Luke 20:25 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. Christ's answer to the chief priests' question concerning his authority (Luk 20:1-8). II. The parable of the vineyard let out to the unjust and rebellious husbandmen (Luk 20:9-19). III. Christ's answer to the question proposed to him concerning the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar (Luk 20:20-26). IV. His vindication of that great fundamental doctrine of the Jewish and Christian institutes - the resurrection of the dead and the future state, from the foolish cavils of the Sadducees (Luk 20:27-38). V. His puzzling the scribes with a question concerning the Messiah's being the Son of David (Luk 20:39-44). VI. The caution he gave his disciples to take heed of the scribes (Luk 20:45-47). All which passages we had before in Matthew and Mark, and therefore need not enlarge upon them here, unless on those particulars which we had not there.

And it came to pass, that on one of those days,.... According to the account of the Evangelist Mark, it must be the second day, or two days after his public entrance into Jerusalem; for on the evening of the day he made his entry, he went out to Bethany with his disciples; the next morning, as he returned from thence, he cursed the barren fig tree; and when he came to the temple cast out the buyers and sellers; at evening he went out again, either to Bethany, or the Mount of Olives; and the next morning, as he and his disciples returned, the fig tree was observed to be dried up; and when they were come to Jerusalem, as he was walking in the temple, he was attacked by the sanhedrim, and had the following discourse with them: as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the Gospel; for he taught them by preaching that, and which he did most clearly, faithfully, and publicly, being abundantly anointed and qualified for it, and sent to do it. The chief priests, and the Scribes, came upon him, with the elders. The whole sanhedrim being purposely convened together, came upon him in a body; and it may be suddenly, and at an unawares, and came open mouthed against him, and attacked him with great warmth and vehemency.

Saying, master, Moses wrote unto us,.... In Deu 25:5 where the substance of what follows is contained, though not in express words: if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother; the meaning of which is, that if a man died without issue, and left a wife behind him, his next brother, if unmarried, was to marry his wife, and the first child born of her, was to be reckoned the deceased's, and to inherit his estate; See Gill on Mat 22:24.

And everywhere we, more readily than all men, endeavour to pay to those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Him; for at that time some came to Him and asked Him, if one ought to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered, "Tell Me, whose image does the coin bear?" And they said, "Caesar's." And again He answered them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment. But if you pay no regard to our prayers and frank explanations, we shall suffer no loss, since we believe (or rather, indeed, are persuaded) that every man will suffer punishment in eternal fire according to the merit of his deed, and will render account according to the power he has received from God, as Christ intimated when He said, "To whom God has given more, of him shall more be required."

And of civil government: "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things which are God's."

Idolatry is condemned, not on account of the persons which are set up for worship, but on account of those its observances, which pertain to demons. "The things which are Caesar's are to be rendered to Caesar." It is enough that He set in apposition thereto, "and to God the things which are God's.

But, at any rate, when He actually met their refusal to say what they thought, with such reprisals as, "Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things," He returned evil for evil! "Render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's." What will be "the things which are God's? "Such things as are like Caesar's denarius-that is to say, His image and similitude.

Now this place contains a mystery. For there are two images in man, one which he received from God, as it is written, Let us make man in our own image: (Gen. 1:26.) another from the enemy, which he has contracted through disobedience and sin, allured and won by the enticing baits of the prince of this world. For as the penny has the image of the emperor of the world, so he who does the works of the power of darkness, bears the image of Him whose works he doth. He says then, Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's, that is, cast away the earthly image, that ye may be able, by putting on the heavenly image, to render unto God the things which be God's, namely, to love God. Which things Moses says God requires of us. (Deut. 10:12.) But God makes this demand of us, not because He has need that we should give Him any thing, but that, when we have given, He might grant us this very same gift for our salvation.

Some people think that the Savior spoke on a single level when he said, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar"—that is, "pay the tax that you owe." Who among us disagrees about paying taxes to Caesar? The passage therefore has a mystical and secret meaning.There are two images in humanity. One he received from God when he was made, in the beginning, as Scripture says in the book of Genesis, "according to the image and likeness of God." The other image is of the earth. Man received this second image later. He was expelled from Paradise because of disobedience and sin after the "prince of this world" had tempted him with his enticements. Just as the coin, or denarius, has an image of the emperor of this world, so he who does the works of "the ruler of the darkness" bears the image of him whose works he does. Jesus commanded that that image should be handed over and thrown away from our face. He wills us to take on that image, according to which we were made from the beginning, according to God's likeness. It then happens that we give "to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God's." Jesus said, "Show me a coin." For "coin," Matthew wrote "denarius." When Jesus had taken it, he said, "Whose inscription does it have?" They answered and said, "Caesar's." And he said to them in turn, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Our Lord here teaches us, how cautious we ought to be in our answers to heretics or Jews; as He has said elsewhere, Be ye wise as serpents (Mat. 10:16). Be unwilling then, if thou wouldest not offend Cæsar, to possess worldly goods. And thou rightly teachest, first to render the things which be Cæsar's. For no one can be the Lord's unless he has first renounced the world. Oh most galling chain! To promise to God, and pay not. Far greater is the contract of faith than that of money.

If he did not have the image of Caesar, why did he pay the tax? He did not give from his own but gave back to the world what was of the world. If you would not be indebted to Caesar, do not possess what belongs to the world. You have wealth; therefore you are indebted to Caesar. If you want to owe nothing to an earthly king, leave all that you have and follow Christ.

[Daniel 8:27] "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27). And so Daniel states that he languished as a reaction to the horror of the vision, and suffered illness. And after he had risen from his sick-bed, he says he performed the tasks assigned to him by the king, rendering to all men all that was due them and bearing in mind the gospel principle: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:25). "And I was amazed at the vision, and there was no one who could interpret it." If there was no one who could interpret it, how was it that the angel interpreted it in the previous passage? What he means is that he had heard mention of kings and did not know what their names were; he learned of things to come, but he was tossed about with uncertainty as to what time they would come to pass. And so he did the only thing he could do: he marveled at the vision, and resigned everything to God's omniscience.

These same enemies saw the miracles of the Lord, and they said, "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things." They questioned him with hostile intentions, so that if he admitted what his authority was, they could hold him as guilty of blaspheming. He acted in the same way as over the coin, when they wanted to accuse him falsely. If he said, "Let tribute be paid to Caesar," it would be as though he had cursed the people of the Jews, making them subject and tributary to a foreign power. If he had said, "It should not be paid," they could trump up a charge against him before Caesar's friends and administrators that he was forbidding its payment. He, though, said, "Show me a coin. Whose image and inscription does it carry?" They answered, "Caesar's." He said, "So pay to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." That amounts to saying, "If Caesar can require his image in a coin, cannot God require his image in a human being?"

How did Christ overcome their craftiness? "Show me," he says, "a denarius." When they showed it to him, he asks, "Whose image and superscription are on it?" They said, "Caesar's." What did Christ answer to that? "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Those who have the office to govern impose a tribute of money on their subjects. God does not require of us anything corruptible and temporary. He rather requires willing obedience, submission, faith, love and the sweet fragrance of good works.

As if He said, With your words ye tempt me, obey me in works. Ye have indeed Cæsar's image, ye have undertaken his offices, to him therefore give tribute, to God fear. For God requireth not money, but faith.

But from their answer our Lord easily solves the question, for it follows, And he said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cœsar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

Render also to God the things which be God's, that is to say, tithes, first fruits, offerings, and sacrifices.

"Therefore render," He says, "unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." And notice, He did not say "give," but "render." This, He says, is a debt, therefore pay what is owed. Your sovereign protects you from enemies and makes your life peaceful; for this you owe him tribute. And in another sense: the very thing that you contribute, that is, the coin, you have from him himself. Therefore, return the emperor's coin to him (the emperor) again. Meanwhile, you too have derived benefit from it for yourself, exchanging it and obtaining the necessities of life. So too must one render unto God what is God's. He gave you a mind: return it to Him through rational activity. He gave you reason: return it to Him, not likening yourself to irrational animals, but acting in all things as one endowed with reason. And in general He gave you soul and body: return everything to Him and restore His image for Him, living by faith, with hope, in love. And in another sense one must render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Each of us bears upon himself either the image of God or the image of the prince of this world. When we become like Caesar, becoming sons of the devil, we bear his image upon ourselves. This image must be given back to him and cast off, so that he may have what is his own with him, and find nothing belonging to him in us. Through this the image of God can also be preserved in us in purity. Therefore the Apostle Paul also urges that just as we have borne the image of the earthly, so we should bear the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49); and in another place: "to put off the former manner of life of the old man" (Eph. 4:22). What is expressed here by the word "render" is expressed by Paul with the word "put off," and what is here called the image of "Caesar" is there called the image of "the earthly," undoubtedly of Adam who sinned, and of "the old man." For the image of the earthly is nothing other than corruption and sin, an image which we bear because we have made ourselves like the apostate, and not the King.

And observe that He said not, give, but return. For it is a debt. Thy prince protects thee from enemies, renders thy life tranquil. Surely then thou art bound to pay him tribute. Nay, this very piece of money which thou bringest thou hast from him. Return then to the king the king's money. God also has given thee understanding and reason, make then a return of these to Him, that thou mayest not be compared to the beasts, but in all things mayest walk wisely.

The question concerning the authority of Christ, and the baptism of John, Luk 20:1-8. The parable of the vine-yard let out to wicked husbandmen, Luk 20:9-18. The chief priests and scribes are offended, and lay snares for him, Luk 20:19, Luk 20:20. The question about tribute, Luk 20:21-26. The question about the resurrection of the dead, and our Lord's answer, Luk 20:27-40. How Christ is the son of David, Luk 20:41-44. He warns his disciples against the hypocrisy of the scribes, whose condemnation he points out, Luk 20:45-47.

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED, AND HIS REPLY--PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. (Luke 20:1-19) these things--particularly the clearing of the temple.

things which be CÃ&brvbrsar's--Putting it in this general form, it was impossible for sedition itself to dispute it, and yet it dissolved the snare. and unto God--How much there is in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!