Macedonia Methodist Church
Sunday, December 7, 2025
  • Luke 20:20–26 BSB
    So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor. “Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they answered. So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people; and amazed at His answer, they fell silent.
    Someone once said, “While there are just two certainties in life: death and taxes, at least death doesn’t get worse every time Congress is in session!”
    Humorous, but true.
    I read the story the other day and want to share it with you.
    “A man on vacation was strolling along outside his hotel in Acapulco, enjoying the sunny Mexican weather.
    Suddenly, he was attracted by the screams of a woman kneeling in front of a child.
    The man knew enough Spanish to determine that the boy had swallowed a coin.
    Seizing the child by the heels, the man held him up, gave him a few shakes, and an American quarter dropped to the sidewalk.
    “Oh, thank you sir!” cried the woman. “You seemed to know just how to get it out of him. Are you a doctor?”
    “No, ma’am,” replied the man. “I’m with the United States Internal Revenue Service.”
    Its ok to laugh.
    Even at corny stories.
    Having to pay taxes has never been popular.
    Taxes are not a voluntary contribution. It is something I shake my head at nearly every time I receive my paycheck.
    To fail to pay one’s taxes, or to pay less than one should is a sure way to get the attention of the government, and to discover just how strong they feel about our payment of taxes.
    Matter of fact, did you know that no one owns land in America.
    You may be thinking to yourself, well you might not own any but I do.
    Think again, if you don’t pay your property tax every year, you won’t be owning it for very long.
    The payment of taxes is a very pragmatic matter, for governments do not run without money, tax money.
    But paying one’s taxes is also a symbolic act, evidencing his or her submission to the one that is paid.
    Paying taxes is thus a practical acknowledgment of that government’s right to rule over us, and of our submission to its authority.
    Don’t want to submit to their authority, that’s fine, don’t pay your taxes and eventually it will catch up to you.
    Remember the old saying, “politics makes strange bedfellows,” well that is certainly the case in Luke 20.
    Jesus had answered the challenge of the Jewish leadership about his authority to cleanse the temple and teach in the temple (v. 2).
    First with an embarrassing question concerning where John the Baptist got his authority (v. 3) and then with a parable (vv. 9-16).
    According to verse nineteen they were so infuriated that they would have arrested Jesus on the spot, had they not been hindered by the crowd in the temple.
    They decided then and there to trap Jesus somehow into condemning himself with his own words.
    Verse twenty reveals, Luke 20:20
    Luke 20:20 BSB
    So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.
    The religious leadership of Israel formed a conspiracy against Jesus, according to Mark 12:13 it was the Herodians and the Pharisees who formed a coalition.
    Mark 12:13 BSB
    Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.
    There could hardly be a more unlikely partnership.
    “The Pharisees represented cautious resistance to Rome, the Herodians wholesale accommodation. But they were cemented together by their mutual hatred for Jesus.
    The Pharisees hated him because he was disrupting their religious agenda, the Herodians because he threatened their political arrangements”
    Today it would be like Presidents Joe Biden and Donal Trump getting together to fight a common cause.
    It is very rare that Democrats and Republicans ever agree on anything.
    About the only thing the Pharisees and Herodians did agree on was the Jesus had to go.
    In verse twenty-one we read, Luke 20:21
    Luke 20:21 BSB
    “Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
    When they came to Him, they came with a deceitful flattery.
    What a bunch of hypocrites!
    What does the Bible say about flattery?
    Proverbs 29:5 BSB
    A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
    Romans 16:18 BSB
    For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
    Proverbs 26:28 BSB
    A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
    Be careful when people flatter you, they might have an alternative agenda.
    They no more believed that Jesus “taught the way of God in truth” than they believed the moon was made of green cheese.
    Flattery is the reverse mirror-image of gossip.
    “Gossip involves saying behind a person’s back what you would never say to his face. Flattery is saying to a person’s face what you would say behind his back.”
    It’s even worse in today’s age.
    We have keyboard warriors that take to social media and say mean, cruel, and hurtful things that they don’t have gall to say to their face.
    These religious leaders are evil and wanted nothing more than to kill Jesus.
    After these spies thought they had laid the ground work with sufficient flattery, they posed their question in verse twenty-two, Luke 20:22
    Luke 20:22 BSB
    Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
    Before we look at this question, we need to look at the types of taxes that were paid.
    There were three basic types of taxes in Israel at this time:
    (1) a land tax (1/10th of all grains or 1/5th of all fruit or wine);
    (2) a custom tax (collected at ports and city gates – rates were 2 to 5% of the value of the goods) and;
    (3) a poll or tribute tax - (paid by everyone between the ages of 14-65, when a census was taken – just for the privilege being alive).
    Some have speculated that Roman taxes totaled over 1/3 of a person’s income.
    This is true today where the average middle class worker pays somewhere around 38% of the salary in taxes.
    People my age and younger will never see a return on this investment.
    In this passage Jesus teaches two profoundly important truths.
    First, Jesus taught the believer’s obligations to the state
    (vv. 23-25)
    Jesus was not fooled by them or taken in by their flattery.
    He looked beyond their hypocrisy and saw their evil intent.
    Verse twenty-three, Luke 20:23-24
    Luke 20:23–24 BSB
    But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they answered.
    Jesus asked these religious leaders for a coin, but he specifically asked them for a Denarius.
    The Denarius was a small silver coin that had the value of one day’s wages.
    The reason that Jesus asks for the Denarius is more evident in Matthew’s account (22:19), Matt 22:19
    Matthew 22:19 BSB
    Show Me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought Him a denarius.
    You can almost see one of the men without thinking reach into his robe and pull out one of these little silver coins.
    I think there is a touch of humor in this.
    First of all, he embarrassed his challengers by showing who was carrying the offensive coin.
    In using the coinage they had tacitly accepted Caesar’s rule.
    He then asked them.
    Who owns this coin?
    Who gives value to it?
    Who did you get it from?
    Who’s image in on this coin?
    The answer of course was Caesar.
    And then Jesus said in verse twenty-five, Luke 20:25
    Luke 20:25 BSB
    So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
    Jesus tells them, “This is really not that complicated, give back to the one you got it from.
    It’s not yours. It was provided for your use, but it really belongs to Caesar. So give it back. It’s that simple”
    I think that Jesus is also recognizing something important here.
    These Jews benefited from Roman rule, they used the system of Roman roads, and the peace that came with along with the Roman army.
    Jesus is saying that those who enjoy Caesar’s benefits should pay Caesar’s taxes.
    What do we owe human government?
    Is there an obligation there? Jesus says there is!
    A Christian’s civic duties can be wrapped up into just three things.
    1. Pay - God calls on us as Christians to be good citizens. We need to pay our taxes, we enjoy the benefits, we should pay our share.
    2. Pray 1 Tim 2:1-2
    1 Timothy 2:1–2 BSB
    First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.
    3. Obey. In Romans 13:1-7, Paul expands on the words of Jesus,
    Romans 13:1–7 BSB
    Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval. For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer. Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work. Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
    This teaching is so important that it has helped to shape the world as we know it today.
    Paul sets out the general principle in verse one of Romans 13:1 when he says,
    Romans 13:1 BSB
    Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
    In these verses Paul tells us that we are to submit to human government, even pagan governments, so long as they do not try to cause us to violate the Word of God.
    God has placed governments on the earth to restrain sin until He comes.
    We are to obey government, not as an enemy of God, but as the agent of God.
    Secondly, Jesus taught the believer had obligations to God
    (v. 25)
    But just as the denarius was Caesar’s coinage, Man is God’s coinage.
    The coin belonged to Caesar because it bore his image, and we are God’s because we bear his image.
    Genesis 1:27 says,
    Genesis 1:27 BSB
    So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
    Because we bear His image, we owe God what belongs to him; our lives and our allegiance.
    The Greek word for image here is (eikon) it is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) when it translates the verse from Genesis that I just read to you telling the story of how God created man in His own image.
    We are literally the eikon of God.
    Look once again at what Jesus said in verse twenty-five, Luke 20:25
    Luke 20:25 BSB
    So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
    I want to close by asking you a question.
    What do you have today that belongs to God?
    Are you holding on to your time?
    Do you really think it’s yours?
    Perhaps God is saying to you today, "I want time with you. I want to know you personally, intimately."
    Perhaps God is calling you to make a commitment this day to faithfully block out time for Him daily.
    Are you holding on to God’s tithe, mistakenly thinking that it’s not really His, but yours?
    Are you robbing God?
    That’s what Micah the prophet calls it (Micah 3:8).
    God cannot bless those who are stealing from Him.
    Perhaps He is speaking to your heart today, calling you to give up what doesn’t belong to you.
    It doesn’t belong to you because it belongs to Him.
    He only gives it to you in order to bless you.
    God has promised to pour out an abundant blessing upon those who obey Him.
    Obey Him today.
    Give of your time, talents, and money.
    Perhaps you’re holding on to the talents and abilities God has given you.
    Perhaps you’re sitting back, unwilling to really get involved, unwilling to really commit to participate fully in the life of the church.
    Perhaps the Lord is speaking to you today to get involved, to get committed, to report for duty.
    If God is speaking to you about what you owe Him, be obedient today.
    Bring your account up to date. It is your duty to do so.
    Verse twenty-six gives us how this confrontation ended, Luke 20:26
    Luke 20:26 BSB
    And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people; and amazed at His answer, they fell silent.
    When they could not refute what he had said they went away in silence.
    Much like the silence that has fallen here today.
    I don’t want this service to remain silent though.
    I invite you to come forward now and give to God what belongs to Him.
    As I start praying don’t stay in your seat if God has delt with you today.
    Come forward and receive from him.
    PRAY

      • Luke 20:20–26ESV

      • Luke 20:20ESV

      • Mark 12:13ESV

      • Luke 20:21ESV

      • Proverbs 29:5ESV

      • Romans 16:18ESV

      • Proverbs 26:28ESV

      • Luke 20:22ESV

      • Luke 20:23–24ESV

      • Matthew 22:19ESV

      • Luke 20:25ESV

      • 1 Timothy 2:1–2ESV

      • Romans 13:1–7ESV

      • Romans 13:1ESV

      • Genesis 1:27ESV

      • Luke 20:25ESV

      • Luke 20:26ESV

Macedonia Methodist Church
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