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About-Him.Com Devotional 08-27-2005
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My Thoughts on the Life of Christ, from His Baptism to His Ascension.

191: The Question of the Tribute Money Mt.22:15-22; Mk. 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26  

Luke 20:20 ¶  And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
21  And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:
22  Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?
23  But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? 24  Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s.
25  And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.
26  And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
 

Having failed in their challenge to the authority of Jesus and still smarting from His stinging rebuke, the temple rulers withdrew to reconsider their strategy.  

Up until this time, the main opponents of Jesus had been the Pharisees who were fiercely opposed to the foreign rule of Rome and who resented Roman taxation. They combined forces with the Herodians who were normally their enemies. Little is known of the Herodians except that they were not opposed to the present government. They were loyal to the local rule of Herod and didn’t mind paying their taxes to Rome. They had no desire to rock the boat as long as all was going well. Both sides hated Jesus and had been seeking to destroy Him since His early ministry (Mark 3:16). They  were willing to lay aside their differences once again  to try and ensnare Him.  

They sent  some men who appeared to be pious and struggling with the legality of paying taxes to Rome.  They asked Jesus a straight forward question which demanded a yes or no answer, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” If Jesus answered no, He would be taken to jail as a revolutionary. If He answered yes, He would lose favor of the people. They thought that they had Him trapped this time.  

Jesus, who knew what was in the hearts of men (Matthew 12:25; John 2:24) and immediately denounced these men as hypocrites. He asked for a penny and then asked whose image was on the penny. They said, “Caesar.”  Jesus answered, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” The men marveled at the answer of Jesus and went away quietly.  

Conclusion and Application:  

These men had an agenda and came to Jesus with feigned words. Many sects appear to be holy. They come as lambs but in reality are ravening wolves. Many profess to have a deeper knowledge of God which they are all to eager to share with you. (Matthew 7:15). I weary of people who only know one subject and who use a few scriptures as dividing points. If the main focus of any group is not Christ crucified, I reject them and refuse to listen to anything they have to say (I Corinthians 2:2).  

Governments are ordained of God and we are commanded to be subject to them. Good citizenship demands that we fulfill all that does not oppose the law of God. Governments need money to function and taxes are the price we pay for stability.    

God has first claim on our lives and we are commanded to love Him with all of our heart soul and might. Anything that we do must be in the name of Jesus. If it doesn’t bring Him glory, it is wrong.  

Deuteronomy 6:4 ¶  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  

Colossians 3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
 

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Humor
Our dinner table discussion one evening focused on home work assignments, specifically our ten year old's lesson on acronyms. I asked him if he knew what "CEO" stood for. He didn't, so I explained it meant Chief Executive Officer.  

"That definitely must be what Dad is," our son commented.  

My husband was beaming with pride but felt the need to be truthful. "No, I'm not a chief executive officer."  

Our son replied,  "Oh, I thought mom said 'Cheap' Executive Officer."

Somebody Has Said
"Just as a servant knows that he must first obey his master in all things, so the surrender to an implicit and unquestionable obedience must become the essential characteristic of our lives." - Andrew Murray

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Don and Marie Spooner
About Him! Ministries

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