The Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. This is the word of the Lord. And our gospel lesson and sermon text is from Selected Verses in Luke 20. One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, tell us, by what authority do you do these things? Or who it is that gave you this authority? He answered them, I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? And they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him? But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet. So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on Jesus at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told a parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched and sent spies who pretended to be sincere so that they might catch him in something he said so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. So they asked him, Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and show no partiality but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? They said, Caesar's. He said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. They were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer, they became silent. And Jesus said to them, how can they say that the Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son? This is the gospel of our Lord. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray with me. Guide us, oh God, by your word and spirit so that in your light we may see light. In your truth find wisdom and in your will discover peace. Add your blessing to the reading and the hearing and the preaching of your word and grant us all the grace to trust and obey you and all God's people said, amen. Now kids, I want you to think carefully about the question I'm going to ask, but I don't want you to raise your hand this morning for fear of what it might reveal. Think about your home, and now think about who the leader is. If you were to raise your hand, which again, please don't, How many of you would say you are the head of your household? How many of you would say mom is the head of your household? How many of you would say dad? And you can raise your hand for this one if you like, but how many of you would say Jesus is the head of your home? Good, good Mr. Bob. Now hopefully your parents are teaching you enough Bible that you know the answer should be that dad is the head of your home and hopefully they've made it very clear that dad answers to Jesus. Now sometimes it might look like the baby is in charge because the home revolves around his or her sleep schedule. Other times it might look like mom's emotions are in charge because everyone is walking on eggshells. But the fact of the matter is that your dad is the head of your home and Jesus is the head of your dad. That's not something that might or might not be true. It simply is the way God made it. The Apostle Paul lays this out very clearly in 1 Corinthians 11 when he writes, I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ and the head of a wife is her husband. So the flow goes, you report to your parents, your mom reports to your dad, and your dad reports to Jesus. But did you know that even Jesus has someone he reports to? The Bible also says the head of Christ is God, meaning even Jesus reports to his dad. And so you see, everyone, even Jesus, is under authority. And if we want to be like Jesus, then you and me and your parents and every Christian in the whole world should respond to the different authorities in our life like Jesus. Unless they're asking us to disobey God, the ultimate authority, we must honor them and we should obey them. That principle of God putting Jesus in charge of everyone and then everyone obeying Jesus by treating the leaders who are under him the way he says we should is actually what's going on in our story today. Now at first, it might seem like Jesus is just telling people to pay their taxes. But if that's all Jesus was saying, the people would not have marveled at his answer and become silent, like Luke says they did in verse 26. In giving the answer, Jesus does, and in quoting the psalm we just sang, Jesus is making an extreme statement. Not just about the authority of Caesar, but about his authority as God's chosen son, and therefore, even Caesar's Lord. By taking one phrase out of context, render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, well-intentioned Christians have made it sound like Jesus is telling people that they all report to Jesus, which they do, but it's not as though reporting to Caesar and reporting to Jesus are different things. Jesus's people are to report to Caesar the way Jesus tells them to because ultimately even Caesar reports to Jesus. Now to help bring Jesus's claims into focus, we have to remember not just what Jesus says here in this one sentence, but what he's been saying his entire ministry, and which has led people to respond to him the way they are in this final week of his earthly ministry. Now, it's been a couple of weeks for us, just a couple of days before Jesus makes this statement, in fulfillment of Zechariah 9, which prophesied that God's chosen king would come, bringing righteousness and salvation and peace to the nations. Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, riding a donkey's colt, just like Zechariah said he would, to the cheers of the faithful, which we echo every Lord's Day. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. You see, the faithful believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, God's chosen king, the son of David, come to sit on his throne forever. And what's more, after these events, Jesus entered the temple, behaving like a faithful high priest, and cleanses it, declaring, my house shall be a house of prayer. Jesus then began teaching in his temple daily, and Luke tells us that the people were all hanging on his every word as he was preaching the gospel. Now again, if we're not paying attention, or if our background is in churches that water down the gospel, we will miss the significance of that statement. When Luke says Jesus was preaching the gospel in the temple, He's not just telling everyone that he lived the life they should have lived and was about to die the death they should have died so that they can go to heaven if they just believe. The word gospel is not a super spiritual word without real world political implications. The word gospel is simply the good news about who the king is. In ancient Rome, when Caesar would win a battle, the heralds of the gospel would run from town to town declaring the good news that Caesar had won, and Caesar was now lord over fill-in-the-blank territory. And so when we read that Jesus was preaching the gospel, we should hear that he was declaring the good news, that he was the long-awaited king of the people who had come to conquer his and their enemies. And so the gospel in its most basic and yet most glorious form is Jesus is Lord. This is the good news that has been preached since the beginning of Luke's gospel. Remember way back in Luke 2, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and declared, fear not, for behold, I bring you the gospel of great joy that will be for all people unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. In Luke 3, when John the baptizer was preaching the gospel, he declared that the Christ was coming, and even now had the winnowing fork of judgment in his hands. In Luke 4, Jesus said that he had been anointed to proclaim the gospel to the poor, freedom to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty for those who have been oppressed. The Son of God, the King of Jubilee, said he had come to proclaim the year of the Lord's and ever since that moment, he has been displaying his power over Satan and sin and even death. And so the gospel that Jesus and every faithful preacher ever since is preaching is that Jesus was, is, and would be king over the entire cosmos. Now again, most of our American evangelical churches have watered down the gospel and turned it into an invitation to give Jesus permission to rule in your heart. As though his lordship is limited to the invisible, subjective, spiritual realm of individual hearts. But the gospel of the Bible, the good news that Jesus was preaching was the objective declaration of his lordship over every realm. And everyone in the first century would have recognized him to be making that claim. If Jesus wasn't making a claim to real and ultimate power, his message wouldn't have been so threatening. But because he was claiming to have authority even over the God-ordained authorities of his day, well then the men in positions of authority wanted to get rid of him. Over and again, the Pharisees, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, everyone who in theory should be the most excited about this good news of the king, don't like it. Because it means they are going to have to give up their power and submit to Jesus. In verse two, Luke tells us that these men are so drunk with power that they think that they have the audacity to tell Jesus what to do, as though he answers to them and not the other way around. They demand that he tell them by what authority he's doing what he's doing and saying what he's saying, essentially saying, well, who made you king, Jesus? Refusing to play their games according to their rules, Jesus toys with them according to his, asking, will you tell me something? Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Huddle together. Come up with an answer and realize that no matter what they say, they're going to be trapped. And so instead of submitting to the king's inquiry, they play dumb and say, I don't know. proving they don't want to have an honest discussion about God's authorities, Jesus exercises his authority by telling them he doesn't answer to them. Instead, he looks around and begins telling everyone another prophetic parable. With a direct allusion to Isaiah 5 and God's declaration that Israel was his vineyard, Jesus says that there were those to whom God had given the authority to take care of his vineyard. He says that the man who represents God in the story went into another country for a long while, and when the time came for him to collect the fruit of the vine, the man sent three servants, one at a time, tell the tenants of his vineyard that the time had come for them to pay up. Instead of listening to the servants, one by one, the wicked tenants beat them, stripped them of their clothes, and threw them out of the vineyard. And so finally, the owner decided to send his beloved son with the hopes that the tenants would give him the honor due his name. But when they saw the tenants, the owner's son, they didn't just beat him. With the hope of keeping his vineyard for themselves, the wicked tenants threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. Jesus then asks the rhetorical question of the crowd, what will the owner of the vineyard do to those wicked tenants but destroy them and give the vineyard to others? Now again, knowing Jesus, to be referencing Israel as the vineyard, the tenants as being the Jewish leaders, and perhaps even having heard that at his baptism this exact same phrase, beloved son, was declared from heaven over Jesus, and even knowing that Jesus was telling this parable about them, Luke tells us in verse 19 that these guys still sought to lay hands on Him, which is another way of saying they sought to fulfill this parable by having Him killed. That's how much they hate the good news that Jesus is God's chosen Son and Lord. Now they're afraid to kill Jesus themselves because so many people had come to pledge allegiance to the king. And so perhaps like when they sent the 10 lepers to Jesus back in chapter 17, in verse 20 Luke tells us they sent spies who pretend to be sincere so that they might catch Jesus in what he said. If they could just get Jesus to incriminate himself, Well, then perhaps they could get the Romans to do their dirty work. And so spreading a net for his feet, they seek to flatter Jesus. Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and show no partiality, but truly teach the orthodox way of God. In other words, we know God's on your side and you're not scared of anyone, so you just tell it like it is. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? You see, they think they've got Jesus trapped by using the language they do and giving him an either or proposition. If Jesus says, yes, it is lawful to give tribute to Caesar, then they could accuse Jesus of worshiping Caesar and being just another patsy like King Herod. and the people didn't want another King Herod, so they'd stop following Jesus. Boom, problem solved. On the other hand, if Jesus says no, it's not lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, well then they could accuse Jesus of being just like Judas the Galilean, who led a tax revolt in AD six and was subsequently killed by Herod for being a threat to Caesar's empire. Either way, they think they've finally got him. But we know better. Perceiving their craftiness as he's prone to do, Jesus turns the table on these guys. He responds to their question by telling them to show him a denarius, a coin worth about a day's wage for a commoner and was often used to pay the tribute tax these guys are talking about. On these particular coins, there was an image of Tiberius Caesar and two inscriptions that highlighted his supposed supremacy. On the front of the coin was the inscription, Son of the God Augustus. And on the back, Pontiff Maximus, or High Priest. These blasphemous phrases would have been, or at least should have been, highly offensive to a God-fearing Jew. And yet, what has Jesus just done? These guys have come to ask him whether it's lawful for them to pay tribute to this blasphemous ruler who they supposedly hate. And yet, who proves to be carrying around the very coins with which the tribute was to be paid? Not Jesus. The script has flipped and now it's them that have the explaining to do. If they don't think paying tribute to Caesar is lawful, well then why are they the ones carrying around the coins in their pockets? If they do think that it's lawful, well then what's the big deal? Why are they bothering Jesus? Just pay your taxes and go on about your business. Either way, and yet again, their question reveals they are not really interested in what's right and true. And being who he is, Jesus doesn't stop there. He asks them a follow-up question. Whose likeness, or better, whose image is on the coin? Whose epigraph, whose inscription is on the denarius? Well, the obvious answer is Caesar's image and inscription. And so Jesus responds, well then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Pay your taxes. Oh, and while you're at it, render to God the things that are his. And it's to this that Luke tells us they were not able to catch Jesus in what he said, but marveling at his answer, they became silent. If all Jesus was teaching was that the people should keep paying their taxes, what's so marvelous about that answer? Something more has to be going on for Jesus to cause his critics to marvel and sit in silence. Luke reserves that word marvel only for special occasions. Jesus' parents marveled at that. when Simeon said of Jesus that his eyes had seen God's salvation, that he has prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for the revelation to the Gentiles and glory for his people. The people marveled when Jesus preached his first sermon about him being the promised king. After Jesus calmed the storm, his disciples marveled saying to one another, who then is this man that he commands even winds and water? And they obey him. When he rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the demon-possessed boy, everyone marveled at the majesty of God. And after Peter encounters an empty tomb, he goes back home marveling at what's happened. And so when something marvel worthy happens in Luke's gospel. It happens in connection with a declaration of Jesus's power and authority, and so something like that has to be going on here. When Jesus commands these guys to render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to render to God that which is God's, and by using the language of image bearing, Jesus is saying something marvel worthy about himself and his relationship to God and where he stands in relationship to Caesar's claims as Lord. Remember, Luke has written this gospel so that Theophilus, the Gentile God-fearer, could have certainty about the things that he'd been taught about Jesus, that he was God's anointed king over Jew and Gentile alike. And in drawing on this image-bearing language, Jesus is placing Caesar's rule under his. After all, Caesar's image is limited to the coins, which are his due. but Jesus is the image of God. And to everyone who bears his image is under his authority, and that includes Caesar. In Genesis 1, God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let man have dominion over all the earth and every living thing that creeps on the earth. And so God made man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. After making man in his image, God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Man was God's image, God's living icon, ruling over the earth on God's behalf. And if you remember way back from Luke's genealogy of Jesus, His roots go all the way back to that first man, that first image-bearing ruler who was to rule over all the world. And so then pulling everything together when Jesus, the Son of God and the perfect image of God, tells these guys to give Caesar his due, but give God his, He's not only declaring himself David's son and David's Lord, Jesus is declaring that he is Caesar's Lord. He's legitimating Caesar's rule, but he's limiting Caesar's rule as subordinate to his. So yes, King Jesus says they are to render to Caesar that which bears his image, his taxes. But everyone must render to God and his king that which belongs to him, their entire being. Now as yet, Caesar is not acting like Nebuchadnezzar and demanding their worship, but Jesus is. And these guys recognize it. They aren't marveling at Jesus' answer simply because he found a creative way to tell them to pay their taxes. They know that Jesus is proclaiming that he's not some underling king like Herod who ultimately answers to Caesar. He's claiming to be the image bearer of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords to whom everyone, even Caesar, owes their allegiance. So you see, this isn't some text where Jesus is making a statement about one kingdom being an earthly kingdom and the other being spiritual and only the spiritual one matters. This is yet another text declaring that Jesus is God's chosen king who was and is and will forever rule over every person and every rank of person who has ever lived, Jew and Gentile alike, kings, queens, and peasants included. So therefore, for us, as we profess to submit to a king such as this Jesus, we are to likewise submit to him by submitting to the authority he has placed over us. That's what the Apostle Paul, who's been partnering with Luke, writes in his letter to the Romans, which we're going to have as our commissioning scripture. Paul says that the governing authorities God has placed over us are God's deacons. They're God's servants and God's ministers. And as such, we should pay our taxes or our tribute to them using the same word from this text, the only other places it's used in the Bible. Now it must be said, it is true that when forced to choose between obeying God or man, well then we must obey God. And one of the things I love about being in our circles is that we have a lot of pastors willing to stand up to our authorities and declare where and when they are overstepping their bounds. When our government tried to tell us to disobey the Lord and cease gathering for worship, most of our churches refused. When the government tries to brainwash our kids into their death cult, do not render our children to Caesar because they belong to God, not Caesar. And when our government tries to make it legal to forcibly tax even more of our money by raising our taxes, we dare not encourage their oppression by voting yes. And so I love being a part of a group of Christians who know who the true king of the world is. But while we're busy reminding everyone that we will not bow the knee to Caesar, I think it would do us well to take care, to pay attention, to not only when to stand up to our governors, but how we should stand up to them as well. After all, God is the one who has put them in authority over us. If we are respectful and submissive to the authorities only when we agree with them, But then every time they say or do something we don't like, we throw a fit and flip them the bird, then we shouldn't be surprised when the people under us follows our lead and treats us that way when we say something they don't like. Did we learn nothing from the guys at Mars Hill, whether 12 or 2,000 years ago? I realize we're in a time when the government has lost all credibility with anyone who has any sense at all. And the answer is never to worship Caesar, something it would do a lot of Trump, Vance, and Kennedy enthusiasts to keep in mind. But neither is the answer to act like a bunch of French revolutionaries and tear any and everyone down who is in a position of authority. Rather, we have been and will continue to pray for and against Democrat and Republican leaders, obeying them where we can, disobeying them when we must, and always honoring their office as being from God. And so should be your approach to every image-bearing authority figure God has placed in your life. Children, you obey your parents because you trust Jesus. Unless they're telling you to disobey Jesus, to disobey your parents is to disobey Jesus. Wives, you submit to your husbands because you trust they will answer to Jesus. Fathers, husbands, you submit to your bosses and church leaders because you trust they will answer to Jesus. And church leaders and government officials must submit to one another because we must submit and answer to Jesus. No matter what all the internet pastors are telling you, to refuse to submit to the actual authorities Jesus has placed over you in the name of truth or conscience or whatever is not brave, tough, or honorable. It is rebellious and it will be met with the chaotic judgment all rebellion deserves. Beloved, the posture of the faithful Christian is one of joyful, fearless submission. Because we know we are being conformed into the image of our Lord, who was the perfect image of God, and who lived a life of perfect submission, even when that meant being subjected to unjust authorities. And so let us not undermine the gospel that Jesus is king by worshiping or rebelling against his government. Rather, let us prove that we trust Jesus as King by calling others to trust and follow him by honoring the authorities he himself has placed over us for the glory of God and the life of the world. Amen? Let's pray. Our Father, we have heard wonderful things out of your word. We praise you for revealing Christ by promise and shadow in the Old Testament and for revealing him as the fulfillment of all these things in the new. Give us your spirit so that we might understand these words and the fullness of your truth as you have revealed it to us in the person and work of Jesus, who with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory now and forever, amen. Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not only on the things that are on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. The word of the Lord. I know, it's still new. I was out for two weeks. Now, I don't think that I have to tell you what I am about to tell you, particularly if you have been walking with us in the Gospel of Luke and hearing incessantly that Jesus is King of Jew and Gentile alike, but apparently, There is an increasing crowd of disenfranchised fools who are lingering out there on the interwebs and preaching a gospel message that is completely at odds with the gospel of Jesus Christ. A message that completely undermines the fellowship we have with him and our brothers and sisters all over the world and throughout time at this, the Lord's table. While many of us are used to the left using race to divide us, apparently there are now splinter groups on the right taking the bait. Let's be clear. There is no room for racial division of any kind at the Lord's table. The only division that we find at this table is between those who are in Christ and those who are outside of Christ. Here, there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and is in all. Now, this is not to say that those who are in Christ cease to be Jew or Greek any more than they could cease to be circumcised. But it is to say that the unity we share is so great But all of the diversity pales in comparison. One of the great tragedies of the church is that the signs and seals that God chose to unite his people are used to divide us. We don't accept each other's baptisms. We keep each other from the Lord's table. And now, apparently there are those who would further divide the church based on melanin content. Beloved, these kinds of divisions have no place in the churches of God and this is not the gospel that you will have preached here. I hope to post everyone's introductions at the new members class this morning so you can hear how beautiful it is to see God's work of grace in the lives of so many different kinds of people that God is grafting into our family. I referenced being thankful to be in the CREC during the sermon because of our willingness not to capitulate to external pressures that find themselves at odds with the lordship of Christ. And that includes pressure from those on the left and right who would seek to make divisions among us. Our European presbytery, of which our guest preacher last week is the presiding minister, proposed the following memorial to make clear where we stand. We believe God made all nations from one man, Adam. These nations were sundered by sin at Babel, but God, by the cross of Christ and the outpouring of his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, is reuniting and reconciling the nations, drawing them into one church, the body of Christ. We therefore detest and repudiate all forms of nationalistic and racial hatred, prejudice, segregation, discrimination, and persecution, including anti-Semitism, Oikophobia, white supremacy, critical race theory, and kinism. We seek to unite the nations in worshiping of the triune God, sanctifying all peoples, languages, and customs to his glory, amen. So having heard that Jesus is David's son and Caesar's Lord, and as we prepare to dine with Jesus, and our brothers and sisters from every tribe, tongue, and nation, redeemed Jew and Gentile alike, let us do so, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body and one spirit, one hope that belongs to our call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all, in the one name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us eat the feast. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread. Let us eat. We do not presume to come to your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your many and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to be slaves who gather up crumbs under your table. but you are the same Lord whose character is to have mercy. Thank you, gracious Lord, that our sinful bodies are made clean by Christ's body and our souls washed through his most precious blood so that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us. Amen. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. These are the gifts of God for the people of God.