August 14th, 2024
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Jesus and the Government
Based on Luke 20:20-26
A man was walking down the street one day when he heard the screams of a woman. He turned to see the woman leaning over her little boy. He rushed to their aid and learned that the boy had swallowed a quarter. Thinking quickly, the man grabbed the boy by the ankles, lifted him in the air upside down and gave him a few shakes. Suddenly, the coin flew out of the boy’s mouth. The mother thanked the man and asked him if he was a doctor. He replied, No, but I do work for the Internal Revenue Service.
Someone has said, “While there are just two certainties in life: death and taxes, at least death doesn’t get worse every time Congress is in session!”
Jesus took a lot of criticism for spending time with one class of people called “publicans.” Why, because they were Jewish men who collected taxes from their own people for the Roman Empire. They were considered to be traitors to their own people. Besides, one of the least popular things people of any country, has to do is pay taxes.
Our text, which was read earlier in the service, is an occasion when undercover spies from Jesus’ greatest opponents, the Jewish Sanhedrin, cooked up a question that was sure to trip Jesus up.
They buttered him up by telling him that they knew he was a wise teacher who was always truthful and impartial with his judgments. Then they popped the question: Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Truthfully, they didn’t really want to know the answer to their question. They just wanted catch Jesus in a trap. They loved to ask “either, or” type questions knowing that either answer would get Jesus into trouble with someone. But Jesus seemed to delight in thwarting their schemes. You see, if Jesus were to say, “NO WAY! Don’t pay taxes to these uncircumcised butchers!” They could have turned him in to Pilate as a rebel. He would be arrested, jailed and possibly executed. Then he would be off their hands.
If Jesus were to say, “Of course you should pay your taxes,” the people would have turned against Jesus and possibly stone him to death right on the spot. Or at least they would have stopped listening to him.
But Jesus handled their question with class, style and wisdom.
Jesus asked them to show him a Denarius, which was a common Roman coin. They should have known at that very moment their trap had been debunked. Then Jesus asked them whose image was on the coin.
I love their response. “CAESAR’S!”
Actually, besides Caesar’s image, the inscription would have said, “Tiberius Caesar, Augustus son of the divine Augustus”
Then he punched them in the stomach with the words, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
These words were the closest to a political statement Jesus ever made at least so far as any discussion of the Roman Empire as related to the conquered Jewish people. In giving this answer, Jesus was saying that government, even bad government, holds its rightful place of respect for followers of God.
The Apostle Paul elaborated on this concept in Romans 13:1-7
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. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 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.
We learn to obey God by obeying the institutions of authority that he has given us. Obedience to our parents, our teachers, our governing authorities and so on. God created us thrive in an orderly society. Anarchy is not of God.
Sometimes our government doesn’t go the way I think it should. We have observed our government do away with prayer in schools; devalue the life of unborn children, even permitting their execution in the womb. We’ve seen what the Bible calls sin, encouraged by the authorities.
Jesus also said to give what belongs to God to God. Well what is it that belongs to God about you? That’s right! Everything! You and I owe God our allegiance every day. It is right to pledge allegiance to the American Flag, but we should also pledge our very lives to God.
God has given us his very best. He gave his innocent son to die a cruel death on the cross in our place. I mentioned that this was Jesus’ most political statement concerning earthly politics. In fact Jesus’ resistance to get hung up in human politics was part of what made so many religious leaders turn against him. But Jesus was very political. He talked constantly about the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. It was the subject of every parable. The 3 chapters of Scripture produced on His Sermon on the Mount were all about this Kingdom. In fact, his main purpose was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
When Pilate was interviewing Jesus about the charges the religious leaders had brought against Jesus, he asked Jesus if he was a king. His reply was, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36
Friends, I love the United States of America! I was born here and believe that God has blessed us more than any country since Israel. However, the USA is NOT the Kingdom of God. I am an American, but more important, I am a citizen of God’s Kingdom. His Kingdom is his rule over my life and my heart. America may one day fall. But the Kingdom of God is eternal.
Does that mean we should avoid politics in our nation? Should we just keep our mouths shut? John the baptizer was arrested by Herod because John spoke out against the moral decay in this political leader’s life. The Apostle Paul used his Roman Citizenship to appeal his arrest all the way the throne of Caesar so that he could preach the Gospel to multiple Roman leaders all the way to the top.
We should defend our nation. We should vote in the elections. We should speak out about moral decay, but we must understand that political power will not change the country. Only the Gospel proclaimed to people will change our nation because only the Gospel will change hearts and lives.
God does not have a philosophy of government that matches any of our political parties' agendas. One could make a case that the record of each party is mixed from a Biblical standpoint.
There are two extremes to be avoided in our outlook on government. The first is to see government as the enemy of God, and to be always opposing ourselves to it. The other extreme is to view government too highly, as man’s salvation and security. It is very easy to look to government for those things which only God can give and it is very easy to turn from God to government. In our text, we see Israel’s leaders looking at Jesus, the Messiah, as the problem which they must be rid of, and a heathen government, Rome, as their deliverer. Just as Israel rejected God when they demanded a king so that they could be like the other nations, (1 Samuel 8), we too often reject God and look to government to “save” us.
Some Christians oppose government unnecessarily and un-biblically, using God as their pretext for rebellion and disobedience. Others seem to view government as the solution to all our earthly (and spiritual) problems. Some think that we can establish a righteous government on the earth and so clean it up that Messiah will come. My friend, only the Messiah can clean up this mess. It is only after He comes again that a truly righteous government will exist. Let us keep government in perspective. It is not the enemy of God, but God’s agent. Let us obey government as unto the Lord, in every way possible.
I find it very interesting that the religious leaders of Israel could not find a religious solution to the problem of Jesus. Jesus was not the problem, but the solution, and yet they failed to see it, or to accept it even if they did understand that He was the Messiah. Unfortunately, I find many professing Christians resorting to political means and methodology because of our spiritual impotence. When we turn from dependence on God, we turn to human means and methods. We often depend more on politics than we do on the power of God to solve our problems. Let us find Him sufficient. Let us go about our task using the implements of spiritual warfare, not the secular crutches of politics. Let us look to God and not to men for the establishment of righteousness on the earth.
Let’s remind ourselves that the gospel is our Lord’s “Declaration of Independence.” It is only by faith in His death on the cross that we can be truly free. He is the Truth that sets men free. May you experience that freedom today.
For the believer Jesus’ words suggests two important questions. Whose image do we bear? The answer is self-evident: the image of God. The second question is the critical one, “Have we given to God, what is God’s?” If we think that God wants our money, or our time or our talents – or even those nearest and dearest to us – we are wrong!
The Father wants us. We must give to God what is God’s! We must give Him our lives. And He will not settle for less than all. If we resist Him, we will not have His rest or His peace. Friend, give to God what is God’s – Give yourself!
Whose image is on your life?
This Sunday we will share a message titled From Impossible to Possible based on Matthew 19:26 and other Scripture. I hope you will come and take part in this great message from the Word.
Living for His Image,
Jon
Jesus and the Government
Based on Luke 20:20-26
A man was walking down the street one day when he heard the screams of a woman. He turned to see the woman leaning over her little boy. He rushed to their aid and learned that the boy had swallowed a quarter. Thinking quickly, the man grabbed the boy by the ankles, lifted him in the air upside down and gave him a few shakes. Suddenly, the coin flew out of the boy’s mouth. The mother thanked the man and asked him if he was a doctor. He replied, No, but I do work for the Internal Revenue Service.
Someone has said, “While there are just two certainties in life: death and taxes, at least death doesn’t get worse every time Congress is in session!”
Jesus took a lot of criticism for spending time with one class of people called “publicans.” Why, because they were Jewish men who collected taxes from their own people for the Roman Empire. They were considered to be traitors to their own people. Besides, one of the least popular things people of any country, has to do is pay taxes.
Our text, which was read earlier in the service, is an occasion when undercover spies from Jesus’ greatest opponents, the Jewish Sanhedrin, cooked up a question that was sure to trip Jesus up.
They buttered him up by telling him that they knew he was a wise teacher who was always truthful and impartial with his judgments. Then they popped the question: Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Truthfully, they didn’t really want to know the answer to their question. They just wanted catch Jesus in a trap. They loved to ask “either, or” type questions knowing that either answer would get Jesus into trouble with someone. But Jesus seemed to delight in thwarting their schemes. You see, if Jesus were to say, “NO WAY! Don’t pay taxes to these uncircumcised butchers!” They could have turned him in to Pilate as a rebel. He would be arrested, jailed and possibly executed. Then he would be off their hands.
If Jesus were to say, “Of course you should pay your taxes,” the people would have turned against Jesus and possibly stone him to death right on the spot. Or at least they would have stopped listening to him.
But Jesus handled their question with class, style and wisdom.
Jesus asked them to show him a Denarius, which was a common Roman coin. They should have known at that very moment their trap had been debunked. Then Jesus asked them whose image was on the coin.
I love their response. “CAESAR’S!”
Actually, besides Caesar’s image, the inscription would have said, “Tiberius Caesar, Augustus son of the divine Augustus”
Then he punched them in the stomach with the words, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
These words were the closest to a political statement Jesus ever made at least so far as any discussion of the Roman Empire as related to the conquered Jewish people. In giving this answer, Jesus was saying that government, even bad government, holds its rightful place of respect for followers of God.
The Apostle Paul elaborated on this concept in Romans 13:1-7
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. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 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.
We learn to obey God by obeying the institutions of authority that he has given us. Obedience to our parents, our teachers, our governing authorities and so on. God created us thrive in an orderly society. Anarchy is not of God.
Sometimes our government doesn’t go the way I think it should. We have observed our government do away with prayer in schools; devalue the life of unborn children, even permitting their execution in the womb. We’ve seen what the Bible calls sin, encouraged by the authorities.
Jesus also said to give what belongs to God to God. Well what is it that belongs to God about you? That’s right! Everything! You and I owe God our allegiance every day. It is right to pledge allegiance to the American Flag, but we should also pledge our very lives to God.
God has given us his very best. He gave his innocent son to die a cruel death on the cross in our place. I mentioned that this was Jesus’ most political statement concerning earthly politics. In fact Jesus’ resistance to get hung up in human politics was part of what made so many religious leaders turn against him. But Jesus was very political. He talked constantly about the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. It was the subject of every parable. The 3 chapters of Scripture produced on His Sermon on the Mount were all about this Kingdom. In fact, his main purpose was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
When Pilate was interviewing Jesus about the charges the religious leaders had brought against Jesus, he asked Jesus if he was a king. His reply was, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36
Friends, I love the United States of America! I was born here and believe that God has blessed us more than any country since Israel. However, the USA is NOT the Kingdom of God. I am an American, but more important, I am a citizen of God’s Kingdom. His Kingdom is his rule over my life and my heart. America may one day fall. But the Kingdom of God is eternal.
Does that mean we should avoid politics in our nation? Should we just keep our mouths shut? John the baptizer was arrested by Herod because John spoke out against the moral decay in this political leader’s life. The Apostle Paul used his Roman Citizenship to appeal his arrest all the way the throne of Caesar so that he could preach the Gospel to multiple Roman leaders all the way to the top.
We should defend our nation. We should vote in the elections. We should speak out about moral decay, but we must understand that political power will not change the country. Only the Gospel proclaimed to people will change our nation because only the Gospel will change hearts and lives.
God does not have a philosophy of government that matches any of our political parties' agendas. One could make a case that the record of each party is mixed from a Biblical standpoint.
There are two extremes to be avoided in our outlook on government. The first is to see government as the enemy of God, and to be always opposing ourselves to it. The other extreme is to view government too highly, as man’s salvation and security. It is very easy to look to government for those things which only God can give and it is very easy to turn from God to government. In our text, we see Israel’s leaders looking at Jesus, the Messiah, as the problem which they must be rid of, and a heathen government, Rome, as their deliverer. Just as Israel rejected God when they demanded a king so that they could be like the other nations, (1 Samuel 8), we too often reject God and look to government to “save” us.
Some Christians oppose government unnecessarily and un-biblically, using God as their pretext for rebellion and disobedience. Others seem to view government as the solution to all our earthly (and spiritual) problems. Some think that we can establish a righteous government on the earth and so clean it up that Messiah will come. My friend, only the Messiah can clean up this mess. It is only after He comes again that a truly righteous government will exist. Let us keep government in perspective. It is not the enemy of God, but God’s agent. Let us obey government as unto the Lord, in every way possible.
I find it very interesting that the religious leaders of Israel could not find a religious solution to the problem of Jesus. Jesus was not the problem, but the solution, and yet they failed to see it, or to accept it even if they did understand that He was the Messiah. Unfortunately, I find many professing Christians resorting to political means and methodology because of our spiritual impotence. When we turn from dependence on God, we turn to human means and methods. We often depend more on politics than we do on the power of God to solve our problems. Let us find Him sufficient. Let us go about our task using the implements of spiritual warfare, not the secular crutches of politics. Let us look to God and not to men for the establishment of righteousness on the earth.
Let’s remind ourselves that the gospel is our Lord’s “Declaration of Independence.” It is only by faith in His death on the cross that we can be truly free. He is the Truth that sets men free. May you experience that freedom today.
For the believer Jesus’ words suggests two important questions. Whose image do we bear? The answer is self-evident: the image of God. The second question is the critical one, “Have we given to God, what is God’s?” If we think that God wants our money, or our time or our talents – or even those nearest and dearest to us – we are wrong!
The Father wants us. We must give to God what is God’s! We must give Him our lives. And He will not settle for less than all. If we resist Him, we will not have His rest or His peace. Friend, give to God what is God’s – Give yourself!
Whose image is on your life?
This Sunday we will share a message titled From Impossible to Possible based on Matthew 19:26 and other Scripture. I hope you will come and take part in this great message from the Word.
Living for His Image,
Jon
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