13

A Diagnosis of the Christ Rejecters
(Luke 20:19–26)

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” And 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 unable to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent. (20:19–26)

Israel’s history, in spite of singular blessings, is a long and relentless account of rebellion against God, indifference to His revelation, and disobedience to His law. God’s prophets, sent to call for repentance and proclaim His loving offer of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, the nation regularly persecuted and killed. That tragic history of wasted privilege is summed up in the dramatic parable Jesus told in the previous section of Luke’s gospel (see the exposition of vv. 9–18 in chapter 12 of this volume).

Israel’s rebellion against God culminated in their treatment of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In spite of all the Old Testament prophetic revelation that pointed unerringly to Him as Israel’s long-awaited king, the generation that saw Him carried out the most unthinkable crime against God—the murder of the divine-human Messiah.

The religious leaders knew of Christ’s virgin birth, sinless life, divine words, and power over demons, disease, death, and nature. They had heard His offer of forgiveness, salvation, blessing, and eternal life in the kingdom of God. That Jesus’ words and works were the fulfillment of many Old Testament promises and prophecies was obvious. Though the religious leaders never denied Christ’s power, miracles, or unequalled wisdom, they rejected Him, because of His attack on their false religion.

Two days before they had Him executed, on Wednesday of Passion Week, one of several confrontations between Jesus and the religious leaders took place. The tide of popularity had not yet faded because the people were hopeful that He was the messiah they envisioned, who would establish His throne in Jerusalem with glory and power. The leaders, who had hated Jesus since His ministry began by His first attack on their temple (John 2), wanted Him dead more than ever. In a remarkable display of diabolical brilliance, they engineered a complete shift in the public attitude toward Jesus. On Friday, the crowd that had enthusiastically shouted, “Hosanna,” and hailed Jesus as the Messiah on Monday, changed their shout to “Crucify Him!”

This incident reveals a complex of six motivating sins driving the leaders: hatred, pride, hypocrisy, flattery, deception, and stubbornness.

HATRED

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, (20:19a)

So serious was the threat posed by Jesus that the members of the various groups, who often clashed with each other, found unity in their determination to be rid of Jesus. The scribes, many of whom were Pharisees, were the experts in the law of Moses and the rabbinic traditions. The chief priests included the reigning high priest, Caiaphas; the former high priest, Annas; the captain of the temple, who assisted the high priest; and other high-ranking priests. Many of them were Sadducees. Matthew 22:15 and Mark 12:13 note that despite their animosity toward each other, the Pharisees and Herodians (Jews who supported the Herodian dynasty) were also part of the plot (their collusion went back much earlier in Jesus’ ministry; cf. Mark 3:6). All desperately sought to find a way to lay hands on (arrest) Him and eliminate Him as soon as possible.

The religious coalition, however, could not just seize Jesus openly. Both they and the people understood that the very public parable He had just taught (vv. 9–18) was aimed at them. If they carried out their plot publicly, they would confirm what He had said about them and risk bringing the wrath of the people down on their own heads.

Their strategy was to enlist the aid of their bitter enemies, the Romans. Since Rome was extremely sensitive to the threat of insurrection, particularly during Passover, and could be counted on to take swift action against any rebels, if they could lure Jesus into making an anti-Roman statement, then report Him to the Romans as a political revolutionary, the Romans could have reason to take Him and execute Him. Merely seeing Jesus captured by the Romans would be enough to discredit Him in the eyes of the people, especially if He had no power over His captors.

PRIDE

for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. (20:19b)

As mentioned, the religious leaders understood perfectly that Jesus spoke the parable recorded in verses 9–18 against them, but were reluctant to take action to kill Him, because the people still held Jesus in high regard (Matt. 21:46). They also feared losing the honor and respect which regularly fed their self-righteous egos. They sought “the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men” (Matt. 23:6–7), ostentatiously announced their giving to the poor (Matt. 6:2), and “love[d] to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they [might] be seen by men” (v. 5).

Yet, ironically, these religious hypocrites loathed and despised the very populace whose attention they craved. They derisively referred to them as being ignorant of the law and accursed (John 7:49), and disdainfully refused to associate with them. Utterly without compassion, they “tie[d] up heavy burdens and [laid] them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves [were] unwilling to move them with so much as a finger” (Matt. 23:4). Like all false teachers, they ruled by fear and intimidation, threatening that those who did not obey their teaching would miss out on the kingdom of God. Their false teaching led people into eternal ruin, turning them into twice as much sons of hell as they were (Matt. 23:15). These false teachers were neither God-pleasers nor man-pleasers, but self-pleasers, who fed their proud souls on the accolades of those whom they intimidated and abused.

HYPOCRISY

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. (20:20)

The religious elite’s hatred of Jesus and prideful desire to maintain their own elevated status led them to a third sin. Hypocrisy is a hallmark of all false teachers who, like their father Satan (John 8:44), pretend to be righteous (2 Cor. 11:15). Looking for the opportune moment, they watched Jesus, and in addition to keeping Him under general surveillance, sent spies from both the Pharisees and the Herodians (Matt. 22:16) to follow Him. Those leaders and spies were hypocrites, who pretended to be righteous truth seekers, but in reality sought only to catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the Roman governor.

As noted above, the Jewish council’s plan was to use the Romans, specifically Pilate, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover season, to execute Jesus. The people expected the messiah to overthrow all Israel’s enemies, and establish the nation’s superiority and blessing as promised by the prophets in the Old Testament. Therefore the true Messiah would have to view the Romans as idolatrous, blasphemous, pagan intruders to be judged.

To keep up the pretense of being Messiah, the leaders reasoned, Jesus would be forced to take the popular view that the Romans had to be opposed and overthrown. Therefore all they had to do was maneuver Him into a position where He had to say that publicly. Once He was identified as a revolutionary, the Romans would arrest Him. That would prove that they had power over Him and not He over them, and the disappointed people would turn against Him.

FLATTERY

They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. (20:21)

Those who questioned Him formally addressed Jesus as teacher, a title reserved for the most respected and honored rabbis. Though intended as flattery, what they said about Him was true. Jesus did always speak and teach correctly, was not partial to any, and did teach the way of God in truth and never anything else. The Lord did not adjust His message based on the kind of response He received or who He was talking to. He did not equivocate because of human opinion or possible consequences. This lying sarcasm of their disingenuous flattery was intended to trap Jesus and to destroy Him.

There are two reasons that they spoke to Jesus the way they did. First, they thought He was like them and would respond with feelings of pride so that He would be painfully truthful when questioned to justify their compliment. Second, they wanted to pretend that they agreed with how the people viewed Him. They were hateful flatterers, trying to tempt Jesus to incriminate Himself in a self-serving attempt to avoid contradicting their commendation.

DECEPTION

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (20:22–25)

The greatest admiration that could be paid to an esteemed teacher was to elevate him by asking difficult questions, particularly those regarding the law of God. Assuming that they had Jesus where they wanted Him, His enemies posed a carefully crafted query for Him, “Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” By lawful they were referring not to Roman law, but to God’s law. They thought they knew that the biblically correct answer was negative, and that that was the answer the people would expect. The people believed that the land of Israel and all that it produced belonged to God. Consequently, they hated paying taxes to occupying pagan idolaters.

And there were diverse taxes imposed by the Romans, including income taxes, land taxes, import taxes, and transport taxes. But the tax the Jewish people hated most was the poll tax everyone paid for living under Rome’s authority. They found it especially offensive because it suggested that Caesar owned them, while they passionately viewed both themselves and the nation as solely God’s possession. Taxation was a constant source of friction between the Jews and Rome, and played a large part in both the rebellion led by Judas of Galilee (A.D. 6–7) and the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66–70, which ended in the utter destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus.

The leaders thought that they had forced Jesus into an impossible and inescapable dilemma. They were certain that to avoid alienating the people, He would have to affirm the popular view that paying taxes to Rome was violating the law of God. But such a response would leave the very popular Jesus open to the charge of inciting an insurrection against Rome. If He gave that answer to their question, they would dispatch the Herodians to inform the Romans, who would need to seize Jesus, dashing the hopes that He was God’s king.

Jesus, however, detected their evil attempt at trickery. “Show Me a denarius,” He demanded. A denarius was a silver coin minted by the authority of the emperor, worth equal to a day’s wages for a Roman soldier. In Jesus’ day, a denarius would have had the image of Emperor Tiberius’s face on the front, and on the reverse side, an imprint of him sitting on his throne wearing priestly robes. Because the Jews considered such images to be a violation of the second commandment (Ex. 20:4), which prohibited idolatry, they avoided carrying such coins. When one was produced, Jesus, without hesitation, asked, “Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” The obvious answer was given: “Caesar’s.”

The profundity of Jesus’ next statement should not be lost in its simplicity. “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” He told them, “and to God the things that are God’s.” The Lord’s point was that people are to fulfill their obligations, both materially to human government and spiritually to God. Render translates a form of the Greek verb apodidōmi, which refers to giving back something that is owed.

There are some things that belong, in the providence of God, to the temporal realm. God Himself had brought Israel under Roman rule and Caesar was their earthly ruler. They were to support his rule because all government is ordained by God to protect the innocent, and restrain and punish evil, as Paul noted in Romans 13:1–4:

The Romans did those things. They were powerful militarily, and provided peace, security, and protection. The network of roads and shipping channels they created facilitated the flow of goods and commerce that added to their subjects’ prosperity. It was legitimate for them to expect those valuable services to be supported by those who benefitted.

The same is true today. Christians are citizens of this temporal world, under the authority of human government. At the same time, they are subjects of the kingdom of God, under the rule of God and Christ. In the worldly realm, they are to meet their obligations to those governing powers that God, in His sovereign providence, has placed in authority over them. That is true whether they live in a democracy or a dictatorship. In either case, they are to both fear God and honor the king (1 Peter 2:17). Jesus affirmed the right of governments to collect taxes for their support because they are ordained by God for man’s well-being and safety. Without such ruling powers, there would be anarchy, chaos, and destruction. When a government, however, commands believers to do what God forbids, or forbids them to do what God commands, it must be legitimately disobeyed (Acts 4:19; 5:29).

On the other hand, Christians are always required to render to God the things that are God’s. He is the one to whom we belong and whom we serve (Acts 27:23). To Him belong solely our soul’s, worship, praise, trust, love, and obedience.

STUBBORNNESS

And they were unable to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent. (20:26)

Instead of marveling at Christ’s astonishing wisdom and reexamining their obligation to God, the frustrated leaders were amazed, but rather than admit that to Jesus, they became silent. Their attitude toward Him had not changed. Though they had failed to elicit the incriminating response from Him that they had hoped for, they stubbornly persisted in trying to find another way. When they finally managed to bring Jesus before Pilate, they lied and said, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar” (Luke 23:2).

Their sinful stubbornness left them in a hopeless, irremediable, unredeemable situation.