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    Luke 20:20-40
    ​Lesson 151

    Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

    In this lesson:
     
    Two traps.  
    Study Tip:
     
    Find the truth in each passage.
    Decide how that truth is relevant to you.
    Plan how to apply that truth into your life. 
    Who were - 
     
    The Sadducees -
    One of four Jewish sects (along with the Pharisees, Zealots and the Essenes).  Mostly well educated, upper class, and aristocratic, the Sadducees wielded considerable political power due to their wealth.  Although smaller in number than the Pharisees, they were more worldly and held a majority of the seats in the council of elders (the Sanhedrin).  The Sadducees rejected the traditions of the Pharisees and only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch).  They mocked the Pharisees' burdensome rules.  Unlike the Pharisees, they thought that souls died with the person and denied such things as the resurrection of  the body (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27), eternal punishment or reward, and the existence of angels, demons, and spirits (Acts 23:8).   Time and again, the Sadducees cast aside their religious beliefs to curry favor with the Roman occupiers.  The Sadducees and Pharisees normally distrusted each other but worked together to plot against Jesus (Matthew 22:34).  The Sadducees vanished forever after the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70.

    The Gospel According to St. Luke

    The King James Bible    ​

    Luke 20:20-40
    Taxes and the resurrection

    20 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.

    21 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:

    22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?

    23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?

    24 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's.

    25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

    26 And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

    27 Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,

    28 Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

    29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.

    30 And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.

    31 And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.

    32 Last of all the woman died also.

    33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.

    34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

    35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

    36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

    37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

    38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

    39 Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

    ​40 And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.      ​​​
    ​Margin notes: 
     
     "Feign themselves just men." (20:20) - Means, "Pretend to be honest men."
     
    "Take hold of his words." (20:20) - "Catch him in His words."
     
    "The governor." (20:20) - The governor was Pontius Pilate, the fifth Roman procurator (governor) of Judea and Samaria.  He served from AD 26 to 36 and disliked his Judean assignment so far from home.  Pilate, no fan of the Jews was routinely charged with cruelty against them, accusations he usually deserved, and Jesus was well aware of Pilate's harsh reputation (Luke 13:1).  The Jewish religious leaders returned Pilate's animosity and frequently complained about him to Rome.  They accused him of corruption, cruelty, insensitivity to their customs and religion, and once of stealing money from the Temple to build an aqueduct.  Pilate's headquarters was in Caesarea, but he was in Jerusalem with his wife Claudia to keep order as the Holy City filled with pilgrims over the Passover holiday.  While in Jerusalem, the Jewish high council (Sanhedrin) brought Jesus to stand trial before him.  The Sanhedrin lacked the authority to sentence a prisoner to death (John 18:31), so they pressured Pilate to crucify Jesus.  A pure politician, Pilate was more interested in political expediency than justice.  Already disciplined by Rome once, Pilate wasn't willing to release Jesus and risk more Jewish complaints.  He repeatedly declared Jesus innocent (Luke 23:4; 23:14; 23:22; John 18:38) yet was prepared to order execution (Matthew 27:24-26; Mark 15:15).  In AD 36, Pilate finally lost favor with Rome after the Governor of Syria brought yet more charges of cruelty against him.  He was exiled to Vienne in Gaul, where he committed suicide in AD 38.  
     
    "Neither acceptest thou the person of any." (20:21) - "And don't show partiality to any person."
     
    "Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar." (20:22) - "Is it right for us to pay tax to Caesar."  This is a verbal trap set by the "spies" (20:20) of the chief priests.  If Jesus answers "yes, pay the taxes," the crowd will turn against Him because they hate the Romans.  If Jesus says, "don't pay Caesar's tax," the Romans may arrest Him for sedition.
     
    "Why tempt me." (20:23) - "Why test me."
     
    "Whose image and superscription hath it?" (20:24) - As stated in this verse, the image was Caesar's.  The superscription on the reverse read, "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus."
     
    "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's." (20:25) - Although God should always come first, Jesus taught that Christians have a responsibility to their government.  This message is also recorded in Matthew 22:15-22 and Mark 12:13-17.   
     
    "Moses wrote unto us....." (20:28) - See Deuteronomy 25:5.
     
    "Equal unto the angels." (20:36) - Means, "Like the angels."  See "Today's Question" below.
     
    "He calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." (20:37) - This is a paraphrase of Exodus 3:6, where God told Moses, "I am" the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and not "I was the God."  This shows that there is life after death and that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still exist.  "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:32).
     
    "After that they durst not ask him any question at all." (20:40) - "After that, they dared not ask Jesus any more questions."  The Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes gave up trying to catch Jesus in their verbal traps.
    The same thoughts on marriage and the resurrection can be found in Matthew 22:23-33 (lesson 45) and Mark 12:18-27 (lesson 89).


                                                  New Living Translation 
     

    Luke 20:20-40
     
    20 Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus.

    21 "Teacher," they said, "we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully.

    22 Now tell us-is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
     
    23 He saw through their trickery and said,

    24 "Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?"
     
      "Caesar's," they replied.
     
    25 "Well then," he said, "give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God."
     
    26 So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they became silent.
     
    Discussion about Resurrection
     
    27 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees-religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead.

    28 They posed this question: "Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother's name.

    29 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children.

    30 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died.

    31 Then the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them, who died without children.

    32 Finally, the woman also died.

    33 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her!"
     
    34 Jesus replied, "Marriage is for people here on earth.

    35 But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

    36 And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.
     
    37 "But now, as to whether the dead will be raised-even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord as 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

    38 So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him."
     
    39 "Well said, Teacher!" remarked some of the teachers of religious law who were standing there.

    40 And then no one dared to ask him any more questions.
    ​This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word for word translation of the Bible.  However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version." 
    Today's question:
     
    1. Is there marriage in heaven? (20:35)




    ​One purpose of these lessons is to create an interest in learning more about the Bible.  So spend time exploring the Scriptures each day.
    Answer: (Do you agree?)
     
    1. Jesus clearly says that Christians will be like the angels in that they will live forever and "neither marry" or be "given in marriage" (20:35-36).  Relationships will be different than they are in this life, and better.  What heaven will be like is beyond our imagination, but we know that God's kingdom will be infinitely grander than anything on earth.  We will have bodies that will never die and live lives that will never be tiresome (1 Corinthians 15:35-57).




    ​An interesting quote to ponder:
     
    "I prayed for Faith and thought that someday Faith would come down and strike me like lighting.  But Faith did not seem to come.  I now opened my Bible and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since."
     
    (Dwight L. Moody; February 5, 1837 - December 22, 1899)
    Thank you,
    ​for helping us distribute Free Bible Lessons.
    Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress Books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; "The Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies"; "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers published by Barbour publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course the "King James Bible".  All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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