88. Caesar

[Pastor Ralph]

Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. 

[hanks]

1. What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? What did they seek to accomplish? 
They hated Jesus and had been looking for an excuse and opportunity to kill Him. Jesus’ words against them (20:18), put them in a bad light, and this was the last straw, so He had to be killed. But they could not do it themselves for fear of the people who at this stage were still hoping that He might be the Messiah. So, they worked out a strategy that involved a trick question, hoping to get Jesus to say something against Caesar. If they could get Him so announce that they must not pay taxes to the Roman government, this would incite the Romans to have Him arrested. Maybe even killed – problem solved. The Romans were very strict and sensitive about any revolt especially one involving non-payment of taxes. On the other hand, if He states that taxes must be paid to the pagan, Gentile, evil Roman government and its gods, He would be a traitor to the Jewish nation and their religion, and could not possibly be the Messiah. With this strategy in mind, they ask Him the trick question “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" (20:22). These scribes and chief priests really thought they had Him this time, but He outwitted them again. 
 

[hanks]

2. In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not? 
These spies were pretending to be honest and righteous people, but instead they were devious followers of the religious leaders. They were so underhanded and dishonest in that they did not go to Jesus themselves, but got other people to approach Him, in order to trap Him with a trick question. Their smooth talk and flattery, displayed their level of hypocrisy - they were master of hypocrisy. However, Jesus knew that these men were spies sent by the Pharisees and the Herodians (Mark 12:13), so He patiently listened and replied. Normally these two groups would be fighting each other, but now they had a common enemy, and this brought them together. Jesus who knows our inner thoughts, knew they were not speaking sincerely, instead they we using demeaning flattery. Naturally, the Lord did not fall into their trap. Luke tells us that ‘He saw through their duplicity’ (20:23). 
 

[hanks]

3. Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Why or why not? 
Flattery is an attempt to deceive. We see this in the spies sent to flatter Jesus, hoping He would say something that could be reported to Pilate the Roman governor, and so have Him arrested. But Jesus knew what they were trying to do and stayed out of their trap. We should be on our guard against flattery. With God’s help, we can detect it and avoid the trap that often follows. Flattery is an attempt to manipulate others. Unfortunately, many people are deceivers, liars, flatterers who think they will get their way or what they want by deception. I feel in the world today, sincerity and truth are extremely valuable because they are so rare. The only sure truth we have today is the Word of God – His Words are as flawless as refined silver (Psalm 12:6). Flattery distorts the truth. In trying to persuade people, we may be tempted to make our message more pleasing or to use flattery or praise. The truth of the gospel must never be compromised. Flattery hides real motives. Flattery is often a cover-up for a person’s real motives. We have a responsibility to be honest and not to tell people what they want to hear to our advantage. Flattery destroys integrity. Our focus should not be on ourselves or on the impression we make. Rather, our aim should be to glorify our Lord, pointing to Him, and not to ourself. Christians should not be flatterers. They can be used to accomplish our purposes but never to accomplish righteous purposes. 
 

[hanks]

4. Why did Jesus ask His opponents for the coin? Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions? 
I think that Jesus asked for a denarius, because it was the coin that was used for paying taxes (Mat 22:19), and the fact that they had them on them, was proof enough that they were using it for that purpose. Another argument could be that Jesus wanted the coin to come from the pockets of His opponents, so as to impress upon them the fact that they themselves were using this coinage, were benefiting from its use, and had accordingly accepted the resulting obligations. It could not be used, for example, for paying temple tax. Here the drachma was used. This is the reason why the money changers were exchanging money in the courts of the temple. 
Being a Roman coin, it had a picture of Caesar on it, which was a breach of the commandment forbidding the use of images (Exo 20:4). On top of this, it also had on the reverse side the dreadful inscription which said that Caesar was divine and the supreme ruler in spiritual as well as religious realms. By carrying them, with these being blasphemous inscriptions only showed their hypocrisy again. 
 

[hanks]

5. How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? Are we ever to resist civil government? 
Jesus tells us that since we use the goods and service of this world, we must therefore pay for them with this world’s currency. We pay our taxes while we live in a relatively orderly society and enjoy police protection, good roads, honest judicial system, and municipal services, etc. We are to obey the powers that are over us, for in any ordered society there must be authority and submission to that authority. If not, we will have a state of anarchy. Any government is better than no government.
God has instituted human government, and no government exists apart from His will (Rom 13:1). He does not approve of all the things they do; He certainly does not approve of corruption, brutality, and tyranny! But the fact remains that the authorities that exist are appointed by God, and while God’s laws are not being contravened it is our duty to obey the rulers over us. Yes, we resist civil government if we are told to do something that disobeys God’s Word. "We must obey God rather than human beings!” (Acts 5:29). While we should try to live at peace with everyone (Rom 12:18), this is not always possible as conflict with the world and its authorities is sometimes inevitable for a Christian. The world hated the Lord, and it will hate all who resemble Him (John 15:18). There will be situations where we cannot obey both God and people. Then we must obey God and trust His Word. 
 

[hanks]

6. What does Jesus mean when He says to render to God what is God's? How do we do that? How do we live that out? 
The denarius coin had Caesar image on it, so it belongs to Caesar, we bear the image of God (Gen 1:27), so we belong to God. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Give … to God what is God’s” (20:25). The money belongs to Caesar, and we belong to God. Let the world have its coins, but let God have His servants. We are to give our soul to Him. We belong to Him, He owns us, we are His creatures. Since we can never ever discharge our obligations to Him, we should give Him all the praise and honour due to him. We do this by loving the LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength (Deut 6:5). We repent of our sins and put our faith in Him for our salvation. Remaining obedient to His Word, we become more and more like our Lord Jesus, persevering to the end, and bringing glory to our Heavenly Father. 
 

[Irmela]

1.  What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? What did they seek to accomplish?

The scribes and chief priests sought a way that would not point to them directly as being the ones that wanted Jesus killed (because of jealousy /because of His forthrightness and showing them out to be false) but by trick questions have Him pointed out as a traitor to either the Roman Government or to Israel. 

They started with flattery. Then came the question which answer could point Him out to be a traitor to either party. If His answer was not to pay taxes then it showed He was against the Romans. If it was to pay the hated taxes then it showed He was against the people and they could possibly turn the people against Him. 

So flattery was used and then it would have been manipulation. 

They wanted a reason to have Him killed. 

 

[Irmela]

2. In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not?

They came pretending to be on Jesus' side. They acted as if they approved of Him 100%. Their motive was to trap Him. 

 

[Irmela]

3. Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Why or why not?

Flattery seeks to manipulate. By manipulating someone you are not allowing that person freedom to speak his mind. You are trying to get him to say or do what you want not what he has on his mind. It mighr be the same but because of your manipulation it is tarnished and no longer pure. That is why it cannot be used to accomplish righteous purposes. 

[Irmela]

4. Why did Jesus ask his opponents for the coin? Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions?

They were the ones with the question. The fact that they had the coin was proof enough that they were part of the "system". (The system required that taxes be paid.) The coin had nothing on it pertaing to God. 

[Irmela]

5. How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? Are we ever to resist civil government? 

We too should pay what is required of us and not resist what is not against God. 

If the government requests something that is not in line with what God requires, yes, then we are to resist that rule /law. 

[Irmela]

6. What does Jesus mean when he says to render to God what is God's? How do we do that? How do we live that out?

When we have given our life to God, then we no longer belong to this world but to God. In actual fact we are giving back to God what is actually His. We are His temple and ought to look after the body that is lent to us for use in this present time. So whatever we do we ought actually to do it for Him. To serve and honor Him

[Old Jerry]

What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? What did they seek to accomplish?

 

A. It was to trick Jesus into saying something that would make his followers turn against him or to claim that he is against the government.

 

In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not?

 

A. They pretended to be followers of Jesus.

 

Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Why or why not?

 

A. Sometimes flattery can be used to accomplish righteous purposes because it can sometimes get the persons attention so that you can talk to him about Jesus.

 

Why did Jesus ask his opponents for the coin? Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions?

 

A. Jesus asked his opponents for coin so he could make a point. They probably had a coin in their passion because that is what was used to pay for goods and in order to pay their taxes.

 

How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? Are we ever to resist civil government?

 

A. Jesus is saying you should pay to the government what they require. We shouldn’t resist civil government except when it goes against God.

 

What does Jesus mean when he says to render to God what is God's? How do we do that? How do we live that out?

 

A. Jesus is saying that we should turn ourselves over to God. He make us and we are in His image. We can do that my living and staying close to him.

[Katy]

Q1. Jesus has just told the people the Parable of the Tenants in verses 9 -18, and the teachers of the law and the chief priests realised that Jesus had been referring to them in the parable. This made them look bad before the people so they were looking for a way that they could catch Jesus out and they could then hand Him over to the power and authority of the governor. However they knew the had to be careful as the people might object to their tactics. The chief priests had people watching every move Jesus made and every word to see if they could catch Him out. Jesus of course say through their duplicity and was more than able to answer without incriminating Himself.

Q2.The teachers of the law and the chief priests were hypocrites because they got others to go to Jesus and pretend they were interested in what Jesus was saying and they tried to trip Jesus up. They got others to do their “ dirty work “! Those doing the questioning were hypocrites because they pretended to be interested in the things of Jesus, they were not. They were also hypocrites in front of the people because they were trying to deceive them not wanting them to know precisely what they were up to. 
Q3. I don’t think flattery should ever be used especially in the Lord’s work. Flattery is dishonesty, insincere and it is a lie! All vices that must not be used by Christians. What a terrible testimony we would have if it was based on sin. We would be a disgrace to our Lord and Saviour and people would soon see the dishonesty of our lives and words and want no part of us or the gospel we are speaking about.

 

[Katy]

Q4.Jesus knew the questioners would have a denarius on them as this was the coin which had to be used for the head tax a different coin , a drachma  was used to pay the temple tax. It was an offensive coin in that it had on one side the head of Caesar with a reference to him being deity, and on the back a picture of his mother referring to her as the goddess of peace.

Q5.We must pay our civil taxes. The only time we can disobey our government is if they ask us to do something which is against God’s Law.

Q6.1Corinthians 6 v20 …You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 
We should honour God with everything we are and everything we possess. He wants us to grow more and more like Him, we can only do this if we spend time learning about Him and spending time with Him. Because we love Him we should spend our time working for Him. This will mean different things for different people depending on our gifting. We owe God everything and must acknowledge that daily. 

[haar]

1.    What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? What did they seek to accomplish?

The main reason why the scribes and the chief priests asked Jesus whether it was right to pay tax to Caesar or not was to trick him to tell them that they should not pay taxes to Caesar. This would have given them a reason to hand him up to the Roman authority to kill him for disobedience and instigating rebellion against the Roman authority.

2.    In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not?

They acted as hypocrites by first of all talking of Jesus good virtues without meaning what they really say. Secondly, they asked their question with a hidden motive, that is to get rid of him through the Romans.

3.    Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Why or why not?

I  believe flattery is usually with bad intention and thus can not be used to accomplish a righteous purpose because the motive is evil.

4.    Why did Jesus ask his opponents for the coin? Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions?

Jesus asked his opponents for the coin because he knew the coin they would show him had Caesar figure on it. He thus wanted to catch them at their own game by pointing to them where they should pay their taxes to.

5.    How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? Are we ever to resist civil government?

Jesus answer to them was for them to give to Caesar what belongs to him  and to God what belongs to God.

This thus teaches us to pay our tithes to government authority and also to pay to God, our tithes and offering not forgetting the poor, widows and orphans as the scriptures teach us. So help us Lord to comply.

6.    What does Jesus mean when he says to render to God what is God's? How do we do that? How do we live that out?

Please the B part of my question 5.

[kreilly]

What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? What did they seek to accomplish?

First, they sought to flatter Him and make Him believe they agreed with Him.  Then they produced the trick question, in hopes they could produce some evidence to provide to Pilate of sedition against the Roman government. 

In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not?

They were pretending that they agreed with His teachings and just wanted to know more. 

Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Why or why not?

Flattery is a sin so I don't know how it could be used to accomplish righteous purposes. 

Why did Jesus ask his opponents for the coin? Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions?

So He could point out that Caesar's picture is on there, bringing home His point.  They paid tribute to the Roman government. 

How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? Are we ever to resist civil government?

When they asked Him the question about taxes, they clearly weren't familiar with His teachings, which were all about not valuing money, but instead valuing God.  Their question reflects their own selfish desires, and they assumed He would feel the same way about money.  We should be fine with paying taxes because we are not to hold onto money tightly anyway.  When governments are repeatedly involved in unjust, evil, unrighteous, ungodly acts and we have the power to come together to resist, we should come together to do so, always remembering to maintain justice, righteousness, and integrity in the ways that we resist. 

What does Jesus mean when he says to render to God what is God's? How do we do that? How do we live that out?

Our whole life belongs to God, including our money.  We live that out by making every decision in light of His Word and will for us. 

 

[George L]

1. What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? Carefully crafted questions to connect Jesus answers to the reputation of revolts coming from the Galieans more than any other Jewish area. What did they seek to accomplish? That way he was a threat to Roman rule. Therefore subject to Roman's death penalty.
2. In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not? Asking as impressed and applauding of him while seeking any excuse to accuse him to the Romans.
3. Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Yes.Why or why not?    It may lift a down person to the reality of Jesus sacrifice for them even if they were the onlybone in need of it.
4. Why did Jesus ask his opponents for the coin? To show them the value system they already countenanced. Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions?  Because it was the required head tax amount in Roman coin which was also required by the Romans.
5. How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? We are to properly support and pray for the government. Are we ever to resist civil government? Only when the government decides to have a contest with God.
6. What does Jesus mean when he says to render to God what is God's? Exactly what it says. God expects us to use His gifts in us to further the kingdom of heaven. How do we do that? My walking each day as the holy spirit directs. How do we live that out? Prayer, praise, study, obedience to his directions. As A.B. Simpson said, put our ‘self desires’ up on the tree daily, and walking in our spiritual life. As did Jesus saying and doing as the Fathers business needs done.