Luke 20:20-26 - Navigating Dual Citizenship

Introduction:

Most people like law drama’s. There is something about the intensity of a courtroom that appeals to the average person. You have the defense and the prosecution. You have the judge and the jury. There are so many aspects of the trial that keep it interesting. One such slip up from either side can result in a catastrophic loss. One brilliant move might result in an unexpected victory.

Today we are going to see a courtroom drama played out during the last week of Jesus’s life on earth. No, this isn’t the literal fake court that will be set up in a matter of days to falsely accuse and convict Christ. But instead, this is the people’s court.

Two unlikely groups are about to form an alliance against Jesus. These two groups have one united goal.

Their (Evil) Mission - to remove Jesus from the temple in one of two ways: either through arrest and death or through removing His favor with the people.

These two groups that despise one another are united around one thing - Jesus has got to go. They might not agree on many other things, but they are crystal clear that Jesus is a problem in their eyes.

Let’s read the Scripture today to prepare as we go through this short, but captivating account.

Read Full Scripture:

Luke 20:20–26 ESV

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. So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 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.” 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.

Prayer

Today we will see three amazing ways Christ continues to prove that He is the Messiah. The first is…

I. Christ Conquers All Attacks (20-23)

Luke 20:20 ESV

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.

The Situation: Jesus Versus the Herodians and Religious Leaders

This interchange that we are going through today takes place right after Jesus has told the parable of the wicked tenants that we covered last week. The religious leaders understand that Jesus has just spoken about them and their wickedness. Although they were extremely angry with Jesus, Luke 20:19 tells us that they fear the people and so they do not arrest Him or lay hands on Him at this point.

In a similar way to their interaction with Jesus regarding the baptism of John, they put their heads together to contrive another plan. This time they decide to send out spies to catch Him in something that He says.

In the midst of this political and theological battle, an unlikely alliance has formed. In Mark 12:13 as well as Matthew 22:15-16, we learn that the Herodians have joined the religious leaders in their plot to destroy Jesus. This shows their hatred toward Jesus in a mighty way. The Pharisees were nationalistic and legalistic. They hated Rome. While the Herodians were sell-outs to Rome who would have been considered extremely liberal and progressive in reference to their theology. These two groups were usually at odds with and despised one another. However, their hatred of Jesus formed this unlikely evil alliance.

They realize that they have been unable to corner Him with their own laws - but maybe they will be able to hand Him over to the Romans. It's really interesting that they come up with this plan right after Jesus has just said that He would be taken out of the vineyard and killed in the parable. Their plan seemed to be bent on making sure His prophetic parable proved true! Although they likely did not understand that section of the parable, they would literally end up fulfilling this prophecy. Jesus would be handed over to the Romans and tossed out of the vineyard of Israel and crucified. But as we will see in a few moments, today won’t be that day though!

Listen to these spies at work in verse 21…

Luke 20:21 ESV

So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God.

The Preparation: Faithless Flattery

The spies come up and flatter Jesus with their words. There are three things that they say about Jesus that are true. However, they hypocritically say these things and do not believe them. They assert that…

Jesus speaks and teaches rightly

Jesus shows no partiality

Jesus truly teaches the way of God

These spies have baited the hook. They will butter Jesus up and then strike when He least expects it. Their plan would be successful if they were dealing with just an average man. Most men fall for such flattery.

The Bible actually teaches us that a man is tested by the praise he receives in Proverbs 27:21:

Proverbs 27:21 ESV

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

Adversity obviously tests us as well. But we see that praise is a huge test for most people.

I was having a discussion this past week about the fall of many mega church pastors and church leaders. Many of these men have failed the test of praise. They have begun to believe what everyone said about them. People talked about how smart they were and how great they were. People worshiped them as a Christian idol. They asserted that they could speak no wrong or do no wrong. People have hung on every word they have spoken from the pulpit. Men and women have given tons of money to ‘support their ministry.’ Over time they start to believe the lie that they are super spiritual. And before you know it, their pride leads to their destruction and to their fall (Proverbs 16:18).

My friends, may we avoid the snare of pride. Never believe what the world says about you. It may be that they are saying negative things about you. The world hates us as believers. We should not believe their lies. But it is just as important that we make sure we don't believe the good things they say about us as well. Sometimes, because of the fruit of the Spirit, we appear outwardly much better than we actually are. Anything good that we have or that we do comes from our Father above. There is nothing naturally good in us as Romans 3 asserts. We must avoid being puffed up by ourselves or others.

Jesus, however, sees right through their plan. He will not be swayed by man's opinion. He created man. He knows what is in the heart of man and refuses to entrust Himself to man as seen in John 2:24.

Jesus also understands the dangers of flattery. This is why He has warned us in His Word about these dangers many times. Consider a couple of these warnings that we are to heed:

Proverbs 29:5 ESV

A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

Doesn’t this clearly explain the plan that the spies have set to trap Jesus? They were seeking to spread a net to catch Jesus.

Psalm 5:9 ESV

For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

The religious leaders are full of hypocrisy and deceit. They flatter with their tongue but their heart is filled with evil intentions and death.

We must beware of those who are quick to flatter. Encouragement is a great thing. The Bible clearly endorses encouragement. But flattery is different than encouragement. There is an old saying that speaks about flattery in a clear way:

Flattery is saying to a person’s face what you would never say behind his back.

In other words flattery is the opposite of gossip. These religious leaders were obviously railing against Christ behind His back. Yet, these spies speak words that seem to drip honey. However, this honey is as unclean as the honey Samson ate and defiled himself with from within the dead lion that he killed in Judges 14:9.

Beware of flattery, my friends. Always remember that Satan often disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). These spies obviously are Satan’s followers. Though these men certainly think that they are righteous, they are blinded to their evil allegiance to the enemy of mankind.

Now that they have attempted to butter Jesus up, now they pounce…

Luke 20:22 ESV

Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

The Operation: The Seemingly Unanswerable Question (Verse 22)

These spies think that they have contrived the perfect question - the perfect plan - and the perfect operation. They are going to get Jesus caught in the cross-hairs of Rome. If they aren’t able to trap Jesus with their own laws, they will trap him with Rome’s.

Their question involves the tribute to Caesar.

The Romans imposed many different taxes on the Jews. However, there was one tax that the Jewish people hated most. This was the poll tax - or the tribute to Caesar. This was a so-called existence tax. Everyone had to pay this tax just for being a part of the Roman nation. The tax implied that Caesar owned them which really made the Jewish people scoff at it as they viewed themselves as solely God’s possession.

Why was this questions seemingly unanswerable?

Jesus, in their minds, would have to answer this question one of two ways - either of which would get Him into trouble.

Answer #1 - The Jews were God’s people and did not need to pay the tax.

Result from this: The Herodians (brown-nosers to Rome) would tell Rome and have Jesus arrested for treason.

Although the Jewish people would rejoice in such an answer, Jesus would be promptly arrested by Rome.

Answer #2 - The Jews should pay the tax in Rome.

Result from this: Jesus would lose favor with the people who despised this tax, and His following would disband quickly.

It seems that Jesus is cornered at this point. They have baited the hook, and now have cast it into the water. The only thing left for them, in their mind, is to wait for Jesus to bite on one of the two supposedly hidden hooks and then they would reel Him in…

But listen to verse 23…

Luke 20:23 ESV

But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them,

The Anticipation - Jesus is Omniscient. He Knows All

We see the omniscience of Jesus. He is all knowing. Although He is fully man, He is also fully God. We are told that He perceives their craftiness. He knows that they are lying and flattering him. He knows that their question has an ulterior motive. He understands that this is a trap set by Satan’s minions. He has not been caught off-guard.

Jesus conquers all attacks. And as the conqueror, Jesus…

Scripture References: Luke 20:19, Mark 12:13, Matthew 22:15-16, Proverbs 27:21, Proverbs 16:18, John 2:24, Proverbs 29:5, Psalm 5:9, Judges 14:9, 2 Corinthians 11:14

II. Christ Calls Us to Complete Allegiance (24-25)

Luke 20:24 ESV

“Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.”

The Reciprocation: Answering Another Question with a Question

In His brilliance, Jesus asks for a denarius. A denarius was around a day's wage for a normal worker.

Someone in the crowd must have pulled one out at the time, and so Jesus asks whose likeness and inscription it has. Those in the crowd promptly reply that Caesar’s inscription is upon it.

This inscription of the face of Caesar also contained the phrase “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.”

The religious leaders were really thinking they had Christ cornered now. The senate held Caesar as a godlike divine. Jesus was stuck now. Wouldn’t this break the second commandment - Exodus 20:4 - no graven images?

But next comes the power punch…

Luke 20:25 ESV

He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The Explanation - Clear and Concise

Jesus then says to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. This is such an all-encompassing statement. Clear and yet concise.

This statement by Jesus has been quoted and referenced countless times throughout the ages. Before getting into the many implications that this statement brings, let’s dive into the immediate context of this interchange.

This coin has been minted by the authority of Rome. It’s worth was implied by Rome. And so it was perfectly acceptable to pay the poll tax. Rome had a claim on it.

However, Jesus also reminds them about their own minting. They are each made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Because of this, they must recognize the authority of God over them. God deserves their worship and obedience. God deserves their tithing and their allegiance.

This politico-religious statement from Jesus provided the framework that Paul teaches from in Romans 13:1-14 and Peter expounds in 1 Peter 2:13-17.

Jesus is talking about the earthly kingdoms of the world and the kingdom of God. This is a common teaching by Jesus throughout His ministry. We are to be about the kingdom of God first and foremost.

However:

Jesus reminds us here that we are to respect the kingdoms of the earth and the governments of the earth because of a really important fact - God has ordained them all (Romans 13:1).

Good, bad, and ugly - God sovereignly sets rulers in place.

Listen to Daniel 2:21:

Daniel 2:21 ESV

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

And in Proverbs 21:1 we see that God even directs the heart of kings.

Pilate, in talking with Jesus, reminds Jesus of his power over Him at that point. Jesus responds that he wouldn’t have any power if it was not given to him by God above (John 19:11).

Although our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), we are to obey and even pray for our earthly governments (Romans 13:1-14, 1 Peter 2:13-17, 1 Timothy 2:1-3, Titus 3:1).

In light of this truth, how do we respond when the government requires or encourages us to do something sinful?

We see this clearly illustrated in Acts 5:29:

Acts 5:29 ESV

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

The same concept is seen in Acts 4:19-20. In both of these instances, the Apostles respect their earthly leaders, but refuse to quit preaching the Gospel despite their earthly leaders demanding that they stop. There is a time for civil disobedience. But this only comes when the government asks that you sin.

Another important aspect that we need to consider is in the matter of Christian conscience. There may be times where the government or another authority (be it the workplace or maybe even in the home) asks you to do something that you cannot do in good faith. In these cases we must look at Romans 14:23:

Romans 14:23 ESV

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Paul is in the middle of discussing food sacrificed to idols. Although he has just clearly taught that an idol isn’t anything and that one has Christian liberty to eat such meat, he reminds the people of the Christian conscience.

If one cannot do something in good faith - meaning that there is a Holy Spirit-driven conviction against it - then one should refrain from doing it.

Individual Christian conscience and liberty is something that we need to understand and respect. There are some things in our lives that might not be black and white sins for everyone. Some things are not taught implicitly or explicitly in Scripture, and there is Christian liberty in these situations. But for those who are convicted about such things, they should refrain from doing them as it may be sin for them.

However, we also must not abuse this as well.

One should not use the argument of conscience and conviction in a flippant or sinful way. This needs to be a truly convictional issue and not just something that you don’t prefer. Sometimes in our nation of give me liberty or give me death, we can struggle with using the liberty card in a sinful way.

We are not to pull the conscience and conviction card just to avoid doing what we don’t want to do. This would be sinful in and of itself.

We should seek to live in peace and harmony with the world as much as possible - as long as it is not sinful (Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

As you can see, Jesus’s one-liner statement packs quite a punch when you really dive into it. We have seen that Jesus conquers all attacks in our first point. We now have seen that He calls us to complete allegiance to Him as the King of Kings even as we seek to obey our earthly leaders… and finally we see that…

Scripture References: Exodus 20:4, Genesis 1:27, Daniel 2:21, Proverbs 21:1, John 19:11, Acts 5:29, Acts 4:19-20, Romans 14:23

III. Christ Compels Us to Everlasting Awe (26)

Luke 20:26 ESV

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.

The Vindication: Christ is Clearly Victorious

Instead of their plan working out, they begin to marvel at Jesus. His wisdom and brilliance silences them.

The one’s trying to take Jesus out can’t help but be taken aback by His superior intellect and abilities and wisdom. They thought that they had devised the perfect plan. They had the hook baited, they had chummed the waters with flattery, but still they couldn’t catch Jesus!

They could do nothing but marvel and be in awe of His superior abilities.

Obviously, this wasn’t the kind of awe which results in repentance and faith. They continued to rail against Jesus. Their awe was the kind of respect that one might give to one’s opponent because of the fight that they just put up.

But Jesus compels His followers to revere and be in awe of Him. To worship Him.

How often do you pray in awe and wonder of Christ? How often do you take a step back and see His brilliance and majesty?

This past week, as I was preparing this message, I couldn’t help but be in awe and wonder of Jesus. As I am reading through the Bible in this B90x plan - I am seeing God’s sovereignty at work over and over again. And as I prepared this week’s sermon, this interchange was overwhelming when you really dig into it.

Jesus is going toe to toe with some of the most brilliant theologians in the world. And now they even bring in some of the most brilliant lawyers in matters of secular law. The deck seems so stacked against Him in this scenario. And yet He is able to silence them with just one question and a statement.

Going back to our courtroom analogy, how many courtroom dramas portray a lawyer that just says a couple of things and then the case is over? I would say just about never in all my years of watching them!

Yet Jesus has won in 28 English words which is only 19 Greek words in the NT!

Listen to the author of Hebrews remind us of the need to be in awe of God:

Hebrews 12:28–29 ESV

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

May our worship be acceptable to Christ. May we worship Him with reverence and awe. For He is a consuming fire. He is powerful. He is the One Who will judge the world. His kingdom cannot be shaken, and His rule and reign will be everlasting.

I pray that each of us have humbled ourselves before this consuming fire. God has provided salvation through Christ’s finished work on the cross. If only you will repent of your sins and believe in Him, you can be saved.

May all of us worship Christ with awe and reverence and humble ourselves before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is no one higher and no one better.

Scripture References: Hebrews 12:28-29

Conclusion:

As we come to a close, we have seen an amazing interchange. The elites of their day have went toe-to-toe with God-made-flesh and have been consumed by His superior intellect and brilliant omniscience.

Christ has conquered this attack on Him, and He will continue to conquer every attack on Him. We will see later in this book that He will even conquer death and the grave thereby providing salvation for those who would trust in Him and repent of their sins!

Christ also calls us to complete allegiance to Him. We are first and foremost citizens of heaven - namely citizens of the kingdom of God. We obey God rather than man. But as dual citizens of both heaven and earth, we are to respect and obey our earthly leaders unless they lead us to sin. Christ has given us the perfect example of how to navigate dual citizenship.

And finally, Christ compels us to everlasting awe and reverence. His glory will be celebrated for all eternity.

May we live our lives as obedient and godly dual citizens, always remaining obedient to our King of Kings above all.