God Above All (Luke 20:25)

He said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.
– Luke 20:25

This may be the most prominent teaching from Jesus about government in the Gospels. In the midst of this exchange with religious leaders who were trying to trap him, they asked him if it’s lawful to give tribute or pay taxes to Caesar. And they knew that if Jesus said not to pay taxes to Caesar, it would be an act of rebellion against the government. On the other hand, if Jesus said taxes should be paid to Caesar, he might appear to be compromising his devotion to God. Seeing through their hypocrisy, Jesus said, “Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.” They brought him a coin, which was worth about a day’s wage.

Luke 20:25 teaches us how to relate to our earthly governments.

Jesus held it in his hand, looked them in the eye and said, “Whose likeness, whose inscription is on this?” And they answered, “Caesar’s.” So, that’s when Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” And in those words, Jesus provided a revolutionary picture of how people should relate to the government. Since Caesar’s image was on a coin, then in a sense that coin belonged to Caesar. So, Jesus affirmed what we see all over the Bible, that God ordains government as an institution under his authority for the good of people. So, we should render to Caesar, the government, the things that belong to government, including taxes.

But what does it mean to render to God the things that are God’s? Well, Caesar’s image may have been stamped on a coin, but where is God’s image stamped? And the answer to that question is breathtaking, because God’s image is stamped on every human heart. In other words, Caesar may be worthy of a coin, but God alone is worthy of our hearts, which means no worldly leader is worthy of our hearts. No governmental authority, no political party is worthy of our trust, allegiance, our hope. God alone is worthy of all of these things. So, to be a follower of Jesus is to ultimately yield your heart, your life, your resources, your everything in total allegiance to Jesus alone and Jesus above all, not Jesus plus anyone or Jesus plus anything else.

Luke 20:25 reminds us we are citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom.

We are citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom. And yes, we have citizenship and different governments here on the earth. And yes, we have responsibilities, just like Jesus is outlining here, just like Romans 13 talks about, to submit to and honor and obey government leaders, 1 Peter 2, “To the extent that government or leaders do not call us away from obedience and surrender to Jesus.” But when that happens, in the words of Acts 5, “We must obey God rather than men.” We must obey God rather than government, no matter what that means. Think about our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world who are in prison right now because they obey God over government.

And for others of us who live in free parts of the world, let us make sure that God alone has our supreme allegiance, that our hearts belong completely to him. It’s evident in the way we live our lives as citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom proclaiming the gospel of our God. Giving our lives to spread the good news of his love… To shine the light of Jesus in whatever country we live in. And to share the truth of Jesus, not of this or that leader or this or that political party. No, we share the truth of God’s everlasting word that triumphs over all history and all time.

This verse reminds us God is worthy of our total allegiance.

So, we pray, oh, God, you alone are worthy of all our allegiance today. All our love, all our devotion, single-minded focused on you. We praise you for putting the stamp of your image upon us. We praise you for the privilege of being made in your image… Made for relationship with you, made to thrive in relationship with you. We pray that you would help us to have proper perspective of government, leaders, laws, and allegiance when it comes to political ideologies and parties. Oh, God, we pray that you would help us to proclaim Jesus as Lord of all… To live according to your Word alone.

God, we pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted, imprisoned… Who are suffering because of their allegiance to you alone. God, we pray for their strength and steadfastness. And we pray for the spread of the gospel through them amidst persecution. And God, in places where we are free to follow you… Help us to steward this freedom to the full, to spread the good news of King Jesus. That this would be what we talk about all the time… That we would shine the light of Jesus and share the truth of Jesus in the world around us… To lead people to heavenly citizenship.

God, use us to do this today, we pray. Help us to live as citizens of another Kingdom, of a heavenly Kingdom with our eyes fixed there.

Prayer for the Southern Pashtun People

And God, we pray for the spread of your Kingdom to the ends of the earth. We pray for the Southern Pashtun people of Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and spread out in other countries. God, for 9 million of them who don’t know you, Jesus is King.

Most of whom have never even heard the good news of your love… The truth of who you are, Jesus, as King over all creation. We pray that the Southern Pashtun people would be brought into your Kingdom. We pray that you’d help us to live, to spread your Kingdom among all the nations. God, help us to be responsible citizens in our nations for the spread of your glory among all nations. We pray all of this in light of your Word, which we love. In Luke 20:25, in Jesus name, amen.