ACC ~ Luke 20 v20 - 47

OVERVIEW:

The spies sent by the Sanhedrin resemble Pharisees by their hypocrisy as they watch Jesus closely and use every false pretense to bring erroneous charges against Jesus. The Pharisees appeal to their most hated enemies, the Roman authorities, in order to trap Jesus and deliver him over to the authority of the governor (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Since these Pharisaic scribes hold in their very purses the image and inscription of Caesar, they “give back the things of Caesar to Caesar” (AMBROSE). Jesus requires obedience and submission to the rulers of this world who have been given authority over us (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). This should be done joyfully, praying for them to have sound judgment, realizing that when there is disagreement, God is the eternal Judge (JUSTIN MARTYR).

Caesar may have his image on a coin, but God’s image is on every human being (AUGUSTINE). To give back to Caesar what belongs to him is to put off the earthly person and his image, and to give to God what is God’s is to put on the heavenly person and his image (ORIGEN). The chief priests came from the party of the Sadducees, which means “Zadokite,” or “the just one,” for they considered themselves such because they did not serve God for the sake of reward (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the flesh but that this resurrected life would resemble our life now (AUGUSTINE).

The Sadducees attempt to trap Jesus concerning levirate marriages, but they misunderstand the prophets and Scripture. They are equating this age with the age to come, where there will be no marriage or offspring, because there will be no more dying or decay (AUGUSTINE). Those whom God deems worthy, that is, faithful hearers of the Word who receive Jesus’ kingdom by faith, will live forever as “equal to angels … sons of God … sons of the resurrection” (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Like angels, we will be free from the desires of this world and the needs of marriage and birth produced by those desires (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA). The vocation of virginity that existed before the fall will exist in the resurrection of the dead, for through virginity we are given a foretaste of the glory of heaven (CYPRIAN).

Jesus quotes from the passage about the burning bush [1] —where the Lord tells Moses that he is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob—to show that at the time of Moses, the patriarchs (who had died hundreds of years previously) were still alive in God (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Jesus is essentially saying here that he is the resurrection and the life, [2] for all are living in him by the grace of baptism (PHILOXENUS OF MABBUG).

Everyone knows that the Messiah must come from “the house and family of David,” [3] but the mystery here is that he is David’s Son and David’s Lord (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The Messiah is David’s Son and therefore should call David lord, but because the Messiah is who he is, David must call the Messiah his Lord, for the Messiah is Son of David according to his flesh and Son of God according to his divinity (AMBROSE, CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The silence of the Pharisees showed that they did not want to know the truth about him and therefore rejected him. The scribes are guilty of hypocrisy, malice and greed (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

[1] Ex 3:1-12; cf. Acts 7:30-34.

[2] Jn 11:25.

[3] See 2 Sam 7:12-16.

20:20-26 | Controversy over Paying Taxes to Caesar

THE HYPOCRITICAL NATURE OF JESUS’ OPPONENTS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: These bold and hardhearted men, being ready for only evil, do not entertain a good purpose, but with their mind full of the craftiness of the devil, they commit themselves to wicked plans. They lay traps for Christ, plan a trap for an accusation against him, and gather pretexts for falsely accusing him. In their bitterness, they are already meditating and plotting the lying words they spoke against him before Pilate. … They pretended to be kind and just. They imagined that they could deceive him who knows secrets. Having one purpose in mind and heart, they speak words totally unlike their wicked dishonesty. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [1]

[1] CGSL 538**.

THE HYPOCRISY OF APPEALING TO CAESAR

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What do they say? “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, nor do you accept persons but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” O what polluted dishonesty! The God of all certainly wanted Israel to be exempt from human rule. They trampled under foot the divine laws and totally despised the commandment given to them. They committed themselves to their own devices. They therefore fell under the hand of those who at that time ruled over them. They also imposed on them tribute, tax and the yoke of an unaccustomed slavery. The prophet Jeremiah also lamented over Jerusalem as though it had already suffered this fate, saying, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the cities has become a vassal.” [1]

It therefore says that their object was to deliver him to the authority of the governor, because they expected that they would hear him say, certainly and without doubt, that it was not lawful to give tribute to Caesar. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [2]

[1] Lam 1:1.

[2] CGSL 538-39**.

GIVE BACK TO THE WORLD WHAT BELONGS TO THE WORLD

AMBROSE: When they questioned him about the penny, he asks about the image, because there is one image of God and another image of the world. The apostle also admonishes us, “As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly.” [1] Christ does not have the image of Caesar, because he is the image of God. [2] Peter does not have the image of Caesar, because he said, “We have left all things, and have followed you.” [3] The image of Caesar is not found in James and John, because they are the Sons of Thunder. [4] It is found in the sea, where there are dragons with crushed heads upon the water. The large dragon itself, with its head broken, is given there as food to the Ethiopian people. [5] If he did not have the image of Caesar, why did he pay the tax? He did not give from his own but gave back to the world what was of the world. If you would not be indebted to Caesar, do not possess what belongs to the world. You have wealth; therefore you are indebted to Caesar. If you want to owe nothing to an earthly king, leave all that you have and follow Christ. [6] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.35. [7]

[1] 1 Cor 15:49.

[2] 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15.

[3] Mt 19:27; Mk 10:28.

[4] Mk 3:17.

[5] Ps 73:14 LXX.

[6] See Mk 10:21; Lk 5:11, 28.

[7] EHG 383**.

OBEDIENCE TO TRANSITORY AUTHORITIES

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: How did Christ overcome their craftiness? “Show me,” he says, “a denarius.” When they showed it to him, he asks, “Whose image and superscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” What did Christ answer to that? “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Those who have the office to govern impose a tribute of money on their subjects. God does not require of us anything corruptible and temporary. He rather requires willing obedience, submission, faith, love and the sweet fragrance of good works. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [1]

[1] CGSL 539**.

JOYFULLY OBEY YOUR EARTHLY LEADERS, PRAY FOR SOUND JUDGMENT

JUSTIN MARTYR: Since he has instructed us, we, before all others, try everywhere to pay your appointed officials the ordinary and special taxes. In his time some people came to him and asked if it were necessary to pay tribute to Caesar, and he replied, “Tell me, whose likeness does this coin bear?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He again replied, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” [1] We worship only God, but in other things, we joyfully obey you. We acknowledge you as the kings and rulers of men. We also pray that you may have good judgment besides royal power. If you do not listen to us although we beg you and clearly explain our position, it will by no means harm us. We believe (rather, we are sure) that everyone will pay the penalty of his misdeeds in the everlasting fire. Everyone will give an account in proportion to the powers that he received from God. Christ made this known to us when he said, “To whom God has given more, of him more shall be required.” FIRST APOLOGY 17. [2]

[1] Mt 22:20-21.

[2] FC 6:52**.

CAESAR’S IMAGE ON A COIN, GOD’S IMAGE ON HUMAN BEINGS

AUGUSTINE: These same enemies saw the miracles of the Lord, [1] and they said, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things.” They questioned him with hostile intentions, so that if he admitted what his authority was, they could hold him as guilty of blaspheming. He acted in the same way as over the coin, when they wanted to accuse him falsely. If he said, “Let tribute be paid to Caesar,” it would be as though he had cursed the people of the Jews, making them subject and tributary to a foreign power. If he had said, “It should not be paid,” they could trump up a charge against him before Caesar’s friends and administrators that he was forbidding its payment. He, though, said, “Show me a coin. Whose image and inscription does it carry?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” He said, “So pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” That amounts to saying, “If Caesar can require his image in a coin, cannot God require his image in a human being?” SERMON 308A.7. [2]

[1] He is being rather careless; it was when they saw Jesus turning the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple, which was hardly a miracle.

[2] WSA 3 9:60.

PUT OFF THE EARTHLY IMAGE AND PUT ON THE HEAVENLY ONE

ORIGEN: Some people think that the Savior spoke on a single level when he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”—that is, “pay the tax that you owe.” Who among us disagrees about paying taxes to Caesar? The passage therefore has a mystical and secret meaning.

There are two images in humanity. One he received from God when he was made, in the beginning, as Scripture says in the book of Genesis, “according to the image and likeness of God.” [1] The other image is of the earth. [2] Man received this second image later. He was expelled from Paradise because of disobedience and sin after the “prince of this world” [3] had tempted him with his enticements. Just as the coin, or denarius, has an image of the emperor of this world, so he who does the works of “the ruler of the darkness” [4] bears the image of him whose works he does. Jesus commanded that that image should be handed over and thrown away from our face. He wills us to take on that image, according to which we were made from the beginning, according to God’s likeness. It then happens that we give “to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God’s.” Jesus said, “Show me a coin.” For “coin,” Matthew wrote “denarius.” [5] When Jesus had taken it, he said, “Whose inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” And he said to them in turn, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 39.4-6. [6]

[1] Gen 1:27.

[2] 1 Cor 15:49.

[3] Jn 12:31.

[4] Eph 6:12.

[5] Mt 22:19.

[6] FC 94:161-62*.

20:27-40 | Controversy over the Resurrection

THE SADDUCEES CONSIDER THEMSELVES JUST

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “The Sadducees came and were saying to him, ‘There is no resurrection of the dead.’” [1] They are called Sadducees, that is “the just,” because they say, “We do not serve God for the sake of reward.” They do not await the resurrection, and for this reason they call themselves “the just,” since they say, “We should love God without a reward.” COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.22. [2]

[1] Mt 22:34; Mk 12:18.

[2] ECTD 254*.

THE JEWISH UNDERSTANDING OF THE RESURRECTION

AUGUSTINE: The Sadducees were a particular sect of the Jews that did not believe in the resurrection. When the Sadducees posed this problem, the Jews were uncertain, hesitant and could not really answer it, because they assumed that flesh and blood could possess the kingdom of God, that is, the perishable could possess imperishability. Along comes Truth. The misguided and misguiding Sadducees questioned him and posed that problem to the Lord. The Lord, who knew what he was saying and who wished us to believe what we did not know, gives an answer by his divine authority which we are to hold by faith. The apostle, for his part, explained it to the extent that it was granted him. We must try to understand this as fully as we can. SERMON 362.18. [1]

[1] WSA 3 10:254-55**.

NO MARRIAGE IN THE RESURRECTION

AUGUSTINE: What did the Lord say to the Sadducees? He said, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they marry neither husbands nor wives; for neither do they start dying again, but they will be equal to the angels of God.” [1] The power of God is great. Why do they not marry husbands or wives? They will not start dying again. When one generation departs, another is required to succeed it. [2] There will not be such liability to decay in that place. The Lord passed through the usual stages of growth, from infancy to adult manhood, because he was bearing the substance of flesh that still was mortal. After he had risen again at the age at which he was buried, are we to imagine that he is growing old in heaven? He says, “They will be equal to the angels of God.” He eliminated the assumption of the Jews and refuted the objection of the Sadducees, because the Jews did indeed believe the dead would rise again, but they had crude, fleshly ideas about the state of humanity after resurrection. He said, “They will be equal to the angels of God.”…

It has already been stated that we are to rise again. We have heard from the Lord that we rise again to the life of the angels. In his own resurrection, he has shown us in what specific form we are to rise again. SERMON 362.18-19. [3]

[1] Mt 22:29-30; Mk 12:24-25.

[2] Much more succinct in the Latin: ibi enim sucessor ubi decessor.

[3] WSA 3 10:254-55**.

THE SAINTS ARE CHILDREN OF GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Let us also see what Christ said to them. He says, “The children of this world that lead worldly, fleshly lives full of fleshly lust marry and are married for the procreation of children. Those who have maintained an honorable and chosen life, full of all excellence, and have been accounted worthy of attaining to a glorious and marvelous resurrection, certainly will be raised far above the life which people lead in this world. They will live as is suitable for saints who already have been brought near to God. They are equal with the angels and are the children of God. Since all fleshly lust is taken away and no place whatsoever is left in them for bodily pleasure, they resemble the holy angels, fulfilling a spiritual and not a material service suitable for holy spirits. They are at the same time counted worthy of a glory like the angels enjoy. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 136. [1]

[1] CGSL 542**.

NO MARRIAGE AND NO PHYSICAL DESIRE IN THE RESURRECTION

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: If anyone ponders over this answer about the resurrection of the dead, he will find that the Lord is not rejecting marriage but is purging the expectation of physical desire in the resurrection. The words “the children of this age” were not spoken in contrast to the children of some other age. It is like saying, “those born in this generation,” who are children by force of birth, being born and engendering themselves, since without the process of birth no one will pass into this life. This process of birth is balanced by a process of decay and is no longer in store for the person who has once been cut off from life here. STROMATEIS 3.87.2-3. [1]

[1] FC 85:311*.

VIRGINITY GIVES A FORETASTE OF THE GLORY OF THE RESURRECTION

CYPRIAN: Virgins, persevere in what you have begun to be. Persevere in what you will be. A great reward, a glorious prize for virtue, and an excellent reward for purity are reserved for you. Do you wish to know from what misery the virtue of continence is free and what advantage it provides? “I will multiply,” said God to the woman, “your sorrows and your groans, and in sorrow you will bring forth your children, and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall have dominion over you.” [1] You are free from this sentence. You do not fear the sorrows of women and their groans. You have no fear about the birth of children, nor is your husband your master, but your master and head is Christ, in the likeness of and in place of the man. Your fortune and condition are in common. The voice of the Lord says, “The children of this world give birth and are born. Those who will be found worthy of that world and of the resurrection from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. They will not die anymore, for they are equal to the angels of God since they are the children of the resurrection.” What we shall be, you already have begun to be. You already have in this world the glory of the resurrection. You pass through the world without the pollution of the world. While you remain chaste and virgins, you are equal to the angels of God. THE DRESS OF VIRGINS 22. [2]

[1] Gen 3:16.

[2] FC 36:50*.

JESUS CITES MOSES TO AFFIRM THE RESURRECTION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” [1] Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? He is the God of the living. They certainly will rise when his almighty right hand brings them and all that are on the earth there.

For people not to believe that this will happen is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees, but it is altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. We believe in him who says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [2] He will raise the dead suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and at the last trumpet. It shall sound, the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. [3] For Christ our common Savior will transfer us into incorruption, glory and to an incorruptible life. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 136. [4]

[1] Ex 3:6.

[2] Jn 11:25.

[3] 1 Cor 15:52.

[4] CGSL 542-43**.

LIVING TO CHRIST BY THE GRACE OF BAPTISM

PHILOXENUS OF MABBUG: The prophet’s words are applicable to those who sin without perceiving their sin. A sinner who has received baptism, although he may be dead toward his soul because he does not perceive his sin, he is alive to God because of the grace of baptism that he possesses. This agrees with the words “God is not of the dead but of the living, for they are all living in him.” ON THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. [1]

[1] CS 101:124*.

20:41-44 | Controversy with the Scribes

THE MYSTERY REVEALED

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Savior asked them, “How do they say that Christ is David’s son? David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit on my right hand until I place your enemies as a footstool under your feet.” ’ David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son?” The beginning of understanding is faith. He says, “If you will not believe, you cannot understand.” [1] The examination of important truths leads to salvation. Emmanuel is the Son and the Lord of David. If anyone would learn in what way he is to understand this, he must certainly begin the exact and blameless examination of his mystery. This was kept in silence from the foundation of the world but has been revealed in the latter ages of the world. [2] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 137. [3]

[1] Is 7:9 LXX.

[2] Rom 16:25.

[3] CGSL 544**.

JESUS IS SON OF DAVID AND SON OF GOD

AMBROSE: Before summarizing his commandments, the Lord included the faith and mercy preceding his passion at the end of his testament. Faith is that we believe Christ is our Lord and God and sits at the right hand of God. [1] … He rebukes those who say that Christ is the Son of David. How then did that blind man deserve healing by acknowledging the Son of David? [2] How did the children, saying “Hosanna to the Son of David,” [3] give the glory of their lofty proclamation to God? Here Jesus did not rebuke them because they acknowledged the Son of David but because they do not believe him to be the Son of God. The true faith does not confess one versus the other but both. Although at the beginning we judged to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified, [4] yet now since we are near the judgment, we already do not know Christ only crucified [5] but also wait for him coming in the clouds. [6] The unbeliever looks on the wounds. [7] The faithful one is taken up and runs to meet Christ in the air. [8] Let us therefore believe that Christ is God and man. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 10.1-3. [9]

[1] See Mt 26:64; Mk 16:19; Rom 8:34.

[2] Mk 10:46-52; Lk 18:35-43.

[3] Mt 21:9.

[4] 1 Cor 2:2.

[5] 2 Cor 5:16.

[6] :1–24:53 PRELIMINARY REMARKS | ON THE GOSPEL

[7] See Jn 20:25, 27.

[8] 1 Thess 4:17.

[9] EHG 387-88**.

DAVID’S LORD AND SON

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We also will ask the Pharisees of today a similar question. They deny that he who was born of the holy Virgin is very Son of God the Father and himself also God. They also divide the one Christ into two sons. Let these people explain to us how David’s Son is his Lord, not so much as to human lordship as divine. To sit at the right hand of the Father is the assurance and pledge of supreme glory. Those who share the same throne are equal also in dignity, and those who are crowned with equal honors are understood of course to be equal in nature. To sit by God can signify nothing else than sovereign authority. The throne declares to us that Christ possesses power over everything and supremacy by right of his substance. How is the Son of David David’s Lord, seated at the right hand of God the Father and on the throne of Deity? Is it not altogether according to the unerring word of the mystery that the Word as God sprung from the very substance of God the Father? Being in his likeness and equal with him, he became flesh. He became man, perfectly and yet without departing from the incomparable excellence of the divine dignities. He continued in that state in which he had always been. He still was God, although he became flesh and in form like us. He is David’s Lord therefore according to that which belongs to his divine glory, nature and sovereignty. He is his son according to the flesh. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 137. [1]

[1] CGSL 545-46**.

THE PHARISEES’ REJECTION OF THE FAITH

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Pharisees did not answer Christ’s question. They did this in spitefulness, or rather against their own selves, for perhaps being convicted by the inquiry the word of salvation would have shined in them. They did not wish to know the truth, but sinfully seizing for themselves the Lord’s inheritance, they denied the heir, or rather wickedly murdered him. They rejected the faith because of their love of leadership, greed for profit, and for their shameful gains. …

To remove from them the habit of thinking and speaking of him in a derogatory and scornful manner, he asked them, “How do they say that Christ is David’s Son, etc.?” As I have already remarked, they were silent from malicious motives and thereby condemned themselves as unworthy of eternal life and of the knowledge of the truth. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 137. [1]

[1] CGSL 544-45**.

20:45-47 | Warnings Against the Scribes

THE SCRIBES’ BEHAVIOR SHOWS THEIR UNBELIEF

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: To keep the company of the holy disciples free from disgraceful faults, he usefully testifies. He says, “Beware of the scribes and Pharisees.” That means do not expose yourselves to be the prey of their vices and do not be partakers of their disregard of God. What was their custom? They walked in the streets beautifully clothed, dragging with them a pompous dignity to catch the praises of those who saw them. While they were wicked and their hearts were full of all dishonesty, they falsely assumed to themselves the reputation of piety. With solemn ways not based on reality, they diligently lengthened their prayers, supposing that unless they used many words, God would not know what their requests were. The Savior of all did not permit his worshipers to act so shamefully. He said, “When you pray, do not babble as the heathen do. They think that they will be heard for their many words.” [1] He commanded them to be humble and not lovers of boasting. He commanded them not to pay any regard to the desire of empty glory but rather to seek the honor that comes from above, from God. In such ways, he deposits the knowledge of his mystery. He also appoints instructors of others, as possessing an exact and blameless knowledge of the sacred doctrines. He makes them to know how David’s Son is also David’s Lord. We also will classify ourselves with them, God the Father illuminating us with divine light in Christ. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 137. [2]

[1] Mt 6:7.

[2] CGSL 546-47.