Whose Image Do You Bear?

Do we bear the image of our Father?

Scripture:

Luke 20:20   So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. ²¹ So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. ²² Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” ²³ But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent.

Observation:

The religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus again. The scenes that Luke plays out in Jerusalem are filled with challenges which have serious consequences. Luke brings us this story on the heels of the parable of the vineyard. The religious officials are offended by the idea that they may be trying to steal the inheritance, but this line of questioning plays into Jesus’ hands. 

Just a few chapters previous Jesus had shared the three parables of the “lost” — the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son. Many early church leaders have interpreted the concept of the lost coin as the lost image of God in humanity. Jesus came to restore the image which God had intended at creation. The possibility of the restoration of the image of God in humanity would become possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem. The coin was to be stamped with the image of God in the life of each individual. 

Interestingly, Green tells us that “together with the elders, chief priests and scribes constituted the Jerusalem sanhedrin, the sanhedrin collected the tribute on Rome’s behalf, and the tribute was calculated in terms of and paid by the denarius” (NICNT).  The religious officials were responsible for collecting this tribute for Rome. Connecting the previous parable of the vineyard with Jesus’ response to this question continues to lay blame at the feet of the sanhedrin, and this made them angry. 

These people were responsible for collecting the Roman tribute and Jesus asks them to show him the denarius. “While there were many coins in circulation in the Roman empire, Jesus requests a Roman denarius (worth about a day’s wages). The coin bore the image of the emperor Tiberius (cf. 3:1), with the inscription ‘Tiberius Caesar, Augustus, son of the divine Augustus.’ Both the image and the acclamation of deity were abhorrent to the Jews (see Ex. 20:3-5, 23)” (ZIBBCNT). While this was true, the irony was that they carried these coins around in their pockets and even represented the government in the collection of their tribute. 

The question of the image becomes vital. It’s no longer about the coin, but it’s about them. What image are they bearing? It seems to be the image of the Emperor, and not of God. The question isn’t really about paying taxes or tribute, but about the heart of the individual. Either you are like the woman who rejoices when she finds her coin — and has the image of God restored in her life, or you are enjoying the favor of the worldly Empire which has stamped its image on your heart. 

Therefore, Jesus can proclaim that if the image is Caesar’s — give it to Caesar, but if it is stamped with the image of God, then give it to God. He is denouncing the religious leaders for selling themselves out to the governmental authorities. 

The answer was not what they expected and instead of repenting, they are left in stunned silence. 

Application:

This whole scene leaves us with the question “whose image do you bear?” The disciples clearly bore the image of God, while the religious leaders bore the image of Caesar. That’s a terrible indictment of what was happening in the life of the religious community. 

Throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus has been mentoring and training his disciples to live in complete and total dependence upon him. They have been learning their lessons well and the image of God is now stamped upon their lives. 

As disciples we are also to consider the image that we bear. If one were to examine our lives, would they see the stamp of God, or that of the world? It’s become very easy to reflect the values of the world, but the only way to reflect the image of God is to get to know Christ, the incarnate image of God. The answer may seem simplistic, but the focus of our lives is to be on knowing Christ. The closer we draw to him, the more his image becomes a part of who we are, burned into our beings. 

If the image of the Empire is the first thing that people see in your life, then it’s time to repent and draw near to God. Give to the Empire what belongs to the Empire — but give to God everything!

Prayer:

Lord, stamp your image on my heart. Amen.