Give back to God what is God's (Luke 20c)

Give back to God what is God’s

Luke 20:20-26
Key verse 20:25

One day a little boy found a coin on the ground while walking in school. He picked it up and it was a nickel. But he did not know what to do with it. He paused for a while. Then he went to the restroom, still not knowing what to do with the nickel. Then he saw his teacher peeing. The boy quietly came to the teacher and waited behind him until he finished his business. And then he handed it to the teacher, saying something to him. Can you guess what the boy said? What would you do if you found money on the ground? I pray that God may teach us a right answer through this message. The title of my message is “Give back to God what is God’s.”

In the previous passage, Jesus told the people the parable of tenants. Then, the teachers of the law and the chief priests realized that the parable was spoken against them. They had already tried to kill Jesus when Jesus drove out sellers from the temple and challenged their authority. (19:47) Now they were much more eager to kill Jesus. But they were afraid of the people who followed Jesus. If they arrested Jesus, the people would rise against them. So they took a different track, which was to use the power and authority of the governor. For that, they needed to make a political issue against Jesus.  

20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

The teachers of the law and the chief priests sent spies to Jesus. They hoped to catch Jesus in his word so as to hand him over to the governor.

21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

The spies pretended to be sincere and complimented Jesus on his righteousness and truthfulness. That way they tried to make Jesus take eye off the ball and then trap him in whatever answer he would make to the question they would ask him. Their question was,

22 “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

The Jewish people in Jesus’ time paid various kinds of taxes, such as crop tax, sales tax, property tax and the imperial tax, which was the one the spies asked about. Every Jewish man was to pay one percent of his annual income to Roman government. (bible-history.com) Jewish people disliked or refused to pay taxes to Caesar. Who would like to pay taxes to the king who occupied and oppressed their people? Another reason they did not want to pay taxes to Caesar was that paying taxes to pagan rulers was tantamount to submission to their authority. But it was necessary to pay taxes to survive under the Roman ruling. So “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” was everybody’s question.

Here the word “right” means lawful. So, their question was not simply whether paying taxes to Caesar was right or wrong. It was also about whether it was permitted by the law or not. The answer to the question Jewish people wanted to hear was “No.” But that was a trap the spies set up for Jesus.

If Jesus spoke against the taxes as his fellow Jews wanted, it was regarded as rebellion against Caesar and thus the religious leaders could hand him over to the authority of the Roman governor. If Jesus spoke for the taxes, it would disappoint his followers and the religious leaders could alienate the people from Jesus and then easily arrest Jesus for religious reasons. Their question was so cunning that Jesus seemed to be in dilemma.

23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

Jesus knew their craftiness and then asked them to show him a denarius. According to Matt 22:19, they brought him a denarius. Then Jesus asked them, “Whose image and inscription are on it?” They replied, “Caesar’s.”

The denarius was likely a silver coin made for the then Emperor Tiberius Caesar who reigned in Jesus’ time. On one side of the coin was his image and around the coin’s perimeter was the Latin inscription: “Tiberius, son of the divine August.” (On the opposite side was a picture of the Roman goddess of peace, Pax, with the Lain inscription, “High Priest.”) What did this mean, then?

The image and inscription on the denarius represented the person of Caesar and his authority. There was a saying among them, “He whose coin is current is king of the land." The Roman coin bearing the image and title of the Caesar, was circulated among Jewish people as the spies showed. This showed that the rule of Rome was already established and acknowledged by the Jewish people. They admitted this when they accused Jesus before the governor Pilate, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15)

The spies inadvertently showed the coin they carried with themselves. That meant that they were using it and so acknowledged Caesar’s authority over them. The whole Israel already accepted Caesar’s authority over them by using the coin. This meant that Caesar had authority to collect taxes as king of the land and the taxes were his. By this, Jesus exposed their hypocrisy that they used two different standards for the taxes and for their political situation. Now with the Roman coin they used, Jesus answered their question.

25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

First, by saying, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s” Jesus implied that they should give back the taxes to Caesar because it was his. The word “give back” is to return as a payment. Jesus did not mean that the Roman government was just, but he simply implied that they already accepted Caesar’s authority over them by using his coin and so they owed Caesar taxes. Paying taxes to him was a legal due to them. Thus it was right to pay taxes to Caesar.

Paul said in Titus 3:1, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good.” The Bible says that we should pay taxes to the government we belong to. Those who live in U.S. should pay taxes to the U.S. government. The U.S. citizens should do their obligations. Last year, I was selected as jury for a criminal trial. I did not like it but I had to because it was my duty as U.S. citizen. When I lived in Korea, I joined the army for two and a half years not because I liked it but because it was mandatory for all Korean men. And it was a good thing to keep the nation in order. Being subject to the legitimate authorities is biblical. So pay taxes faithfully. When you are caught for traffic violation, pull over your car and obey the police officer. Do your obligation as citizens.

Secondly, by saying, “Give back to God what is God’s,” Jesus meant that they should do their obligation as citizens of the kingdom of God as well. “What is God’s” refers to something they owed God, including the temple tax, appearing to God three times at the major festivals, keeping the Sabbath, and helping people in need. Basically, “what is God’s” refers to ourselves as we have God’s image in us. God imparted his image to us (Gen 1:27) like the coin bearing Caesar. We belong to God. We are his. So we are to acknowledge his sovereignty over us and give back to God things due to him thankfully.

The principle in his answer was that they should give back to the person what belongs to him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. If you borrow money, return money. If grace, give thanks. Rom 13:8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.”

But we have to think about why Jesus said, “Give back to God what is God’s.” This didn’t look pertinent to their question about the taxes. He could have just said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Why did Jesus say also about God’s?

As aforementioned briefly, Jewish people thought that paying taxes to Caesar was unlawful and ungodly. To them, paying taxes to Caesar was against serving God. They thought that they should not and could not do both. But Jesus said that both were not against to each other and thus they should do both. In other words, paying taxes to Caesar and thus submitting to his authority did not go against God’s authority.

Just after Judah was exiled to Babylon, the prophet Hananiah said that God would break the yoke of the king of Babylon and bring the exiles back in two years. He said that out of his nationalism and tried to instigate the exiles to revolt. (Jer 28:1-4) Then God said, “I will … make [nations] serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.’” (Jer 28:14) Soon the Hananiah died because he lied. Then God told to the exiles,

6 Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him…8 If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. (Jer 27:6-8)

5 Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper…10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” (Jer 29:5-10)

God used Babylon to punish Israel because they broke the covenant they made with God. In Lev 26:27,33 and Deut 28:36-37, God told Israel that they would be terribly punished if they broke the covenant,   

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over…33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. (Lev 26:27,33)

36 The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you. (Deut 28:36-37)

They were exiled because of their sins against God. So God wanted them to humbly accept God’s justice and his sovereignty in their exile and obeyed him.

God warned the exiles not to rebel but subject themselves to Babylon that God used as his servant and settle down in the cities they were sent to and pray for their prosperity, trusting in God’s sovereignty. Likewise, the Jewish people should not rebel against Caesar but conjoin his authority in obedience to God’s sovereignty. They should be subject to God and thus to Caesar. As such, these two, the secular authority and God’s authority, were inseparable from each other. Paul said in Rom 13:1-7,

“1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God…They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

There is no authority God has not established. All authorities come from God. Though many authorities may be ungodly and secular, there is God’s will and purposes. The former president Obama brought many unbiblical things into this nation. But God used him to do some good things as well. Donald Trump seems to have some problems but he has also some good things as well. We believers should believe God’s sovereignty in all this.

But the Jewish people did not see the authority of the Roman government in that way. They thought that the Roman government was absolutely evil and against God. They separated the authorities and God. But all authorities come from God. So, paying taxes was not necessarily against the law.

By saying, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar, and to God what is God’s” Jesus told them to subject themselves to Caesar’s authority and acknowledge God’s authority over the Roman government and over Israel. So they should pay taxes in obedience to God’s authority.

We believers also should do our obligations as citizens in this world and also as citizens of God’s kingdom. We should not separate these as secular or godly. We should know that God transcends all authorities. We should see that this world is under God’s ruling and he is in control.

Jesus’ answer stunned the people. It amazingly solved the hot and delicate issue.

Answering their question, Jesus also pointed out their hypocrisy that they did not want to give back either to Caesar or to God. In fact, the issue they brought to Jesus was not a political issue but it was a spiritual issue with them as Jesus pointed out. They seemed to refuse to follow Roman authorities out of their zeal for God but they actually subjected themselves to the Roman government.  For example, the high priest and the chief priests bribed the Roman governor to keep their authority. Outwardly, they served God in the temple. But they misused their authority for their sake and even rejected God’s authority. How?

God demanded them to obey his authority by sending his son Jesus. But they rejected Jesus and tried to kill him. That was exactly what happened in the parable of tenants in the previous passage. Interestingly enough, Jesus did not cite any from the Scripture in answering their question about taxes. Instead of saying, “It is written,” he said by his authority, which was over the Scripture, because he is the Son of God. In Matthew chapter 5 while talking about the Law, he said, “[the law said this but I tell you…” Jesus is the Son of God. By his authority he drove out the sellers from the temple and rebuked the religious leaders for their problems. By his authority, he answered the question about the tax. Jesus helped them obey God’s authority. But the religious leaders rejected and opposed him and tried to kill him. They rejected Jesus the Son of God and thus God’s authority over them, which was egregious. Their fundamental problem was that they did not want to give back to anyone. The Jewish people rejected God’s authority and rebelled against the Roman authority and then lost everything later. During the Great Revolt in 70 A.D. many Jews were sold as slaves and then after another revolt in 135 A.D. they were all expelled from the land and lost their nation until the World War II was finished.

In today’s passage, we have learned that we should give back things to the person who owns it. We have also learned that all authorities come from God. God is all in all. He is in control. He has the sole sovereignty over all other authorities. Therefore, we give back to him what is his.

At the begging of this message I talked about a little who found a nickel on the ground and gave it to his teacher who was peeing. The boy actually was me when I was in the 5^th grade. I said to the teacher, “This is not mine. Please give it back to the person it belongs to him.” The mindset of “This is not mine” helped me for my spiritual life. When I studied Genesis for the first time in my college days, I came to realize that I had God’s image imprinted on me and so I was his. Since then, I tried to give his back to him, giving my best time and my college life, serving him and preaching the gospel. The more I gave back to him, the more he blessed me. But I admit that I am losing such a spirit and no longer return money I find on the ground. Most of all I try to hold onto things for myself as I get old. That is not right. I don’t have my own. What I have is not mine. Everything I have is God’s. I pray I can give back to God all of his.

What about you? God is your owner and he deserves to receive all you have. A tithe is his. Your notebook is his. Your car is his. Even your life is his. So you and I ought to give back to him what is his. If we hold it back for ourselves or waste it, we are stealing his and we will eventually lose everything in vain. Give it back to God. It is our obligation, joy, and blessing.  Let’s honor him and show our respect and thanks to him by giving back to God what is his. by David Yun