James Nisbet Commentary - Luke 20:25 - 20:25

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James Nisbet Commentary - Luke 20:25 - 20:25


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NO DIVISION OF ALLEGIANCE

‘And He said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar, the things which be Cæsar’s and unto God the things which be God’s.’

Luk_20:25

Let us look at the use which has so long been made of our Lord’s reply, and ask whether it is justifiable or wise. His words have been perpetually quoted, as if ‘Cæsar’ meant civil government, and ‘God’ ecclesiastical government, and as if Cæsar and God had separate spheres of jurisdiction, each limiting the other.

I. All intelligent students of the New Testament know that our Lord has made no such distinction as He is popularly supposed to have made. The question on which He was asked to pronounce had nothing whatever to do with the rival claims of Church and State; their respective rights were not even contemplated, the cunning cavillers who had conspired to entangle Him knew nothing of the distinction between the two. It was, indeed, a distinction utterly foreign to the Jewish mind. What feature in the prophetic writings is more marked than the interpretation of religion and politics?

II. Our Lord here recognises no division of allegiance.—He does not regard man as under two masters—as owing duty to Cæsar and duty to God. No; God is set forth by Him always and everywhere as the sole Lord of man’s being and powers. Nothing man has can be Cæsar’s in contradiction to that which is God’s. Christ claims all for the Sovereign Master. Rightly understood, therefore, the great precepts of the text are in perfect accord with the doctrine of God’s sole and supreme lordship over every thought, and faculty, and possession of man. ‘Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s.’ Why? Who enacts it? The answer is, ‘God.’ It is a part of your religious obedience to be a loyal citizen. God has bound up together our relation to the ‘powers that be’ in this world with our relation to Himself. He has set us under rulers and in societies as a kind of interior province of His mighty kingdom, but our loyalty as subjects and our duty as citizens are but a part of the one supreme duty which we owe to Him.

—
Rev. Canon Duckworth.