Day Twenty One.2

Luke 20:20-26

20.) So 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.

21.) So they asked Him, "Teacher, we know that You speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God.

22.) Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?"

23.) But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them,

24.) "Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?" They said, "Caesar's."

25.) He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

26.) 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.

         We were told when we were kids to never talk to people about religion or politics. Someone would get angry. When I was growing up that was not a problem to me. I didn’t care for religion or politics. I cared about sports. I cared about girls. I cared about…well, that was just about it. Then, I accepted Christ as Savior and my perceptions completely changed. I had a desire to tell others about Jesus. Politics still didn’t resonate with me, but I did decide that a candidate’s Spiritual life would mean more to me than her or his politics.

         Actually, politics and religion have always been intertwined. Ancient Israel was a Theocracy. The scribes and Sadducees and Pharisees of Jesus’ time were basically politicians. The hated each other but they came together to combat Jesus. Not because He was Messiah, but because He threatened to disrupt their fragile political house. When they did capture Him and hold His mock trial, they could not pronounce death on Him. They had to take it to the supreme politician in Israel, Pontius Pilate. Since the close of the New Testament, religion and politics has been mixed together to produce the greatest bloodletting in history. The combining of religion and politics has not been comfortable or Godly, but there it is. I believe the admonition to not talk of religion or politics has done way more harm than good. As Christians, we are to share the Gospel. As Americans we are to be at least politically aware.

         In the above passage, the religious authority (scribes, Sadducees, Pharisees) wanted Jesus out of the way. The easiest way to do this was to get Him to say something that would turn people away. If that failed, they would manufacture charges to have Him killed. Either way, Jesus would be gone.

         So the trouble makers were sent in. They acted like people who were seeking truth, but they were just attempting to get Jesus to say something wrong. Verse twenty two says, Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not? No Jew wanted to pay the tax. If Jesus said, pay the tax, the people would have been angered and would have left. If Jesus had said, don’t pay the tax, they could have called the Roman authority and had Him arrested and probably killed for stirring up trouble. Any way that He would answer would have cost Him.

         In verses twenty three, twenty four and twenty five, Jesus responded in the perfect way. But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Show Me a denarius. 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."

         This sounds like He is saying to pay the tax. However, not all money exchanged was Roman money with the image of Caesar on it. Because the Jews had a commandment to have no graven images, they only used Roman money for official transactions that in some way involved the Romans. But they had their own money that they used. It was this money that was to be used as tithe and offering at the Temple. Your tax to Rome was on the Roman money you had. The tax to the Temple was on the Jewish money you had. The less Roman you had, the less tax. But you had to have Roman money to buy or sell property or any number of other things. So, most Jews carried both. Interestingly, Jesus Himself carried no Roman money. He had to ask for the coin. Jesus saying give to Caesar what was his and to God what was His referred to these two taxes. The answer satisfied the people. You could live without Roman money if you lived simply, which many did. The ‘religious leaders’ could not accuse Him of sedition. The attempt to use government against Christianity failed.

         In our society, even being a good citizen, as Jesus was, will only take you so far. Your faith will be used against you to diminish the Lord’s power. But still, we must be the best of citizens for as long as we can, as well as being the best Christian we can be.

         Our prayer today is to stand firm for Jesus while using His wisdom against the world. At the same time, being the very best Christians we can be. We need to ask the Lord to equip us and then we need to receive that equipment, even when it is not what we want.