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And He said to them, ‘Pay back the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar, and the things that are God’s to God.’

Luke 20:25

The sagacity of Christ filled the air. Everyone had a speechless moment as His words sunk in. But maybe there is a message here that still gets missed.

The word translated here ‘pay back’ does have that meaning. In the Greek, aπόδοτε is from a verb that means not simply to give or pay, but to ‘give again’ or ‘pay again’. For the concept concerning the Denarius, this makes immediate sense. The coin was minted by Caesar, so give it back to him.

But, for the other part, the meaning is often missed. Pay back to God the things that are God’s. Humanity bears the image of God according to Genesis 1:26-27. Jesus is literally saying that since humanity was minted by God, each person owes themselves back to God.

Heavenly Father, I know I owe all to You! But I so selfishly hold onto myself. Thank You for Your mercy! By Your grace I hope to give more and more of me to You. Thank You for Your Truth! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Show a denarius to me; whose image and inscription does it have? And, answering, they said, ‘Ceasar’s.’

Luke 20:24

Elementary. Everyone knew what a Denarius looked like. Jesus was emphasizing the obvious nature of His upcoming answer.

Heavenly Father, You are powerful and wonderful! I will always be singing Your praises. You alone understand us. You can tell exactly what we need and You see all our days ahead of time. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

But He, considering their trickery, said to them, ‘Why do you test me?’

Luke 20:23

It was no task at all for Jesus to see through their intentions. He could have hidden the fact that He knew what they were doing. But here He gives us the example of how to handle the underhanded.

Heavenly Father, this world is full of people ruled by sin, and but for Your grace we all are. Only by Christ can we live differently. Thank You for making us unpredictable by Your Spirit. You are truly glorious! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?

Luke 20:22

The question was meant to be the ultimate trap. They hoped that He would say no, because then they could take that to Pilate. They also hoped He would say yes, because that would presumably not be popular with the people.

Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that You always are at work in our lives. Your Word draws us to You. By Your love we come to understand Your message to us. The Spirit in our life is the greatest mercy and most abundant grace we could ever imagine. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

And they asked Him, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you correctly speak and teach, and do not show partiality, but teach the way of God truly.’

Luke 20:21

This was, of course, completely disingenuous. These spies were not even good flatteters! They went way overboard, and though Jesus could read their minds, He didn’t have to in order to see through this soft soap.

The funny thing is, …….it was all completely accurate.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Son Who is Truly the Good Teacher. He has led us to the Truth and by His sacrifice we have life. I can never thank You enough, but will forever sing Your praises! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

So they watched Him, sending spies who pretended to be righteous, that they should catch His words, in order to betray Him to the jurisdiction and power of the governor.

Luke 20:20

This may have cost something. If nothing else, it is par for the course for a religious group with political power. They had to be sure Jesus was dealt with, and soon. Pilate was now their best option.

Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your constant work in our lives. You never stop working through Your Word. It is the Open Bible that changes our outlook and renews our thinking. Though I still understand so little, your wisdom is my constant comfort. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on Him in that same hour, and they were afraid; for they understood that He had spoken this parable against them.

Luke 20:19

The Jewish leaders were afraid that Christ might act upon what they saw as a very direct threat. And indeed, He had the kind of influence with the people that other men would have taken advantage of. But Jesus is, of course, not just a man.

Heavenly Father, You are so powerful that You could stop everything right now and it would all be over. But though I cannot fully understand, Your power and Your goodness are not disconnected within You. All of Your attributes work together and make You The Glorious One. Thank You for working in us to do Your good pleasure. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, he will be crushed like powder and blown away.

Luke 20:18

Jesus is referencing many words of the prophets here. The second part of the verse especially refers back to Daniel chapter two. Those who fall on that stone are those who are impacted by Christ and find Him to be an offense, in this case the Jewish people. Those upon whom the stone falls are the nations at large. Christ is King, and His kingdom is supreme and eternal.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Son and the kingdom of light and life! You are wise, powerful, good and pure. I can never reach to the depths of Who You are! You overwhelm me with Your greatness! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

But, looking intently at them, He said, ‘What therefore is this that is written: The stone that was rejected by the builders, it has been made the head of the corner?’

Luke 20:17

This is one of the interpretive questions Jesus asks the Jewish leaders. And it is particularly pointed in this context. He intends to give them no room to escape. He makes it very clear that they are to be the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the rejection of the Messiah. Jesus is here directly quoting Psalm 118:22.

We must remember the nature of prophecy. The Jewish people as a whole did not reject the Lord only because it was prophesied that they would. It was prophesied that they would because God knew back in eternity past that this is what would happen. There is no degree to which humanity is not culpable for the choices made. This is why the Lord says that there is nobody who is righteous.

Many may have objections to this on the basis of the Sovereignty of God, saying that nobody could resist His will even if they wanted to. To this it must be replied that nothing and nobody could ever ultimately resist the will of God because He knows and superintends everything long before it ever happens. His Sovereignty is absolute and is injured in no way by saying we may choose to resist His will. For no amount of resistance may frustrate the purposes of the One Who knows everything before it ever happens. The devil and all his followers has not for one moment ever stopped Almighty God from accomplishing that which He has Sovereignly intended to do.

Heavenly Father, we live our lives as a tale that is told. Though our every choice is new and fresh to us, it is all known to You. I live in constant comfort in the knowledge that You know and control my beginning and my future. I can rest in You, for I know You have never once been surprised by anything. I love You, and I love living here, even with the presence of sin. But as all creation, I long for that day soon to come in which You have ended the time for rebellion. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others. But when they heard it they said, ‘No, certainly not!’

Luke 20:16

Careful comparison of Matthew 21:40-42, Mark 12:9-10, and Luke 20:15-17 reveals a difficult interpretive challenge. Indeed, many commentaries and ‘harmonies’ of the gospels choose to skip right over it. But the difference between Luke and both Matthew and Mark is obvious.

How can this be solved? Did Jesus tell them what should be done to the tenant farmers, or did those standing there do it? Matthew indicates that His hearers answered. Mark and Luke have Jesus answering the question. And, Luke shares a different answer from the hearers. How do we reconcile all of this?

In the context, Jesus is speaking in the temple and there are a couple of crowds that are involved. One crowd is the people at large assembled in the temple and surrounding area. The other crowd is the Jewish leaders. These two crowds were not assembled in front of Jesus with Him standing on a stage with a microphone in His hand. His words would in some cases be shared by one group over to another, since not everyone would necessarily hear him all at once.

Therefore based on the clues we have in all three passages, it seems that most of those who heard Christ were either in agreement with Christ’s statement of what should be done to the tenants, or said the same thing themselves when they heard it. Rhetorical questions do not always go unanswered and the reasonable answer was obvious.

But, the response of the Jewish leadership was unique. They understood the implication of the parable and Luke here shares their strong reaction. This is why Jesus looks right at them in the next verse, to respond to their aversion.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Truth. Even when those who should know the truth reject it strongly, You still give it to humanity. We are unworthy, but You are worthy of all praise. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.