Silencing the Rejecters

Father, we thank you, Lord, for today. And truly, Lord, we come to praise your glorious name. We're grateful for all that you've done. We're grateful, Lord, for your saving grace. We're grateful for the magnitude of your love. We're grateful, Lord, for the freedom of forgiveness. And today, Lord, as we examine your word, we see once again how people spurned your offering of grace, how they rejected their Redeemer. And yet, in spite of all that, you offered them once again another opportunity to respond to your loving invitation.

So today, Father, as we gather together, may your spirit go before us, and may you open many hearts to receive what you have for us to stay. In Jesus' name, amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 20.

Luke chapter 20. We are in the middle of Passion Week. It's Wednesday of Passion Week. Jesus is going to die on Friday of this week. It's going to take us several months to get to that point as we go through each of his communications with his disciples, as well as with the religious leaders, and so that we can understand the essence of this week and what it means for us, and how it is the Lord God offered himself to the nation of Israel. And as we go through this, we begin to understand that the text we're going to read today comes about because of the parable that Jesus told in the first several verses of Luke chapter 20.

And we told you before that there were three parables that Christ gave on this day. According to Matthew's account, Luke only records one of them. As a result of those three parables, the religious leaders will ask three questions. Luke records two of those three questions. But they have to somehow respond to the words of Jesus. As you remember, he told a parable, a parable about a vineyard owner who went away on a trip, and he would leave his vineyard under the stewardship of vine growers. He would send his slaves back.

His slaves would collect the proceeds. But as he sent them back, they were stoned. They were beaten. They were killed. And so the vineyard owner said, what shall I do? I guess I will send my son. Maybe they'll respect my son. So when the vine growers saw the air, the sun coming, they knew who he was. And they decided right then to kill him. And that's exactly what they did. And they threw him out of the city. And so in the parable, Christ asked the question, what will the vineyard owner do? And in Matthew's account, Matthew gives us the answer of the crowd.

Now remember, it's Wednesday of Passion Week. There are hundreds of people around the Lord, maybe even a thousand people following him through the temple courtyard, listening to the words that he is saying. And they respond in the parable, and they say, he will deal with those wretches, and he will give the vineyard into the hands of other vine growers. And Christ responds and says, you're right. He will destroy those vine growers, and he will give the vineyard into the stewardship of someone else.

At that point, the light went on in the crowd, and they said, no, no, no, may it never be. And Christ went on to say, well, have you not read what the Bible says concerning the chief cornerstone?

And he takes them back to the Psalm 118 to help them understand how that stone, the Messiah, became the chief cornerstone. And you got to be careful because you are on a collision course with this stone. All of that to say is that the people understood what Christ was saying. How do we know that? Verse number 19 tells us, and the scribes and the chief priest tried to lay hands on him that very hour, and they feared the people, for they understood that he spoke this parable against them. They, the people, understood that Christ spoke this parable against the religious leaders.

They knew exactly what he was saying. In fact, even the religious leaders understood what he was saying. And so as we read on in our text for today, verse number 20, it says, and they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be righteous in order that they might catch him in some statement, so as to deliver him to the rule and the authority of the governor. And they questioned him saying, teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and you are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth.

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? But he detected their trickery and said to them, show me a denarii. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? And they said, Caesar's. And he said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they were unable to catch him in a saying, in the presence of the people, and marveling at his answer, they became silent. Christ is going to silence his rejecters, not only in this question, but next week's question as well.

He also silences them by the third question that Luke does not record, but Matthew does record, and then he will turn and he will ask them one final question.

He'll ask them one final question in front of everybody that will silence them forever. Our Lord is marvelous in how he deals with his own. On this week, on this day, our Lord is so magnificent in how he deals with people. This last week and these last words and these last parables and these last sermons are so important. You cannot afford to miss anything that Jesus says.

If you miss what he says on the last week of his life, to the crowd, to the religious establishment, to his own men, you have missed the essence of what he has come to do and why he came to do it. You have missed an understanding of the sovereignty of Almighty God over all of life's events. You have missed the significance of what it means to walk with Christ, to talk with Christ, to understand Christ. You cannot afford to miss. Why would anyone ever miss? I don't understand that, but people do because they don't care that much about what Jesus has to say.

We do. That's why we're here. We want to understand what Jesus has to say because he silences his rejecters. You see, Israel was always on a collision course with their Messiah. They didn't necessarily understand that, but they were because they were always at war with God. They were always rebelling against God. They were always rejecting what God had to say. They rejected his servants, his prophets. They rejected everything he did. So they were on a collision course with the Lord God of Israel and it would culminate on Friday, two days from now, with the crucifixion of the Messiah.

But they have always been on this collision course and Christ would send his prophets. They would tell the truth to the people and they would stiffen their neck. They would harden their heart and this is what the Bible says about that.

It says in Proverbs 29, verse number one, a man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

That's a verse that the church of Jesus Christ needs to understand. Those who harden their neck after much reproof will be broken beyond remedy. It says earlier in Proverbs 28, verse number 12, I'm sorry, verse number 14, he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. A lot of times people don't see how it is their hearts are hardened to the truth of a holy God, but it happens. It happened to the nation of Israel. That's why earlier it says in Proverbs chapter three, Proverbs chapter three, I'm sorry, Proverbs chapter 13, verse number 13, the one who despises the word will be in debt to it.

In other words, the one who disdains what the word says, the one who despises what God says, the one who looks down on what God says is now going to be in debt to that word.

In other words, they will be judged by the very word they reject, by the very word that they disdain, by the very word that they say, you know what, that doesn't really apply to me. I don't really care that much about that. That word is going to judge them. That's why it says later in verse number 13, but the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded. You look down upon it. You treat it lightly as if it makes no difference to you. You will be in debt to that word. You'll be judged by that word.

But if you listen to it and you respond to it, there is great reward. That's why earlier in Proverbs chapter one, these words are written. Proverbs chapter one, it says, verse 24, because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention and you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof. I will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes. When your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you, then they will call upon me and I will not answer.

They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel. They spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naive shall kill them and the complacency of fools shall destroy them. But he who listens to me shall live securely and shall be at ease from the dread of evil. The problem is people don't want to listen.

They don't want to hear what God has to say. They don't want to respond to what God has to say. And so when you come to second Chronicles 36, these words are written.

Now remember, if you have a Hebrew Bible, the last book of the Hebrew Bible is second Chronicles and the last chapter is chapter 36.

If you have a Hebrew Bible, our Bible ends with the book of Malachi, but the Hebrew Bible ends with second Chronicles chapter 36.

The Hebrew Bible ends with the temple mount being polluted by the sins of God's people and the destruction of the temple on the temple mount. How fitting, how fitting that that's how the Hebrew Bible ends. It ends because of the Babylonian captivity and the destruction of the Babylon's there, how they destroyed the temple and plundered the city and took Israel off into captivity. That's how it ends. They would once again, rebuild the temple, but that temple then would be destroyed again. And that's where they are today.

So when you read the book of Lamentations, you realize that when the Jews go to that wailing wall or to that Western wall or to that waiting wall, whatever you want to call it, it's either one of the three. It is a Western wall. Yes, it is a wedding wall. And yes, it is a waiting wall because they are waiting for their Messiah to arrive. And so they go all through all those, those, uh, those gyrations as, as Jews, as they, as they lament the destruction of the temple on the temple mount. And they quote the book of Lamentations weeping over this city because of its destruction.

Why? You know, the Bible tells you second Chronicles 36 verse 11. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah, the prophet who spoke for the Lord. So Jeremiah would come, he would speak for the Lord. He would tell Zedekiah about repentance. He would tell them about the true God of Israel and what his response to the God of Israel should be. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God, but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel.

That is a summation of the land of Israel. That verse is a summation of the Jewish nation. And then it says this, furthermore, all the officials of the priest and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations. And they defiled the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified in Jerusalem. And the Lord, the God of their fathers sent word to them again and again by his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people until there was no what?

No remedy. Proverbs 29 verse number one. He who stiffens his neck, he who hardens his heart against much reproof will be broken beyond remedy. And so when you look at a Jewish Bible and it ends with the destruction of the temple on the Temple Mount and the nation of Israel being led into Babylonian captivity for 70 years.

And now you realize what has happened in the land of Israel today because of the rejection of their Messiah and how he prophesied that there would be a plundering of that temple, a destruction of it. And it happened in 70 AD. It's exactly where they are today. They've stiffened their neck. They've hardened their heart. They have been broken beyond remedy because they would not listen even though again and again and again God would send his messengers over and over and over again, warning after warning after warning, pleading after pleading after pleading, begging the people to turn from their sin, to repent, follow God, serve him, honor him.

But they did not. They did not. And it culminates with the destruction, with crucifixion of their Messiah two days from this day on Wednesday of Passion Week. They would not submit to the words of God. You see, I don't know where you are today. It's imperative that when God speaks, you listen.

And not only do you listen, but you respond to what he tells you to do because he is your creator, your maker. And what he says is always spot on. It's perfect. He's a holy God. He's a righteous God. He's concerned about your spiritual welfare, your eternal destiny. So on this day, what happens is that these leaders are now incensed, irate, as to what this Christ is saying about them. And the crowd knows it. The crowd understands it. And you would think that they would have somehow grasped Jesus as Messiah.

I mean, after all, all disease has been banished from the land. Even on Tuesday of this week, excuse me, on Monday of this week when he came into the city, and then on Tuesday when he cleansed the temple, there was a group of those who were lame and blind, and they were healed there in the temple courtyard. So even at the end, he was still doing these miraculous kinds of works. And they never denied his miracles. They were overwhelming. How do you deny a resurrected individual? Now, I can understand how they would pass off the resurrection of Jairus' daughter because she had just died and he raised her for the dead.

They could pass that off and maybe she really hadn't died. Although she did, because that's what scripture says.

Or the widow's son at Nain. They could pass that one off. Nain's a little town there in the Jezreel Valley. And maybe they hadn't heard about that one yet. I'm sure they did. But they could pass that one off as well because he had just died. They were carrying him out of the city and he was raised for the dead. And they could pass that one off. But you can't pass Lazarus off. He was dead for three days. And Bethany's just two miles from Jerusalem anyway. So everybody in Lazarus. That's why on that Sunday, that Sunday before he died on Friday, there was a group of people, group of Pharisees, group of religious leaders who went to Bethany that they somehow might get rid of Lazarus because his resurrected life was a living testimony to the power of this one called Jesus.

Yet they couldn't deny his miracles. He was a creator. A food. Remember in John 6 when they went to take him as their king because he had created food and fed 25,000 people. That's when they wanted to make him their king because, wow, we could take care of all of our economic issues if Jesus is the king. And so they were not able to deny people who were blind could now see. People who were lame could now walk. Resurrected people. They couldn't deny his miraculous works. And they knew what the Old Testament said.

They knew about the credentials of the Messiah. They understood the Messiah would be virgin born. The Jews knew that. They knew Genesis 3 15 that that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent. No woman in the history of the universe has ever had a seed. It's the man who has a seed. But in this case, there would be the seed of the woman. That's unique. And then they would know Isaiah 7 verse number 14 that a virgin shall conceive and bear a child. That will be the sign. What's the sign? That a woman who's never known a man would conceive.

They knew Isaiah 7 14. They knew Isaiah chapter 9 verse number 6. A son would be given. A child would be born. So is the son the child, the child the son? If that's the case, the child's born. But the son's not born. The son's given. That would speak of a virgin birth. But the one that that that overrode all of those other verses about the virgin birth was the one in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 31. Which every rabbi, every rabbi without exception before the time of Christ interpreted this that a woman would conceive without the assistance of a man.

It's Jeremiah 31 verse number 22. How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing, barah, to create out of nothing. Create a new thing in the earth. A woman will encompass a man. In other words, a woman will hold in her womb a man or hold in her arms a man, but not a normal man, but gay bear, which is from Gabor, which is the mighty God. So every rabbi before the time of Christ would interpret Jeremiah 31 22 as the sign that the Messiah would be virgin born.

They knew all that. They knew that. Please don't underestimate the intellectual knowledge of a Jewish person. They knew the Old Testament. That's why Christ would go back to them and say, is it not written? You have heard that it was said, but I say to you, let me tell you what the Bible says.

You got to remember these things. That's why at the end of his resurrection, he would take his disciples back and say, don't you remember, O foolish people, what the Old Testament said, what the law of the prophets said about the Messiah. It's already been stated. He will come. He's virgin born. He will die. He will rise again. He will come again. All that was written in the Old Testament and they just missed it. Escaped their notice.

How could they miss all that? How could they not understand all that? How do these religious leaders who are the spiritual overseers of the most holy nation ever created the land of Israel, supposedly, and these were the stewards of these people. How did they miss all of that? How do they miss the fact that when Jesus came, yes, he was virgin born. Yes, he lived a sinless life. He never sinned. All the miraculous credentials that he prescribed and gave credence to, and he himself performed would all verify the fact that this was the Messiah.

And when he came into, this is crucial, when he came into the city on that Monday, not Sunday, on that Monday, it's Palm Monday, not Palm Sunday. As he came into that city on Monday, what they did was a celebration, not of Passover, but of the feast of booths or the feast of tabernacles. That's why they wave the palm branches. Why? That's what you do at the feast of booths. What is that? That is a celebration of how Christ the Messiah would come, set up his kingdom and rule and reign over his people.

They would go back in time and remember how God provided for them in the wilderness. And they would live in these tents. They would live in these so-called under these branches to be reminded of how God provided for them while they were in the wilderness in anticipation of the arrival of the king who will now live among them and provide for them all of their needs. That's why they waved the palm branches. And that's what he said, Hosanna to the son of David. They claimed him as their Messiah. They were celebrating the fact that Jesus was the Messiah.

He was coming to rule as king. They recognized him as their king. They really wanted him to set up his kingdom right then. And that's why the Pharisees said to Jesus, tell your disciples to be quiet. Why? Why? Because they were so irritated that everybody of the Jewish population at that time, some 250,000 people that would line the roads down from the Mount of Olives into the sea, the place, the temple courts in Jerusalem, that they were hailing him as the king and celebrating the fact that the Feast of Booths has arrived.

See, it all comes together. So simple for us to get it. We understand it. They just missed the whole thing. They missed it was right. Why did they miss it? How did they not get all of the clear, unmistakable evidence that was there? He stood right before them. He performed miracles right in front of them. And they still did not believe. Why? Well, the Bible tells us, the book of John, third chapter, 19th verse says this, John three, verse number 19.

And this is the judgment that the light is coming to the world. And men loved the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest their deeds should be exposed. Why is it someone doesn't believe in the midst of overwhelming evidence? Because they love their sin. They love it. That's why in John chapter 12, the Lord God says this, John chapter 12, John chapter 12, the Lord God says these words.

Let me go to John 8 first before I go to John 12. John chapter 8, Christ says these words. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's offspring, yet you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. They despise the word. They rejected the word. My word has no... You don't want to respond to my word. You don't want to hear what I have to say. Why? Because they love their sin. So when you go over to John chapter 12, then it says, nevertheless, many even of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they love the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

They loved, they love their sin. They love what men would say about them. They could not exchange their life for God's life. And Christ made it very clear that if any man come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me, for whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it. They wanted to save their life. And because they wanted to save their life, they liked it just the way it was. They were going to lose their life. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel shall save it. You've got to be willing to lose your life.

You've got to be willing to give your life away. For what does a prophet demand to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? They were unwilling to exchange their religion for Christ. They were unwilling to exchange their way of life for Christ's life. That's what salvation is. Salvation is a transaction. It's a giving away of my life in order to obtain Christ's life. And the reason people do not want to believe in spite of overwhelming evidence, the point is you don't have to convince anybody that Jesus necessarily is God in the flesh.

You don't have to necessarily convince somebody that we are created and we did not involve. People don't want to believe that because they love their sin. They love the darkness. They love the approval of man. They will not exchange what they know to obtain what Christ wants to give them. They will not do that. And these Pharisees, these Sadducees, these religious leaders, they knew the Old Testament. They just did not want this Christ coming in and reigning on their financial parade, on their emotional parade, on all the things that they have spent a whole life developing.

They did not want to exchange that for Christ's life. They didn't want that because His life was a cross life. They would not count the cost. They would not carry the cross. Therefore, they would not believe in the Messiah. All that leads us to our text in Luke chapter 20. So, they came, they heard, and by this time, they are outraged. They've got to do something. And they've been outraged for a while, back in Mark chapter 3. Remember Mark chapter 3? Christ healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath. It says in verse 6, This has been going on for a while.

It hasn't been going on for a week, a month, or two, or three. It's been going on for a while. Somehow, they have to give it to Jesus because Jesus, Jesus was the most popular person around. I mean, just think of how the crowds accepted Him, believed Him, hailed Him as their King. The euphoria of this day on Wednesday of Passion Week was still at its height. The people were still waiting for Christ to overtake Rome. They were waiting for Him to set up His kingdom. They really wanted Him to be their Messiah.

They thought He was. That's why they hailed Him, Son of David, Hosanna to the God on high because they believed He was their Messiah. Their religious leaders did not want Him to be their Messiah because they did not want to exchange their life for His life. They loved their sin. They loved the darkness. They loved the approval of man. And that's why the Bible says in the 19th verse of Luke chapter 20, they feared the people.

It wasn't that they were afraid of the people, scared to death. No, they feared that they would lose their influence over the people. They were afraid they would lose their popularity with the people. They were losing it already. I mean, just think about it. You're the most popular guy in your school, right? And somebody comes along and all of a sudden, you're not as popular as you used to be. Now what are you going to do? How are you going to gain popularity again? They're losing it. And everybody is hailing Jesus as their Messiah.

And somehow, they've got to get rid of this guy. They've got to come up with a plan. Remember in Matthew chapter 23, they love the approval. They love to be called rabbi and teacher and master. They live for approval. They live for people to go, look how spiritual He is. Look how long His phylacteries are. Look how tall His hat is. Look how marvelous. This guy must really be walking with God. They live for that kind of stuff. They loved the admiration, the affirmation. If they had a Facebook in those days, they'd have a million, million friends.

They would. Everybody would be liking everything they did, you know. But they just loved all the praise and accolades they received. And they were losing that. They were losing it to this, in their minds, this self-made Messiah. So we've got to come up with a plan. So they did. And it was a good plan. It really was. It really was a good plan. It just wasn't good enough. Okay. Because they forgot that Christ was omniscient. They forgot that Christ is God. And they forgot that Christ is the perfect one to answer any question given.

They didn't get that. But in their minds, this was the ideal way to trap Him. So what did they do? Well, the Bible says, and they watched Him and sent spies who pretended to be righteous in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so as to deliver Him up to the rule and the authority of the governor.

Now, the text says these, in verse 19, with the scribes and chief priests. Matthew's account says the Pharisees were there, the Herodians were there, also with the Sadducees. So what do you have? You had the scribes, the chief priest. You had the Pharisees who were the fundamentalists. You had the Sadducees who were the liberal religionists. And you had the Herodians. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees hated the Herodians. They were followers of Herod's and supporters of Rome. But they hated the Herodians.

But they had a common enemy. And the common enemy was Jesus. So although they were strange bedfellows, they could come together for one common purpose. In order to get rid of Jesus, they had to convince Rome. That's why it says that they wanted to give Him, hand Him over to the authorities and to the rulers. That is Rome. Well, how are they going to do that? Unless the Herodians are on board and can guarantee to Rome that their testimony is true. So they gather them all together. They come up with a plan.

They send spies. They send pretenders. The Bible says that in Matthew's account that there are the Pharisees.

So these are pretenders. They're Pharisees, but they pretend to be followers of Jesus. They pretend to come in and they flatter Jesus. They come in and they say, teacher. Now, if you called anybody teacher, you automatically elevated them. They're thinking that if they can elevate Jesus to think that Jesus will somehow think more highly of Himself than He really is, that Jesus would trap Himself. So they go and they say, teacher, which will automatically lift Him up in the eyes of everyone because that's exactly what He was, the teacher.

Now remember, everything they say is true. He is a teacher. He is the ultimate teacher. They also say, we know that you speak and teach correctly, which is also true. He does teach and He speaks correctly. They didn't believe that, but to pretend, they had to somehow flatter Him. You teach correctly. You speak correctly. And you are not partial to any. You are impartial. You don't show any partiality. You are completely objective in everything you say. And then they say, but teach the way of God in truth.

He does. Everything they said was right. They just didn't believe any of that stuff, see? But they want to flatter Jesus. They want to build Him up. They want everybody in the crowd to think that what they're saying comes from a pure heart, a virtuous heart. A lot like people who pretend in the church, right? People who pretend in the church say the right things. They just don't believe the right things. They're the epitome of pretenders in the pulpit too. They'll say the right thing, they just don't believe the right thing.

And they would come and they would pretend, and they were somehow trying to trap Jesus, get Him to say something that would cause, listen carefully, an insurrection. Remember, they want to take Him to Rome. The plan was get Rome to arrest Him. Why? Here's the answer. If Rome arrests Him, then we can prove to the people that He's not the Messiah. Because every Jew believed and understood that when Messiah came, He would be the ruler. And He wouldn't kowtow to any pagan nation or any pagan rule. He would come in, He would overtake them.

You could go back and read Daniel chapter seven, talk about the Son of Man when He comes, and dominion and authority are His. You can go back to Isaiah chapter nine, verses six, seven, and eight. How about He'll have the whole government upon His shoulders. You go back and read how He treads the winepress alone and how He's the Lord of Sabaoth, Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of armies. Their Messiah is the Lord of armies. He is the ruler. He is a general. He is the governor. He is the fighter. He is the warrior.

He is the victorious warrior. And so when they hail Him as their King, they are anticipating the fact that He's going to come in. He is going to override Rome, set up His throne there in Jerusalem and be the ruler over Israel. That's their anticipation. Well, the religious leaders know that. So they have to get Him to say something that would cause Him to be viewed as an insurrectionist. Why is that important? Because there's already been an insurrectionist that has been arrested. Do you remember his name?

Barabbas. He was arrested because he tried to instigate an insurrection. He's already in prison. See, one thing that Rome would never tolerate was somebody who would rebel against their authority. They would not tolerate that. And when you did, you were killed. Well, the Jews knew that. They had the Herodians not on their side, but they would win the Herodians over and they would convince the Herodians if we can get Him to go against Rome, say something against Rome, Rome will arrest Him. Okay. He'll be thrown into prison.

He will not overtake Rome and the people will no longer believe that He's their Messiah. See the reasoning behind that? They understood what they were doing. So they ask a question. They come and they say, is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Great question. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Remember back in 86, there was a man by the name of Judas of Galilee that began an insurrection based on not paying taxes to Rome. And he was arrested and he was killed, but they would never forget that because he made a statement about we serve God and God alone.

We do not serve any pagan ruler. Well, that would stick into their mind because they hated paying taxes to Rome. They hated it. They had to pay the property tax, like we had to pay property taxes. They had to pay property taxes as well. They could pay it with grain or with wine, or they could trade that in and pay it with money. They had to pay the business tax or the import tax where that at every city, there was a gate and someone would sit there. Levi was one of these guys that you had to pay taxes as you would enter the city having purchased something or leave the city.

They hated that. They had to pay income taxes. So do we. They had to pay 1% of all their income every year. And they had to pay the poll tax, which was one day's wage annually. They hated that. And to them, it wasn't lawful. They didn't want this to happen. They hated Rome. They had Rome had done for them because they paid taxes. Rome protected them, had peace in the land, built new roads. What's you do with when you pay taxes, but they hated paying taxes and they hated it because, because they believed that they were in God's land and God was the owner of that land.

And they served only God. They didn't serve a pagan ruler. So the question comes, listen, is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar? So the behind the question is this. If you say, yes, it is lawful. He turns off the Jewish populace because they would all say, no, it's not lawful. If he says, no, it's not. They have them. They can go to the Roman governor. They can tell him that this man is going to start an insurrection. He needs to be arrested because he speaks against Rome and they would arrest him because they're Rhodians who were pro-Roman would be the testimony behind that.

That's the question. And so they ask it, is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar? But he detected their trickery. Of course he did. He's God. He knows exactly what they're thinking. He detected their trickery and said to them, show me a denarii because Christ didn't carry a denarii. Why? Because on the denarii was the head of Caesar and the Jews carried shekels. They didn't want to carry something that had the image of Rome on it because that would violate Exodus chapter 20. They were not idolaters.

So Christ didn't have one. Show me a denarii, one day's wage. Now we know that Matthew's account says it's about the poll tax. The question was centered around the poll tax, the annual tax where they take the census every year. Remember Mary and Joseph had to go back to Bethlehem from Nazareth to pay the poll tax for the census that was taken on that year. And so he would ask for denarii. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? And they said, Caesar! In anticipation, in anticipation that he would say, okay, Caesar's inscription is on it.

You don't have to pay it. Insurrectionist rebellion. Arrest him. They would win. That was the plan. Whose inscription is on this denarii? Caesar! And Jesus says, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.

What a marvelous answer. What a marvelous answer. Because what he does is that he affirms the right of government to rule the land. He affirms that. If we had time, we'd go back to Romans chapter 13 verses 1 to 7, 1 Peter 2 verses 13 to 15, and Second Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 to 3.

And when Peter wrote his exhortation to submit to government, the ruler was Nero, and he was a brutal leader. But he said, honor the king. Submit to the rulers that are over you. This is not about paying taxes, although you should pay taxes. Because God is the ordainer of all government, good or evil. He is. And so he ordains the fact that there is rulership in this land. This is not a theocracy. We live in a land where there are governors, there are mayors, there are presidents, there are kings, there are queens, there are dictators.

Yes, all of them from the beginning of time have all been ordained by God. No one ever is put into office with catching God by surprise. He's put them all there. The book of Proverbs tells us that the heart of that king is in the hand of the Lord God of Israel. So what he does is he answers this. Render apodytomy, which means you have an obligation. It's not an option. It's an obligation because there is a debt that you owe. You owe your debt to Caesar because Caesar's inscription is on the coin.

And if he says you got to pay taxes, you pay taxes. You don't rebel against that. You don't come against that because the government is ordained by God. If he says pay, you pay. So wait a minute. What if he tells us to do something that goes against scripture? That's an Acts 5 situation. If someone comes to us one day and says, you know, you can no longer preach the gospel, we say, I'm sorry, we have to preach the gospel. We have to tell the truth to people. We will always do that. Throw us into prison, chop off our heads, do whatever you want.

We got to do that. Okay. But in these situations where government dictates what it is we do, you do. And Christ affirms that. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. On the flip side of that, you render to God the things that are God's. In other words, whose image is on the Caesar's? Whose image is on your life? God's. You're created in the image of God. This is the Lord God of Israel. This is another offering of grace and mercy and invitation to everybody who's listening. He says to them, you render to God the things that are his.

And they all knew that they were created in the image of God. They all could read Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two, and they understood about God's image. So are we. And the whole point is that God offers to them, extends to them an invitation. Give yourself to, that's the one thing they wouldn't want to do. They would not exchange their life for God's life. He says, because God's image is on you, you're created in the image of God. You must, you have an obligation. This is not optional.

As it's not optional for you to pay taxes, it is your obligation, apodidomi, which means to render that which is due. So too, you are to render that which is due to the Lord God of Israel. His image is on you. You owe your life to God. Give it to God. That's the point of the answer. And the same applies to us today. We have to give our lives to God. Because he created us in his image. We are obligated to do this. This is not an option for us folks. This is an obligation. And if you don't fulfill that obligation, guess what?

You'll be broken beyond remedy. And there is no hope. None whatsoever. And that's why the Bible concludes with this. And they were unable to catch him. Insane in the presence of the people. They couldn't catch him. They couldn't trap him. That was their objective. And marveling at his answer, they became silent. In Matthew's account, these words are given to us. And hearing this, they marveled and leaving him, they went away. And leaving him, they went away. I wonder how many here today will leave and go away without ever giving their life to God.

I would trust that that's not you today. That you would know that you need to give your life to the Lord God of Israel. Because you have an obligation. Having been created in his image, you owe him your life. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity to once again study your word, how precious it is. May we learn to obey all that you say in Jesus name. Amen.