We will find that our Lord’s sorrows on the cross were the result of our sins; His sorrows through life, the result of the enmity of our hearts towards Him.
The three great representatives of the Jewish people now confront the Lord. The Herodians were political religionists, the Sadducees were freethinking religionists, while the Pharisees were legal religionists. They now all come to Him with a subtle question: “Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cæsar, or no?” They thought they had Him with this subtle, sharp-sighted question. What enmity towards the Lord we see here! But He at once detects the moral of the occasion and says to them, “Why tempt ye Me? Show Me a penny.”
The Lord had no purse. When He wanted to preach on a penny, He had to ask to be shown one. The Lord had the wealthiest purse that anyone ever had in the world. But not a mite of all that was in that purse did He ever use on Himself.
He says to them, “Whose image and superscription hath it?” They answered, “Cæsar’s.” Very well. The Lord was not going to treat Cæsar as a usurper. He was the rod of God’s indignation in the land of Israel. Whether Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks or Romans, they were no usurpers.
So when the Lord saw Cæsar’s coin passing through the land, He saw in it Israel’s shame, not Cæsar’s usurpation. How beautifully He escapes the snare of the fowler! “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.” That was a golden rule ever since their captivity—the rule of the returned captives.
And so it is to be our rule. Do you treat the powers that are ordained of God as usurpers? Do not confound the rights of Cæsar and the rights of God. If there is a collision between them, say with Peter, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” This short statement is replete with divine wisdom for Israel’s condition at this moment.
J. G. Bellett (adapted from Notes on the Gospel of Luke)