JESUS NEVER SAID "RENDER UNTO CAESAR!"
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When someone says that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar" - they are turning Jesus and His disciples into liars. Jesus NEVER said "Render unto Caesar."
Of course, you and I both know that the phrase "Render unto Caesar" IS in the Bible and IS in red letters (kind of). So why am I still EMPHATICALLY saying that Jesus never said "Render unto Caesar?"
If He didn't say, "Render unto Caesar" - what did He say? Here is the text found in Luke 20:19-26 (KJV):
And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:
Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?
But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?
Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's.
And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
If you have read this clearly, you might say, "Well, he's just nitpicking, Jesus didn't say "Render unto Caesar, he said, Render therefore unto Caesar, and that's just ridiculous."
This is still not my point or my reasoning for saying what I said, Jesus never said, "Render unto Caesar, or Render therefore unto Caesar," or anything of the sort.
Of the hundreds of times people have said to me "Render unto Caesar" through the years, not one time - ever - did they accurately repeat the words of Christ:
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
Never, not once, have they included the complete words of Christ - which MUST include the phrase:
"and unto God the things which be God's."
To say that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar" without finishing the sentence, is to make Him a liar by twisting His words into something other than the original intent of the statement.
"To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
Sin can be committed by omission just as much as it can be by commission. Quoting only parts of a man's statement and omitting other parts can force the hearer to lose all context and therefore understanding of what the original speaker was intending to say.
It is making Christ a liar to say that He said, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's" - then not include "and unto God, the things which be God's."
I submit to you that the words in this passage did not originate with Christ. This was not the first time this principle appeared in the Scripture.
I have found that possibly the most important words in the Luke 20 passage is found at the end of verse 26:
"and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace."
Take your King James Bible and turn back to I Kings 18. Read the entire chapter to remind yourself of the great showdown between Elijah and prophets of Baal. Then return and focus on verse 21. Elijah said to the people gathered there:
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Do you see it? Two opinions? God or Baal? God or Caesar? Notice the last few words of verse 21 -
"AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD."
Then the last few words of the Luke 20 passage:
"and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace."
The Bible is screaming at us - see the similarities between these two passages? The Bible is not a mystery book. When you see that the Luke 20 passage is directly related to the I Kings 18 passage, go back to I Kings 18 and see what happened to the false prophets of Baal.
And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
This is the reason the chief priests and scribes in Luke 20 held their peace at Jesus' words. They immediately were reminded of the Elijah showdown with the prophets of Baal from I Kings 18 and had great concern that the same thing that happened to the false prophets of Baal - would happen to them. This is another reason why the scribes, Pharisees and chief priests did whatever they could do to eliminate Jesus. It was an "us" or "Him" proposition.
The reason the chief priests and scribes in Luke 20 held their peace at Jesus' words, is because when He said what He said to them, they immediately were reminded of the Elijah showdown with the prophets of Baal from I Kings 18.
In Luke 20, Jesus was quoting Elijah -
"If God be your God, follow Him, if Caesar be your god, then follow him."
Take your Bible now and turn over three chapters to Luke 23. In more than 35 years of ministry, I have asked countless numbers of people the following question: "What were the official charges at the trial of Christ?"
And 35 years later, I am yet to have one person tell me the answer. Amazing. The most important trial in the history of mankind - and hardly anyone knows what the "charges" were. If the same question was asked about O.J. Simpson, just about everyone could name the "charges", the people involved, the name of the judge, the prosecutor, etc., but the "charges" at the trial of Jesus? Not many know what they were. Well, here they are, Luke 23:1-3:
And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.
And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.
So in Luke 20, Jesus was supposedly telling people to Render unto Caesar, then just three chapters later, the same people He supposedly told to Render unto Caesar, were now saying that Jesus was
FORBIDDING TO GIVE TRIBUTE TO CAESAR, saying that He Himself is Christ a King.
So which is it? It's no wonder the modern day "church" is a laughing stock in the world. Anyone with as little as a third grade education would look at these two passages of Scripture and discredit the Bible as a book that contradicts itself. I've heard scoffers say this my entire life. "The Bible is full of contradictions." Well?
So how does the modern day "church" try to overcome the charge of being contradictory with these passages?
Simple. They say that the Luke 20 passage is the correct passage - (Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar") - with no explanation - and the Luke 23 passage were "false accusations"(with no evidence for such a claim).
However, this can easily be disproved. Jesus did not tell His followers to obey Caesar and the chief priests and scribes knew it and they DID accuse Him of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar - and He did agree with the accusations - because He WAS and IS King! The truth is - HE DID forbid the people of His day from giving to tribute to Caesar and HE DID command the people of His day to forsake their ways and follow the Kingdom of God - exclusive of all others - including Caesar!
In Acts 17, read the whole chapter to get the context, then look closely at verses 6-8:
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King, one Jesus.
And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
How do the modern "preachers" handle this passage of Scripture? Of course, they say these were false accusations, also. See the pattern? According to the modern day "preachers" - who benefit from tax exempt status and the tax deductible gift - they love to say Jesus said, Render unto Caesar, then anytime the Scriptures clearly show Christ and His followers demanding allegiance to Him and Him alone - they say those were false accusations in the Scripture.
Isn't it ironic, that those who do not pay taxes ("churches"), are the ones who are the most vocal in saying that Jesus required His followers to pay taxes?!?
Let's go back to the Luke 23 passage and look at the phrase:
...and they began to accuse him saying...
If this was a "false accusation" shouldn't the text tell us it was a false accusation? Wouldn't it had been much clearer if the passage had said,
...and they began to falsely accuse him saying...
Let's look at another time the word accuse is found in the Scripture. In fact, let's look at how the SAME writer - Luke - used the word in Luke 3. In the passage, John the Baptist was preaching repentance and salvation. Soldiers came to him and asked:
And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
What needs to be considered closely again is the word accuse. Notice in the passage the word accuse is followed by the descriptive words - any falsely. Don't make false accusations.
Take your Strong's Concordance now at look at the word "accuse" as found in these two passages. You will find they come from two separate Greek words. One of the Greek words clearly denotes the accusation is false (Luke 3). The other definition makes no reference to the accusation being false (Luke 23).
The Luke 3 passage uses the Greek word that means FALSE ACCUSATION. The words "any falsely" are actually redundant. If you were reading the text in the Greek, there would have been no need to add the words "any falsely" because you would have been reading a Greek word that means - "false accusation."
In Luke 23, when reading the text, you would readily see that the Greek word for "accuse" was not the same Greek word as used in Luke 3, and you would not come to any conclusion that the Luke 23 passage was a "false accusation." There would be nothing in the text requiring the reader to conclude that the accusations were not true.
Saying that the Luke 23 accusation was a false accusation is turning the truth of God into a lie. It is adding to the Word and those who do so bring to themselves the damnation that comes from adding to the Word and/or twisting the truth of God into a lie. II Peter 3:16
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
The modern day preachers who say that Luke 23 and Acts 17 were false accusations - wrest the scriptures unto their own destruction. Saying that these passages were false accusations is saying that Jesus is not King.
I'm not trying to say that people need to be Greek scholars in order to understand the Scripture. The Scriptures are actually quite clear in the English - when something is a false accusation - the Scriptures say so. But this simple little Greek lesson proves the English - just believe what the text says.
Go to Matthew 26 and read more of the trial of Jesus to see what I am saying about "false witnesses" - when the Bible wants you to know something is false - it tells you. Matthew 26:59-61:
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
[60] But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,
[61] And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
See? So if Luke 23 - we found this fellow...forbidding to give tribute to Caesar...the Holy Ghost would have inspired the writer to make it clear that the accusations were false. But it did not. Because it was not a false accusation.
Why would we expect anything different of today's "preachers" who preach that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar?"
This is what the preachers said about Christ on crucifixion day (John 19:12-15 KJV):
And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.
The Luke 20 passage concerning "Render Unto Caesar" is Christ reminding those who were trying to trap Him - just like the false prophets of Baal were trying to trap Elijah - and His response was:
"How long halt ye between two opinions? If God be your God, serve God. If Baal be your God, serve Baal. If God be your God, serve God. If Caesar be your god, serve Caesar."
So what's the conclusion of this matter? II Corinthians 6:14-18 KJV:
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
If God is your God, serve God. If Baal, if Caesar, is your god, serve Baal, serve Caesar.
For another interesting perspective on "Render unto Caesar" - I recommend the following paper:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2010/03/jeffrey-f-barr/render-unto-caesar-amostmisunderstood-newtestamentpassage/
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