Luke 20:19-26 English Standard Version Paying Taxes to Caesar 19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 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. This is a passage that not many people in this day like to hear, but people in Jesus' day especially hated this message because they saw the tax collectors (like Zacchaeus who Jesus recently fellowshipped with) as traitors who betrayed their Jewish brothers and sisters to the pagan Romans. They were seen as worse than Gentiles and they were excommunicated so they could not bring sacrifices to the Temple or come there to worship (this is why the tax collector in Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is standing far off--he's getting as close as he's allowed to get to the altar). Now, the scribes and chief priests knowing that Jesus has associated with tax collectors in the past and how the people feel about paying taxes and about their fellow Jews working as agents of the Roman government who were occupying Judea, Samaria and Galilee as well as the surrounding area, tried to trap Jesus by asking Him if it was right for God's people to pay taxes to a pagan emperor like Caesar who practiced emperor worship. Their question is rooted in the Law. Was this a form of idolatry and by paying taxes were the people complicit in worship of the emperor?
Although that sounds like a good question when framed the way that I framed it, we know from what Luke writes before this that it was not asked as a serious question, but as a pretense to arrest Jesus. It was a "gotcha" question where there was supposed to be no right answer for Jesus. If He agreed with them that paying taxes to Caesar was equivalent to idolatry then they could Jesus over to the Romans and He'd get the death penalty for telling people to not pay their taxes. However, if He said that the people were obligated to pay their taxes to Caesar then they expected the people to revolt against Him (remember it's almost Passover which is known to be a time when the people are stirred up with memories from the Exodus and they are ready to be "set free" again even if it means they need to riot to do so). They hoped the people would then turn against Jesus, and maybe would even do the job of killing Him for them. Why have they gone on the offensive like this? Because they perceived correctly that the last parable that Jesus was telling the people (about the evil tenants) was about them. They wanted to respond by arresting Jesus right then and there, but they feared the people, so they had to come up with some pretext for arresting Him--especially so close to the holiday. In fact the text is clear that there are now spies planted among Jesus' followers, but they are there to try to trap Jesus into saying something that will get Him in trouble with the Roman governor (Pilate). Again, the Jewish leaders are trying to figure out a way to get Rome to take care of Jesus for them. So then, we know from what Luke tells us that this is meant to be a loaded question that Jesus shouldn't have a way out of other than to not answer it. Yet, Jesus turns things around and asks them a couple of questions. They may try to use flattery to say that Jesus is impartial and that they are interested in learning the way of God that they say they are interested in Him teaching to them, but we know what's really going on, and so does Jesus. He is not fooled by them one bit. Jesus decides to use an object lesson and asks for someone in the crowd to hand Him the kind of coin that would be used to pay their Roman taxes (a denarius). Then He asks the crowd whose image is stamped on the coin. The religious leaders think they have won at this point, imagining that Jesus is going to say that Caesar stamping his own image on the coin is a violation of the second commandment, and that using Roman money was tantamount to being participants in idolatry. However, that is not where Jesus goes with His object lesson. The crowd knows whose image it is and answers, "Caesar's." Some might have imagined it was a dumb question....did Jesus really not know who Caesar was when He saw Caesar's image? Of course He did! But the point Jesus was trying to make was that Caesar's image being on the coin was a sign of Caesar's ownership of that object--all money issued by the Roman government was stamped with Caesar's image to make it apparent to everyone that it was Roman currency and that they had a right to it in the form of taxes. Now then, Jesus flips the script and says that we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's (the things stamped with Caesar's image), but to God the things that are God's (we are to be made in the image of God). In the context of Passover God redeemed a people for Himself out of slavery in Egypt and He made them a nation in a day. He declared that they now belonged to Him and he put His image upon them giving them the Law and the Tabernacle, and giving them His name to call Him by and for them to be known by. They were called The LORD's People by the other nations. So then, if this is true, why then are they unwilling to give themselves to the LORD as tribute in the same way that it was expected that the coin bearing Caesar's image was to be used to pay tribute to the emperor? The religious leaders are flabbergasted that He had gotten out of their trap and had once again trapped them. They had no reason to arrest Him for what He said for He not only told the people to pay their taxes, but also told them to obey the Law and pay their tributes (tithes and offerings to the LORD). How could they turn Him over to the authorities for this kind of answer? They could not! In fact, they are so dumbfounded by His brilliant answer that they are silent not knowing what to say. Don't worry though, they will be back. Just like when Satan left Jesus at the end of His temptation in the wilderness, it was only until a more opportune time to test Jesus could be found again. This whole week that we call "Passion Week" or "Holy Week" will be a time of testing and examination for Jesus. It must be proved to all that this is the Lamb of God without blemish, and it's ironic that God is using Jesus' enemies to accomplish this good purpose. They are trying so hard to find any defect that they can to disqualify Jesus from being the Messiah (the King), yet they are unknowingly examining Him to be their Passover Lamb. Comments are closed.
|
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
January 2025
Categories
All
|