days of Moses, Israel was the conquering nation.
This had become a hotly debated issue for decades. What the Pharisees and Herodians do is they get together and come up with this plan. They're going to pretend that they're just having a little friendly debate, and they want Jesus to settle it, not just for them, but for the nation. I mean, since Jesus is effectively the King of Israel, right?
Well, what's he going to do about paying taxes to another king, the Emperor of Rome? So they approach him here, verse 21. They asked him, Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God, so we want to become your disciples now. Well, shouldn't that follow what they just said about Jesus? They shouldn't follow it with a trick question.
There ought to be some conversions here. Jesus, we know you're right. We know you speak the truth.
We know you're a man of impartial integrity. We know you're telling people how to walk with God, so we're going to try to trip you up. Well, the truth is they didn't believe anything. They just said about him.
They're just trying to butter him up so they can set him up and then hopefully bring him down. Now, let's get to their trick question, verse 22. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? Simply put, should the Jewish people pay taxes to Rome or not? Again, these are fighting words.
Blood has been spilled over this debate. To give you an idea of how violently people felt about this debate, back when Jesus was a little boy in 6 AD, a Galilean Jew mounted a revolt there in Jerusalem against Rome and his battle cry was this, God's land and God's people will no longer acknowledge the Roman government and no more taxes. And that started a war.
The revolt was eventually crushed but in the aftermath, it created what was called the Zealot Movement, a nationalistic, patriotic movement among the Jewish people. And by the way, you might remember when Jesus selected his 12 disciples, one of them was Simon, not Simon Peter. Luke introduced him to us back in chapter 6 as Simon, the one who was called a Zealot.
I mean, Jesus just brought one of those guys right into his discipleship training program. It must have been interesting, especially to try to keep him away from Matthew, the tax collector. Now, here's the tricky part to this tricky question. Everybody's probably leaning in to hear his answer.
Why? Because he's, well, he's obviously stuck. If he answers, don't pay your taxes, he could be charged with treason, arrested by the Romans. If he says, yeah, pay your taxes, he won't be arrested but he will be alienated from the Jewish people. He can't be our king and say that. What kind of king is he if he tells us to pay tribute to this foreign ruler? This doesn't sound like the beginning of his kingdom. This sounds like cowardice.
He'll be discredited. So no matter what side of the debate you're on here, this annual tax was so offensive. See, you need to understand, before we dive into his answer and take a deeper look, what it was like in this ancient world. The sign of kingship was currency. How did people know who their king was? How did people know how far out the territory was of this, this reign, how far it extended? Well, all you had to do was look at the money.
You looked at the money. Every new emperor minted coins with their image in all humility right there stamped on the front. Throughout the entire life, by the way, and ministry of Jesus, there was only one emperor. His name was Tiberius Caesar Augustus. If you lived back in these days, you were to pay annually to Caesar a poll tax.
That was simply the, you had the right to exist. That poll tax was paid and it had to be paid in the coin bearing his image. It was equivalent to one day's wage. You would begin paying it when you turned 14.
Later on, parents would have to pay it for each child when they turned three. This was the currency of the king. You traded with it.
You bought with it. And another sign of kingly authority was you paid taxes with it. There are numerous coins, by the way, that have been excavated during the reign of Tiberius. Back to his day, it had his image stamped on the front with his name. The added words could be translated that he was the son of the divine Augustus. In other words, he declared that he was the son of a god. He was divine.
And then on the back, the coin reads pontiff maxim. It means high priest or literally the highest priest. So Tiberius claimed not only political supremacy but divine supremacy. He also claimed the highest position of religious supremacy. He was announcing with his coin that he was king of everything.
To the Romans, to withhold the tax was to be treason against Caesar. Again, the Lord is stuck. Now here's the Lord's brilliant response. Verse 23, but he perceived their craftiness and he said to them, show me a denarius, show me one of these coins. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?
They said, Caesar's. He said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer, they became silent.
They're probably wondering whose idea was it to ask this question. By the way, it is ironic that when he asked for them to show them when they pulled one out of their pocket, they were carrying this idol. Today, historians and theologians agree that what Jesus answers here has become the single most influential political statement ever made.
It has been decisive in shaping Western civilization and the world we know today. In his answer, Jesus recognizes two divinely constituted spheres of authority. A delegated authority in government and the ultimate authority of God.
The apostle Paul uses the same word Jesus uses here for taxes and Paul expands on the answer over in Romans chapter 13 and verse 1. He writes, let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. In other words, God has delegated authority to governments even when they are predictably as the prophet Daniel wrote, even when they consist of evil men. Daniel 4.17 says that God appoints the lowliest, the most wicked. Many times we don't understand why God would do that. Why God would appoint a government that doesn't seem to fit our idea of progress.
What's God's long term plans and purposes, what they might be especially when the leadership is evil and depressive and people around the world are suffering because of it. The purposes of God are sometimes difficult to discern even when the ruler is as wicked here as Tiberius. A cruel man who enjoyed watching people thrown off cliffs at his command simply because he tired of them. He enjoyed watching people tortured. He personally invented ways to inflict pain. He was a bisexual pedophile without any legal restraint. His victims too numerous to record.
He set the evil standard for the future emperors like Caligula and Nero and Domitian. Jesus is saying pay your taxes to that man. Paul is saying pay them to Nero. The word for tax covered everything really. It would be expanded because governments tend to expand taxation. Taxes on houses during Paul's day. Taxes on clothing. Taxes on properties. Even income tax. For us today it includes all of that plus utility tax and property tax and inheritance tax and everything else. You know the old saying there are two certainties in life, death and taxes.
Someone wrote I wish they came in that order. Now if Jesus had only answered here pay your taxes to Caesar, he would have been alienated immediately and thrown out of the temple at first. What he does here is strategically diminish the role of government with respect. He reminds them that God is the ultimate government.
Now follow this carefully. These spies are posing a question that is an either or question. Verse 22 again. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? It's an either or.
Which is it? Jesus answers with a both and. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God. In other words there is this dual reality and responsibility to the city of man while we live in it under government.
Ultimately to the city of God under the governing authority of God. So pay your dues to Caesar and pay your dues to God. The verb to render, render to Caesar, render to God has the nuance of paying it back.
It's not yours. Pay it back. In other words give Caesar his little denarius. Give him his little silver coin.
Pay him back. It's his likeness on that coin. It's a reminder that he's the king in this city of man.
But get this. The word Jesus uses here when he asks these men whose likeness is stamped on that coin. That's the same word used by God back in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26 the Greek translation of the Old Testament where the triune God says let us make man in our image after our likeness. Look at the coin whose image is stamped on it.
Caesar's. Look at you. Everything about you. His image is stamped on you. His ownership. His authority over you. You are his creation. So pay Caesar back his little coin but give God everything you are. That's the idea.
Give him yourself. With this answer the Lord provides then several reminders and they exist by the way to this day. First, pay the taxes that you owe.
Aren't you glad we covered this at the time? You're about to prepare your taxes. This is a command. That means you don't have to pray about that 1040. You don't have to lay it out before the Lord and ask for a sign.
Just fill it out. As a citizen in the city of man pay your taxes even to Tiberias. I've read that the amount of income taxes by the way withheld illegally from the government in this country has now exceeded annually 100 billion dollars.
My question would be is some of that money yours? We submit to civil laws and ordinances and taxes so long as they do not require us to directly violate the scriptures. In fact when the government does with our taxes what they do with our taxes is not under our direction. It's under theirs.
They're going to give an account for what they did with it one day. We submit to governmental regulations and ordinances so long as they do not reshape our gospel, our character, even our city government. You might have noticed there are a few ordinances even with the city of Cary how many cars we can park out there.
That was determined by our city, not us. How big the church sign can be up there on Tryon Road. If it were up to us it would be 10 feet taller. They even tell us the maximum seating capacity in here.
Don't take any pictures. We're getting close. They can tell us how many we can seat in here. They can't tell us what we'll preach in here. They can't tell us how to live for Christ out there. If they do and it violates the word of God we will stand with the apostles who said we will obey God rather than man. Let's just make sure that it's a violation of scripture, not something we're uncomfortable with. In the meantime we're saying, Caesar, you can have your little coin but our hearts belong to you, God.
I hear the Lord here telling the believer in this answer to not only pay your taxes but secondly to be a blessing to your community. Don't abandon the city of man. Pray for it.
Care for it. Work for what's good and right. Influence it as salt and light wherever God has placed you. Demonstrate the law of love for the sake of the gospel every chance you get. God told the exiled Jewish community, remember, in Babylon to buy houses and plant trees and grow families.
Be a blessing to your city. I think of one of Paul's early converts to Christ who lived in Corinth. His name was Erastus in Romans chapter 16 and verse 23. He's introduced to us as the director of public works. He was in charge of the public buildings and the road systems there in the city of Corinth.
Excavations unearthed an inscription near a theater in Corinth that said this, Erastus, in return for his position as magistrate, laid the pavement here at his own expense. A blessing to his community. One more. Don't lose sight of who's in charge. As we live out the gospel and make disciples of the nations, just remember our king is ultimately in control of all things, even the governments of the world. He's going to physically return one day, be with him and rule the nations in his glorious kingdom. Now, I understand that sounds like a slow solution, doesn't it? We'd like something a little faster, especially when your country seems to be sliding backward instead of moving forward. But that's still the plan.
Make disciples of the nations. Let me remind you of a man by the name of Robert Perry who, on one of his polar expeditions, was traveling north with his dog sled. At the end of the day, when he took a bearing on his latitude, he was shocked to discover that he was further south than he was when he began the day. Even though he had fought his way forward with difficulty all day long, he was now further behind than ever. The solution or the mystery was solved when he realized he'd been traveling on a gigantic ice floe. The ocean current was pulling himself faster than he could move north.
Sometimes it feels like that. But let me encourage you, beloved, in the context of this passage and this direction from the Lord, the solution is not fewer taxes. The solution is not a better Caesar. The solution is not a better country. The solution is a wiser perspective that understands that God is in control of the ice floe. He has mapped out the speed and the direction, and it will one day enter the harbor of his sovereign purposes, right on time.
The Roman Empire and every empire before it, in a sense, exists under the sovereign control of creator God. So what do we do? With joy, in obedience to Christ, pay your taxes. Oh joy, great delight.
Be a blessing to your community. And don't forget you've been stamped with his image, redeemed by faith in the true Son of God, not Caesar. You have a true high priest who didn't Caesar. You belong to the royal family who didn't Caesars. We're waiting and watching for our soon coming king.
That was Stephen Davey and this is Wisdom for the Heart. As we close today's episode, remember the wisdom Jesus displayed in answering his challengers. He taught us to respect our earthly authorities while ultimately honoring God's sovereignty.
Let's be diligent in our responsibilities, whether paying taxes or being a blessing to our community, all the while keeping our focus on God's ultimate authority. For more insights and wisdom from God's word, visit wisdomonline.org. While you're there, try out the chat bot that's linked at the bottom right of every page. That resource has indexed all of Stephen's teaching and can give you instant answers to your Bible questions. Check it out today, then join us back here next time on Wisdom for the Heart. Thank you.
