Luke 20:20-26

Last week we heard a sermon from RC Sproul on the calling of Matthew. In the leadup to calling Matthew, Jesus had been healing people and forgiving sins. The Pharisees weren’t happy about it because forgiving sins is something only God can do. Some people say that Jesus never claimed to be God, that Christianity was just a cult that got out of hand. But the fact that Jesus forgave sins caused an outrage. No one is really offended by a priest absolving someone of their sins after a confessional so why the outrage? What offended the Pharisees was that by saying he forgave their sins, Jesus made himself equivalent to God. And there was Matthew then known as Levi the tax collector, whose sins of greed, treachery and debauchery, were in plain sight before he met Jesus. A lot of people’s sins are hidden from view but Levi’s were out in the open. Levi would have been a very unpopular individual, a very rich man but a traitor. In the same league as rich people find themselves today. 

Now we all need to pay our taxes don’t we otherwise we can’t have roads, hospitals, schools, universities, state pensions and other welfare schemes. We don’t object to receiving these benefits, but we do object to paying high taxes.

In the passage that RC Sproul spoke on last week, remember how the Pharisees criticised Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus often called them hypocrites, they were only pretending to be true believers. Jesus revealed them as lovers of money, which was the real reason they disliked tax collectors like Levi not because they hated sin. All they really loved was money and power not God. If they had loved God, they would have loved Jesus.

Jesus used money in about a third of his parables by one count. Take note of these, 

1. The Hidden Treasure 
2. The Pearl of Great Price 
3. The Unforgiving Servant 
4. The Labourers in the Vineyard 
5. Ten Talents or Gold Coins 
6. The Rich Fool (with the bigger barns)
7. The Lost Coin 
8. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (the pharisee proud of his tithing, money often leads to pride)
9. The Two Debtors (more love from the one most debt forgiven)
10. Counting the Cost (sizing up the cost before entering a battle)
11. The Lost Son 
12. The Shrewd Manager
13. The Rich Man and Lazarus (was this really a parable?)

When we come to the end of the message, see if you can recall at least 7 of the 13. You might what to split into groups and see which group remembers the most.

Money is such a part of everyday life, that people can understand more easily the spiritual truth Jesus was teaching.  That’s the important point, the purpose of the parable wasn’t to teach us how better we can manage our finances, Jesus used money to illustrate something important such as the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, salvation, faithfulness, forgiveness, justice and so on.

Today we’re going to jump forward to Luke 20 where Jesus outmaneuvered the Pharisees once more when it came to money.

Luke 20:20-22 

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

First of all, this was not a serious question from them. The sole purpose was to get Jesus arrested. They wanted him to say something against Caesar that he could be arrested for. Jesus could have turned the question back on them and asked them why they were seeking a law of God that would justify not paying taxes. But he knew there was no such law. Sometimes the Bible is silent on a specific topic but that doesn’t mean we don’t know in our hearts what is right. For example, is it ok to smoke marijuana since it is a natural thing that God made. We already know the answer to this question. We just want to justify our choice. When we stand before him on Judgement Day we won’t be able to hide our true motives.

Luke 20:23-25

But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me? Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The picture on the right is of a real Emperor Tiberius denarius tribute coin of such like was handed to Jesus. The question was designed to get Jesus in trouble with the Roman authorities for saying that it was unlawful to pay tax to Caesar, and to imply that Caesar was not God as was the Roman claim. Here we note again that Jesus perceived their thoughts as we heard last time when Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic and what the Pharisees thought about him saying that. No thought is hidden from him from Jesus, the Word of God. Remember Hebrews 4:12 says;

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Jesus gave his stunning answer “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

What are those things that are Caesar’s?

• Taxes
• The census return 

Can you think of anything else we owe the government? God hasn’t permitted the Caesar that much in reality. Caesar is accountable to God for how he spends those taxes.

What are those things that are God’s?

• Everything else
• The rest of our possessions
• All our heart, soul, strength and mind

What is a tithe then. It’s a tax. We pay taxes to Caesar and as Christians, we pay a tax to the Lord. The word tithe comes from Leviticus 27:30-32. It literally means ten, so that’s where the 10% comes from. You can think of it as a tax that’s needed to run the Church. When I thought about it, there were 12 tribes, the tribe of Levi were the priests, their job was the Lord’s work. The other 11 tribes had to use their income to support Levi. By my calculation that would be 1/11 which equates roughly to 10%. So, if all the other tribes gave of their income, Levi would have a full income.

It’s the same with a country. The taxes are to cover the services the government provides including health, education, welfare, infrastructure etc. The more people in paid work, the lower the taxes should be in theory.

Our treasurer Ant could tell you the total cost of running PCC, that’s what the tithe should cover. 

The tithe is different to the offerings. There is no financial calculation to be made with an offering, it’s whatever the person wants to give out of their love for the Lord and for his Kingdom. The Lord wants us to give from a cheerful heart out of our love for him, knowing that he will provide our needs. 

I don’t know about you, but I stress over whether I will have enough to pay the bills, should I? Here I am today sustained all my life by God, should I really be worried? I wonder why that is. I think it’s about time for me to take the Lord at his Word and not to worry. He said not to worry about life, food or drink, the body, our height, or clothes. That surely covers everything we can worry about.

Luke 20:26 

But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

You cannot outsmart God, many people think they can. Jesus’s response made the Pharisee’s marvel and keep silent. Silence. That’s how it will be for sinners on Judgement Day. Who have all their arguments ready for why they rejected God in their lifetimes.

Romans 3:19 says 

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God”.

So when government start introducing new taxes, remember they are accountable to God for how those taxes will be spent and also accountable to God. But we are still accountable to God for everything else.

On the topic of money, Jesus said you can’t serve God and Money, only one can be your master. If you put your trust in money, you are in for great disappointment. You don’t control your money, money controls you. In our day, the banks and governments are seeking more and more to control people through money. Soon there will be no cash, soon you will have to have a digital ID to live anything like the life you are used to. 

Choose your master carefully. John was given a vision in Revelation 13 of what the eventual money system would be and it’s a frightening one. We don’t have to imagine this anymore, it is on our doorstep. That is the final result of loving money – total control over our lives. 

Revelation 13:16-18

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

That is why we love God instead! 

In summary, Jesus taught it is right to pay your taxes. Governments are accountable for how they spend their taxes. If they are corrupt or wasteful they will answer for why they stole from the Lord. But then we also are accountable to the Lord. That’s something to pray about ! 

Luke 5:17-26

In 1967, The Beatles sang “With a Little Help from my Friends” on their Sergeant Pepper’s album. Some of the lyrics may be questionable but they did tell a truth that when we go through times of struggle, we all need help to get through. If we try to navigate life on our own, we will fall short of what can be done with the involvement of others. Church is such a great place to receive that support. Someone who has a disability cannot get by in life without help. First of all, the parents take responsibility for a disabled child but at some point others have to step in. The more the disability, the more help is needed. It takes a lot of love to sacrifice your own life for the benefit of another. Elevate Christian Disability Trust is one such ministry in New Zealand that does that. Today we’re going to read the story of the paralytic who had help from his friends to get to Jesus to be healed and was doubly blessed to receive something even better – the forgiveness of his sins. Many people have a disability of some kind but all of us need the forgiveness of our sins so we can all relate to this story. Let’s read Luke 5:17-26.

Luke 5:17

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

We know from Mark 2 that this miracle occurred in Capernaum. I’m sure we have all been at meetings where the power of the Lord is present. Things begin to happen in the congregation, faith increases, fear can increase, that’s not a bad thing, joy and worship increase. People react in different and sometimes unexpected ways. It is good to prepare your heart for the presence of the Lord at church on a Sunday morning. How many times do we come to Church and just expect what happened last week.

Luke 5:18-20

Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

We assume these people were his long-term friends. They may have just been people who wanted to help him, in the moment, nevertheless they acted as true friends. Their faith had increased at the presence of the Lord. They wanted to see Jesus heal their friend. What good friends these were! Do you know someone in your life who helped you come to Jesus? Now is a good time to remember that person and thank God for them. The truth is more than that, those people came into your life because God sent them, even if they didn’t know it. These friends went to extraordinary lengths, even taking a risk to help the man. The whole ceiling could have collapsed couldn’t it! But when Jesus saw their faith, he was moved to do something that they probably didn’t expect for this man’s friends were asking for healing not forgiveness of sins. Jesus forgave the man’s sins. It is good for us to ask for forgiveness for our sins. It opens the door to healing.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We are to confess our sins. Rather, the first need the man had was the forgiveness of his sins. We ask God to fix an issue in our lives, to heal us, sometimes he will identify a different issue to what we are asking for. In this case, the man’s sins needed to be forgiven before he was healed. The healing was proof that his sins had been forgiven. As we saw with the leper, and the illustration of sin being like leprosy, healing and cleansing are linked.

Luke 5:21-22

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

This triggered a negative reaction from the Pharisees. The presence of the Lord doesn’t necessarily bring out the best in people. The presence of the Lord reveals the truth. Sometimes it reveals an underlying hostility. Jesus perceived their thoughts.

Hebrews 4:12-13  

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 

Jesus is the Word of God. He knows our thoughts. It doesn’t matter what we say, it’s what’s in our heart and mind that counts. That is why we need to examine ourselves to see if our proclaimed faith squares off. Are our lips in alignment with our heart.

Luke 5:23-25

Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 

The healings that Jesus does prove that he has the power to forgive sins. No other person has the power to do that, his forgiveness trumps all, even if others refuse to forgive you, even when you think the past can’t be fixed. What do you think this man gloirified God for? It wasn’t only because he could walk but that his sins were forgiven, he had been set free forever. It was a glorious day for him.

Psalm 32:1 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.

Luke 5:26

And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

Now it does say they were all amazed. So that would have included his critics just before. Even the Pharisees were amazed. It is a very hardened heart that would reject the goodness of God to forgive and heal. It is normal to feel happy for the person who has been forgiven and healed, that is the way we should react. When the Lord is moving we will see strange things, things that can make us afraid. Afraid of being out of control, afraid of the unknown, afraid at the power of God. That’s normal. Jesus often told his disciples « don’t be afraid » When we’re afraid it is a good thing to worship the Lord like these people did! Because the Lord is good and merciful and has compassion on those who fear him.Jesus is passing by and how we respond matters.

I know that not everyone gets healed, that’s the reality of our fallen world. I’ve been at meetings where some people who had great faith came forward for prayer but went home in the same condition while others were healed.  We can’t know why some get healed and others don’t, it’s God’s sovereign will. In closing I was reminded of the story in 2nd Samuel 9 of Mephibosheth who was the grandson of King Saul and son of David’s best friend Jonathan. Mephibosheth was disabled being lame in both feet and was afraid after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle that David would execute him because he was from the house of Saul. But David instead showed mercy because of his love for Jonathan and instead told him in 

2 Samuel 9:7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.” 

Mephibosheth wasn’t healed of his lameness but he had something better – he would eat at the King’s table forever. That is a picture of the grace of God, who rather than execute judgement on us, forgives us our sins because of our faith in Jesus and allows us to eat at his table forever. And that is the very best thing we could ever hope for.