The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Jesus is Lord over all spiritual and secular powers
Luke 20:20-26
Jesus had preached in the temple against the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law and so they tried to trap Him in His words. They sent spies to catch Him out. They wanted to get Him to say something against Rome and have the Romans deal with Him. There wanted Jesus dead and buried. Jesus knew what they were trying to do and that they were trying to flatter Him by calling Him a good teacher. They thought Jesus would be anti-Roman. They believed Jesus would not support paying taxes to the Romans. They thought if He spoke against paying taxes the Romans would arrest Him and if He spoke in favour of paying taxes then the crowd would reject Him. They challenged Jesus as to whether He would obey God or obey Rome? Jesus answered the question with a question. He knew what they wanted Him to say and that they aimed to trap Him. Jesus turned the tables and put the Chief Priests and Teachers of the Law on the spot. The coin said that Tiberius Caesar was divine and the greatest high priest. Using these coins was deeply offensive to the Jews. The coin was a direct challenge to the Jewish faith in only one true God. It broke the first commandment. What Jesus said would have shocked everyone.
What does this mean today:
- God is sovereign over everything – Jesus was not intimidated by the coin. He later told Pilate the he had no authority over Him. Jesus said that the Caesar on the coin would one day bow the knee to Him. If we believe Jesus is Lord then we do not need to fear human rulers (Luke 12:5). Our God is sovereign over all. There is no power that is not subject to God. There is only one Sovereign Lord God Almighty.
- Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s – Jesus defined the relationship between church and state. We should pay taxes and obey the law of the land we live in. We should also give back everything to God – every part of our lives. Jesus commands us to not separate the Christian and secular areas of your lives. We need to bring Jesus and His Lordship into every area of our lives. Are you shining for Jesus in the role He has called you into? Are you embracing the season you are in?