Today's Passage - Luke 20:19-26

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 20:19-26   The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.  Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.  So the spies questioned him: 'Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?'  He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 'Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?'  'Caesar's,' they replied. He said to them, 'Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.'  They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.   "Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  To Jesus, this is indeed a dilemma.  If Jesus said they shouldn't pay taxes, then He was suggesting that they violate Roman law; however, if Jesus said they should, the Jews would object because they believed their money should belong to God.  Therefore, no matter how Jesus answered, he could have been attacked.  Nevertheless, the Lord used a wise answer to teach us some principles:   First, we must obey all those who are ruling us.  No matter whether we think the political authority came from the will of God, we need to understand the biblical truth that all political authorities are from God, and thus we need to respect every authority that God allows with a fearful heart.  Roman 13:2 says that "he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."  Such obedience certainly should have its limitation.  When obeying the government means we need to denounce our faith, we must obey God more than we obey the authority of the world.  In all other scenarios, we should do our best to obey the authority of the world, and fulfill our duties including paying taxes and serving in the military, because they are authority of the government given by God, so we must obey the authority in all these.   Second, don't judge details in daily living by absolute truth.  In the past, when missionary from the west preached the gospel in China, they had issue with the government over how the Chinese bowed before the picture of Doctor Sun Yat-Sen.  To the Western missionaries, bowing to the picture of the deceased Dr. Sun is same as worshiping idol, but they didn't understand Asian culture.  To the Asians, bowing to someone is a normal thing, and such etiquette doesn't equal to worshipping, but rather simply paying respect to them.  However, because the missionaries judged such details in daily living by absolute truth, the result was many Chinese people rejected Christian faith, which is a pity.   May the Lord soften our hearts so that we may face all types of question in life.  Let us not impose our own perspective on others, but we ought to joyfully seek biblical principles in one accord, and apply them in all levels in life.  May the Lord give us sufficient wisdom to do the right thing!     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please give us a heart that fears you so that we may face this complicated society, and please give us a soft and obedient heart so that we may pray for those who are in power.  Lord, please bless the country we are living in, bless the rulers and give them a heart that fears you, so that every decision they make will follow your will.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!