Pharisees – Lee Duigon

In Luke 20:23-25 Jesus requested a coin and then asked the crowd whose image was on it. They replied that it was “Caesar's.” Severa… | Ancient coins, Coins, Coinage

It was a trap set by the Pharisees and their customary rivals, the Herodians. But on this one thing they agreed: the man called Jesus must be stopped.

So they asked Him, “Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?”

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/render-unto-caesar

If He says no, the Romans will come gunning for Him. If He says yes, Jewish patriots will despise Him as a collaborator. This was a deadly trap set by Christ’s enemies to destroy Him. We need to appreciate that. The question was designed to have no right answer, and the wrong answer was intended to destroy Him.

Greg Uttinger wrote this article for Chalcedon’s print magazine back in 2004. We still live in times when Caesar lays claim to everything.

But Jesus says give Caesar back what properly is owed to him and belonged to him in the first place: but everything is God’s.

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I would be a fool if I told you that now, after two hours’ study, I fully understand the Parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16. But maybe it would be fair to say I misunderstand it less than I did when I read it first thing this morning.

Pondering the meaning of Christ’s words is not just something to do on a Sunday. As Psalm 1:1 puts it, we are to “meditate day and night” on God’s word. And because it’s convenient to post it here, let me offer you some of Matthew Henry’s meditations on this parable ( https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/Matthew-Henry/Luke/Parable-Unjust-Steward ), courtesy of the Bible Gateway.

I got off on the wrong foot with this parable, thinking Jesus was still talking to the Pharisees, to whom He told the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. I just kept reading, and missed the significance of the opening sentence of Luke 16: “And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward,” etc. Jesus has turned from the Pharisees to address His disciples. But the Pharisees were still there, as v. 14 tells us: “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” The Pharisees heard the proverb, too, and laughed at it. They didn’t listen.

So the parable is spoken to those who are disposed to listen, and who will make an effort to understand it, as we ought to.

Can I tell you, yet, what the parable means? I must confess, not really. Not without more study, more meditation–and more discussion, too. But I think I can say that Our Lord is comparing the believers’ carelessness, when it comes to the “true riches” of the Kingdom, with the great and energetic care taken by worldly folk to pursue their worldly goals; and that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” The crooked steward’s master commends the prudence and ingenuity of the steward, although it was used for a dishonest end; and we ought to take equal care in seeking the Kingdom of God.

And now I’ll read these posts to my wife and see if I’ve made any sense to her.

P.S.: I remember a news story from some years ago, about a convict who spent a long, long time carefully and ingeniously fashioning a rope–out of dental floss!– which he used to escape from prison (only to be caught again pretty soon). And I remember thinking at the time, “If this guy had ever devoted that much labor and persistence to some honest work, he would have accomplished much.” I think that story has some relevance to this parable.