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belongs_to: "[[caesar-and-god-july-5-2026]]"

Take your Bibles with me and turn to the book of Luke, chapter 20. We will be looking at verses 20–26 this morning.

I enjoy the Fourth of July. I believe we have much to be thankful for as Americans. No nation is perfect, but we have enjoyed remarkable freedoms and stability that much of the world has never known. If you've visited a place where corruption is normal or government exists mainly to enrich those in power, you know how unusual those blessings really are.

As imperfect as our government is, we are blessed to have it.

It just so happens that the text this morning is talking about government. This was not specially planned. I did not think, “It’s the day after the Fourth of July—I need to preach on government, politics, or America.” As we have been working through Luke, the key biblical text on the Christian’s relationship to government simply fell on this Sunday.

If you remember, in Luke we are now in Passion Week. Jesus has come into Jerusalem for the final time. On Palm Sunday He entered from Jericho with a crowd singing Messianic psalms and hailing Him as king. He accepted their praise, entered the temple, drove out the money changers, and began teaching. In effect, He took over the temple during their busiest and most lucrative week. The religious authorities did not like it.

These actions set the stage for His crucifixion by the end of the week.

At the time of Jesus, Israel had two major religious-political groups, something like a “right” and a “left.” The conservatives, or right, were the Pharisees. They controlled the synagogue system—local assemblies scattered across Israel that functioned much like our churches today. People would gather to sing hymns and psalms, read Scripture, hear a sermon, and receive instruction. The Pharisees were strongly nationalistic and desired a strong, independent Israel. They wanted to throw off Roman rule.

On the left were the Sadducees. While the Pharisees wanted to resist Rome, the Sadducees cooperated closely with the Romans. They cultivated special relationships with the occupiers and enriched themselves by doing Rome’s bidding. The Sadducees controlled the temple. The high priest and his inner circle were Sadducees. They were more liberal in their beliefs and teaching.

Normally these two groups hated each other. The Pharisees despised the Sadducees, and the Sadducees despised the Pharisees—much like the political left and right in our own day. Yet in Luke 20 they set aside their animosity because they hated Jesus even more. Jesus threatened the power and influence of both groups. So they joined forces to trap and eliminate Him.

That is the context of our passage. Let’s read it together.

[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.
Luke 20:20-26 (KJV)

Verse 20 tells us that they sent forth spies to pretend to be just men, to take him at his words so they could deliver him to the power and authority of the governor.

We already know that the priests wanted Jesus gone. If they could have killed Jesus on Sunday, they would have killed Jesus on Sunday. The thing that was stopping them was the giant crowd of people hanging on Jesus' every word. If they tried to grab Jesus and arrest him, then that giant crowd of people would have revolted against them. So they decide to change tactics.

Essentially what's happening here is the Pharisees and the Sadducees decide that the best way to get rid of Jesus is to catch him in a word trap.

The Jews were under Roman occupation and had to pay tax: one denarius (one Roman coin) every year. It's called the poll tax. It's not that much money in the grand scheme of things. It's like one day's labor for a laborer so I don't know what that would be, a hundred dollars? Most of us probably pay more taxes than that out of every single paycheck.

But the Jews hated this tax. They hated it so much that eventually this tax would become one of the flashpoints that caused them to revolt against Rome in 66 AD and Rome to respond by destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Part of the reason that they hated it is because it had to be paid with a Roman coin. On that coin was a picture of Caesar and a inscription that said “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus.”

The coin didn't simply bear Caesar's portrait. It proclaimed him 'son of the divine Augustus.' Every time someone handled that coin, Rome was making a theological claim.

Religious Jews felt like this was a violation of the second commandment, "Make no graven images," and that it was idolatry. The Jewish people were big mad about this tax.

If a leader or a teacher came out to a huge crowd of people and said, "You don't have to pay this tax; this tax is wrong," the Roman government had zero problems coming in and killing that person. The Romans gave a lot of freedom and leeway religiously but zero freedom for anything that even smelled at all of insurrection.

So the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees working together, feel like they have a question that is the perfect trap. When they ask Jesus publicly about paying this tax, they feel like they have Jesus dead to rights.

If Jesus tells people not to pay the tax, they've got all kinds of witnesses. They can go to the Romans and say, "Hey, this really popular teacher is telling people they don't have to pay that tax. Go deal with him." The Romans would come (cut off head motion) and no more Jesus.

If Jesus says you do need to pay the Roman tax, then all of these Jewish crowds that are crazy about Jesus right now and think he's going to be the next king are going to turn on him. That is an incredibly unpopular position.

So these hypocritical spies engineer this trap for Jesus. They come before him with this huge crowd of witnesses. They butter Jesus up with ridiculous flattery and then they ask him “Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?”

And Jesus starts by saying, "Why do you tempt me?" I don't know but for me it feels like Jesus is like saying, "Guys, do you really need another L right now? How many times are we gonna do this?" They had tried over and over again to catch Jesus saying something, and every time Jesus gets out of it. This time isn't going to be different.

Jesus says, "Bring me a coin." Somebody fishes out one of these hated denarii coins with Caesar's face on it. Jesus asks, "Whose face and inscription is on this coin?"

They say Caesar.

So Jesus says, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."

And this stumps them. They marvel at his answer and they can't say anything.

Now this is a very important verse, a very important story. It is the foundation of how Christians think about government, how we've thought about government for the last two thousand years. I want to unpack it a little bit and give you three points this morning. Three takeaways for us from this story.

The first takeaway is...

Give government what is rightfully their’s.

As followers of Jesus , we are not anarchists. We are not revolutionaries. The Bible is very clear that God wants his followers to treat government with respect and to generally obey it.

There are many passages we could go to to further prove this point, but 1 Peter 2 is probably enough:

[13] Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
[14] Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
[15] For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
[16] As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
[17] Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
1 Peter 2:13-17 (KJV)

Romans 13 is a more well known text. It says:

[1] Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
[2] Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
[3] For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
[4] For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
[5] Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Romans 13:1-5

As Christians we understand that government, even though it's imperfect, is an institution established by God and We owe the government a few things. There are things that we need to render to Caesar.

The first of those things is obedience. Unless the government specifically tells us to disobey God or to do something immoral, then we have a Christian duty to obey the government.

The second thing that we owe the government is taxes. We have to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. I don't think we have to give more taxes than are owed, but the scripture is pretty clear that Christians should be paying their taxes. Jesus modeled that for us.

The third thing that we owe the government is honor or respect. We might be citizens of heaven but we are to submit ourselves and honor the kings, the leaders that God places over us here on this earth.

Unfortunately a lot of Christians seem to think that there's some spiritual worth to be had in being a punk to the government. But that's not Christ-like and that's not biblical.

We are to give government what is rightfully their’s.

A second take away from this story that's just as important is:

Recognize that government's rights are limited.

Jesus could have just said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." He could have just said, "Pay your taxes." He kept going and said, "Render unto God the things that are God's."

In phrasing it this way, he was essentially saying two things:

1. He was saying that Caesar's realm over our life is not total. There are parts of our life that don't belong to the government but belong to God.
2. By putting "unto God the things that are God's" at the end of the sentence, he was saying that the God part is more important than the Caesar part.

As Bible-believing Christians we understand that we have an obligation to the government but our bigger obligation is to be faithful to the Lord. No government has the right of complete control over our lives. No government can claim our total allegiance. We ultimately belong to God. There are things that are the government's and we should give them to the government but there are things that are God's and those should stay God's.

And that leads me to what I think is the main takeaway of this story and that is

Give God what is rightfully His.

It's interesting that Jesus had them bring a coin with Caesar's inscription and Caesar's face on it. That coin had the image of Caesar stamped on it. In the ancient world that was like an ownership mark. What they essentially believed is that all of the money was Caesar's and Caesar was just getting back some of his own money. We know it was Caesar's because Caesar had his face on it.

The Bible teaches, all the way from Genesis through, that we are made in the image of God. Back in Genesis when it talks about the creation of man, it says,

[26] And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
[27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:26-27 (KJV)

I love animals. Animals are great. All creation is great, but animals do not have the same sense of self-awareness that we have. They don't have the same sense of right and wrong that we have. Mankind alone was stamped in the image of God.

If Caesar gets to claim taxes because his image is on them, God gets to claim us because his image is on us.

God doesn’t just want your money. God doesn’t just want your time. God wants all of you - because all of you belongs to Him.

Conclusion

Think back to that Roman coin. It was small, made of silver, and stamped with the fleeting face of a man who thought he was a god. Caesar claimed ownership over that piece of metal because his face was pressed into it.

Yesterday, many of us celebrated the Fourth of July. We watched fireworks, spent time with family, and thanked God for the incredible freedoms we enjoy under our government. It is right to be thankful. It is right, as Jesus said, to render to Caesar what belongs to him—to pay our taxes, obey the laws, and show respect to the leaders God has placed over us.

But as you go back to work tomorrow, and as you live your life this week, I want you to remember that the government only owns the coins in your pocket. God owns you.

You don't bear the stamp of Uncle Sam, or the stamp of a political party, or the stamp of a Roman emperor. Look at the person sitting next to you. Look in the mirror when you get home today. You are looking at a masterpiece stamped with the very likeness of the Almighty Creator.

When Jesus said, "Render unto God the things that are God's," He was looking past the silver coin and looking straight into the hearts of His listeners. He was looking at you and me.

God doesn't just want a percentage of your paycheck. He doesn't just want an hour or two of your time on Sunday morning. He doesn't just want your outward compliance.

God wants all of you.

He wants your ambitions. He wants your family. He wants your hidden thoughts, your private choices, and your total allegiance.

So as we close this morning, the question isn't just "Are you a good citizen?" The question that matters for eternity is this: Are you giving God what rightfully belongs to Him? Have you surrendered your life to the One whose image you bear?

Let's bow our heads and pray.