“Rendering to God – A Priority of Rule”
Luke 20:20-47
“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” – Luke 20:23
These words of Jesus highlight a priority of rule. “Render therefore to Caesar the things of Caesar,” that is to your earthly rule, “and to God the things of God’s,” that is your heavenly rule.
There is a hierarchy, a priority of rule. Now, which do you think is higher? What rule has priority, the earthly or heavenly? Well, obviously the heavenly, and so Jesus masterfully highlights that answer in the discussion with his foes.
The thing to note, however, is that his foes are not really looking for the truth and thus their thinking [their logic] becomes twisted. It reminds me of some of our media today. Are really looking for truth or simply twisting words to promote their own truth? Well, nothing new under the sun. Jesus faced the same challenges over 2000 years ago.
The context of our passage is Jesus in Jerusalem for His final week [Passion Week; Daniel’s 69th seven prophesied in Daniel 9]. He came to cleanse Israel and the Temple, which were at the heart of the nation’s worship. But they continued to reject Him; and even began to plot to kill Him.
And so here in our text, we find the religious leaders interrogating Jesus through misguided questions. Their questions were not to find answers, but to trap. They were “gotcha” questions with the intent to destroy.
“But He perceived their craftiness” [Lk 20:23]. This word “craftiness” [panourgia in the Greek] is used only five times in the New Testament. It is used to describe Satan’s deception of Eve in 2 Cor 11:3; the deception of false teachers in Eph 4:14; the self-entrapment of worldly wisdom in 1 Cor 3:19; the improper method of presenting the gospel in 2 Cor 4:2; and here in our passage the Pharisees trying to catch Jesus in Lk 20:23. panourgia is a premeditative ploy to trap and ensnare, with the goal of destroying.
But notice how Jesus masterfully answered their questions. He succeeded because He knew the Spirit of the Law beyond the letter of the Law. And that was the key. It is the key to answering philosophical questions of the Bible.
“but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” [2 Cor 3:5-6]
That is why personal prayer and worship need to be practiced alongside our study of God’s Word. They impart the Spirit of the Law.
