Luke 20:20-26
Be still: Lord, help me to slow down and become aware of your presence. As I read your Word today, give me a heart that is open and ready to listen. Amen
Read: Luke 20:20-26
He said to them, 'Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.' (v25)
Encounter: It’s no secret among my friends that I’m a massive board game geek. No matter who I’m playing with, it’s universally agreed that the worst part is hearing the rules explained to you. It’s meme-worthy for a reason: it usually devolves into a totally disorienting list of causes and effects. Inevitably, it ends with someone saying, ‘It’ll make sense once you start playing it.’
It’s hard to find joy when all you have is a complex web of rules.
That’s the position the spies represent in today’s passage. They come to Jesus pretending to ask an honest question about paying taxes to Caesar. But Luke tells us they are hoping to catch Jesus out. They want to trap Jesus in the complex web of rules that they see the world through. They lay a trap.
But once again, Jesus brilliantly turns a trap back onto his accusers. He asks for a coin, points to Caesar’s image on it, and says, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’ (v25).
More than avoiding a trap, he’s saying something deeper. The coin bears Caesar’s image, but human beings bear God’s image. So yes, give the coin back to Caesar. But give your whole self back to God.
We can easily drift into a rules-first faith. What exactly am I allowed to do? Where is the line? What technically counts? But Jesus keeps bringing us back to the heart of faith: not less than obedience, but much deeper than rule-keeping. The question is not, ‘What do I owe?’ but, ‘Who do I belong to?’
Apply: Where might you be reducing faith to rule-keeping, technicalities, or doing the bare minimum? Ask instead: what would it look like today to give my whole self back to God?
Devote: Father, I belong to you. Save me from a faith that drifts into legalism. Help me to offer you not just my behaviour, but my heart, my desires, my decisions and my whole life.