TWO KINDS OF WISDOM (2): EXALTING CHRIST

(Luke 20:19-26)
February 12, 2017

Read Luke 20:19-26 - You can get knowledge in a lot of places; true wisdom
only 1. Prov 2: 6) For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come
knowledge and understanding. Gods Word = wisdom! Wisdom tells us what
to do with knowledge! Mark Twain: Suppose you were an idiot. And
suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. God
might reword: Suppose you were unwise. And suppose you were human.
But then I repeat myself. Unwise is the way we are packaged. Doesnt mean
you may not know a lot. You can be brilliant and still lack wisdom. Like the
day Albert Einstein rang the deans office and asked for Dr. Einsteins address.
The secretary replied, Dr. Einstein does not wish that information given
out. Whereupon Einstein replied, Please do not tell anybody, but I am Dr.
Einstein. I am on my way home and have forgotten where my house is." You
can be brilliant, but if you dont know your way home you are lost.

Wheres home? Home is where God is. Thats why the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. Without the relationship that implies, it doesnt matter
how many Ph.Ds we have, we are without the wisdom that leads home.

This passage is intended to help us find our way. It contrasts two kinds of
wisdom human and divine. During the last week of His life, Jesus enemies
are coming at Him from every direction, each scheme more brilliant than the
one before, to try to catch Him out. Desperate to discredit Him. But their
wisdom is no match for His. In every case they go down in flames like Wile E.
Coyote against Road Runner. His brilliance is breathtaking. If indeed, Jesus
was not real we should be worshiping whoever made it up.

Last week we looked at 3 characteristics of human wisdom and found that it

Disregards Sin, Deifies Man and Devalues Christ. Today we want to look at
4 characteristics of divine wisdom the kind that comes from Gods Word.

I. Exposes Sin

Human wisdom denies sin (disregards, dismisses, downplays), divine wisdom

lays it bare. Jesus enemies are reacting to the parable He just told exposing
them as destroyers of His message and His messengers. He wants them to
repent. Instead they send new companions hoping to trap Him. 21 So they

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asked him, Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no
partiality, but truly teach the way of God. [Their words drip with honey! But
now the trap.] 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Now, this
is not primarily a question about taxes in general as usually presented.
Tribute was a small tax requiring an annual payment of one denarius (a
days wage) per adult male for allowing temple worship to continue. It only
applied to Jews living in Judea, not Galilee (where Jesus was from). BUT
tho small, it was a continuing reminder of their subjugation to a hated enemy.

Furthermore, the image of Caesar was imprinted on the denarius with the
inscription, Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus a
claim of divinity. Many Jews considered this a violation of their Law. In
deference to these beliefs, the Romans allowed the Jews to mint their own
coins with images like ears of corn, vine leaves and palm branches. Yet the
Sanhedrin was collecting this Roman tribute to protect their own existence.

So the question is, Is it lawful (by Gods law) for us (not you, but us) to give
this tribute. Jesus, they imply, can afford as a non-Judean to be objective
about this hot issue. The trap is clear: to answer Pay it, would be to alienate
much of His following; to answer Dont pay it, which they expected and
had set Him up for, would make Jesus a dangerous insurrectionist in the eyes
of the Romans. One way or the other, theyre sure theyve got Him.
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But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 Show me a
denarius. Okay, so why didnt Jesus pull out His own denarius? Because He
wanted them to produce one from their own pockets. That would show they
were using this detested coin themselves. Jesus exposes their hypocrisy in 4
words (3 in Greek). The coin wasnt a problem, but the fact they implied one
thing with their question while living another was. Human wisdom tries to
hide sin; divine wisdom exposes it. Human wisdom caused Adam and Eve to
run from God; divine wisdom called them to repentance.

The greatest obstacle to saving faith is always the same a denial of who we
really are. We refuse to see ourselves as God sees us. Jill Price who lives in
CA and has an extremely rare condition called hyperthymesia, which means
she can vividly recall every detail of her life since age 14. Experts at the U of
CA studied her for 6 years to confirm her unique ability. Sound like a good
thing? In some ways, yes. Jill has warm memories of her good decisions. But
she also recalls every bad decision, every insult, every excruciating failure.
Those memories eat her up. She says, I feel paralyzed and assaulted by bad

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memories. Peaceful sleep is rare. Here is a good woman traumatized by
her sin. Most of us believe the illusion of our goodness because we suppress
those thoughts, words and actions we dont want to remember. What a gift a
perfect awareness of sin would be if it drove us to the cross of Christ for
forgiveness. But, Beloved, we dont need perfect awareness the divine
wisdom of Gods Word will drive us there if we will let it. It exposes sin.

II. Esteems Man

Surprised?! Its true. While divine wisdom insists on the reality of sin, it still
esteems people, values them, assigns them dignity even in their
unrepentant state. Of course, a day of accountability is coming, but
meantime, God gives man his due in hopes that He will turn to God.
Theologians have a term for this common grace. Jesus Himself says in Mt
5:44-45: 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For
he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just
and on the unjust.

Look how Jesus even respects a godless emperor: 24 Show me a denarius.

Whose likeness and inscription does it have? They said, Caesars. 25 He
said to them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesars. Jesus is not
evasive: Yes, pay the tribute. He duly recognizes the human authority, even
if it is embodied by a man claiming to be god and living a decadent, licentious
lifestyle. Hes still responsible for a relatively orderly society, police
protection, roads to travel, a court system, and in this case, the right to
continue temple worship without interference. So, pay the tribute. Mt 17:24-
27 makes clear that Jesus paid His taxes!

Naturalism strips man of dignity; hes just a higher animal. Divine wisdom
sees dignity even in unregenerate people because they were made in the
image of God. The image is broken and abused, but it still demands respect.
Further, God has ordained the principle of submission and authority as the
pillars of orderliness at all levels of society, from the home, to the church to
the government. Thus Paul says in Rom 13:1-2, Let every person be subject
to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and
those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the
authorities resists what God has appointed. Peter similarly in I Pet 2:13-14:
13 Be subject for the Lords sake to every human institution, whether it be to
the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who

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do evil and to praise those who do good. Both of these men, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were urging submission to the government that
eventually took their very lives. Human wisdom could never go there.

Human wisdom believes humans are the result of a meaningless evolutionary

process coming from nowhere and going nowhere without value,
meaning or dignity. That opens the door to all kinds of abuse such as
eugenics, genetic engineering and euthanasia. If man is just a machine, why
not treat him like one. Attributing special value to a human being is merely
a comforting illusion. Such thinking led Francis Crick, one of the discoverers
of DNA, to suggest that if a new-born infant does not meet certain tests
regarding its genetic endowment, its life should be terminated. And before
you breathe a sigh of relief, he has also proposed compulsory death for
everyone at age 80. This is the thinking that has led to the murder of 60
million unborn babies since abortion was legalized. John Blanchard says of his
native UK: It has been estimated that whereas the chances of being killed
by a terrorist in this country are one in 420,000, the chances of being killed
in the womb are one in five. We now live in a world in which seals and
whales have more legal rights than unborn infants. Human wisdom, which
on the one hand deifies humanity, in the end casts individuals onto the
rubbish heap of history.

Meanwhile in Gods wisdom, He sent His own Son to the cross to pay the
penalty for the sin of every person who will believe. You cant assign any
greater worth or dignity to a human life than that. The only way it can be
negated is by the continued, willful rejection of grace on the part of the sinner.

III. Exalts God

This is really beautiful. The question 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to

Caesar, or not? is structured in such to suggest that you must honor God or
Caesar, but not both. But look at Jesus answer: 25 He said to them, Then
render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are
Gods. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Why? Because its not an either Caesar
or God universe. Its a both Caesar and God universe. Divine wisdom sees a
place for both. But there is a definite priority. And that priority is God.

If Caesars image is on the coin you use, he should receive his due for the
privileges he provides. But Gods image is on the very soul of man, so first
priority goes to Him. Note Jesus changes the word give tribute, to render

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 give what is due. Those who benefit from the state are obliged to pay
their dues to the state. But as we render to Caesar what is Caesars due, we
must always bear in mind that Caesars rights are limited. He has no rights in
Gods domain. The Christians first and overriding loyalty is to God. In
Peters words we are aliens here -- still subject to the appropriate authorities.
But we are citizens of heaven and that priority drives our existence. When
the state conflicts with God, God prevails. There are definite limits to what
Caesar may ask; there are no limits to what God may ask,

For example, a believer must resist authority (whether family, church or state)
if asked to violate a command of God (murder thru abortion). We must resist
when asked to do an immoral act. And we cannot renounce our commitment
to Christ or other violations of our conscience. Divine wisdom exalts God at
all cost. Thus when the apostles were arrested for preaching Christ and
ordered by the Sanhedrin to stop, 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, We
must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). When mans authority and
Gods collide, divine wisdom sides with God sometimes at great cost.

The Apostle John had a young disciple named Polycarp who became Bishop
of Smyrna. In AD 155 Polycarp, now an aged man, was arrested for promoting
his faith against the religion of Rome. He was brought to the arena before a
proconsul named Quadratus who did not want to make a martyr of him and
who did not relish executing such an old man. So he said if Polycarp would
just recant his Xnty, he could go free. Polycarp politely refused. Quadratus
reminded him, Understand, I will have you burned at the stake if you
refuse to recant. Polycarp responded, Be that as it may, your fire will last
no more than an hour and then be quenched, but the fires that you face
under Gods judgment will never got out. Quadratus said, Polycarp just
say away with the atheists. Xns were considered atheists in rejecting Romes
gods. Polycarp said, Happy to comply, waved at the pagans in the stands
and said, Away with the atheists those rejecting true God.

No longer amused but still desirous of releasing the old man Quadratus said,
Just say 2 little words and I will release you. Say Kaiser Kurios. Would
you have said those 2 words Kaiser Kurios Caesar is Lord? Would you
have choked those out? Not Polycarp. He said, For 86 years I have served
Christ. And in all those 86 years He has never forsaken me. So how can I
forsake him? Polycarp gave his life for 2 words. He could not say, Kaiser
Kurios. He was committed to Jesus is Lord. So the fire
was ignited, and Polycarp paid the ultimate price to gain the ultimate glory!

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The issue today is the same as it was in 155, isnt it? It all comes down to two
little words is it Kaiser Kurios or o ? Is it man or God?

IV. Exudes Authority

Jesus always knew who He was and why He was. That breeds confidence.
Matt 7:28-29 notes the crowd reaction at the end of the Sermon on the Mount:
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his
teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as
their scribes. Why could He do that? Because He moved in absolute and
total obedience to the Father. Divine wisdom exudes authority. It knows it
has it right. 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch
him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent. Thats
His critics who are marveling. Theyve never seen anything like it.

Why? Authority driven by the wisdom of the Word. Its authoritative bc its
eternal. Matt 24:35: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not
pass away. Immersion in Gods Word breeds confidence. It addresses the
great issues of life for which human wisdom has no answer.

I saw an interview with a little known pro golfer a few years ago named
Simon Dison. Hed done pretty well on the European tour and a reporter
asked, Is there anything you fear? He answered, Yes, death. Im in a
position where I can do just about anything I want. Dying wouldnt be good
right now. Well never is, right?! Yet, the hearse is parked in front of all our
homes. Like the undertaker who finished every letter he wrote, Eventually
yours. Thats the way it is. And human wisdom has no answer for that issue.

But Jesus does. He has words of life. When the crowds were beginning to
leave Him in Jn 6, He looked at His disciples and asked, Are you also
leaving? Jn 6: 68 Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to
know, that you are the Holy One of God.

Conc So what do we choose? Its up to us, you know. What will we commit
our life and eternal future to? Human wisdom or divine? Malcolm
Muggeridge, in his book Jesus Rediscovered, says education, the great
mumbo-jumbo and fraud of the ages, purports to equip us to live, and is
prescribed as a universal remedy for everything from juvenile delinquency

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to premature senility, [but] for the most part . . . only serves to enlarge
stupidity, inflate conceit and put those subjected to it at the mercy of
brainwashers with printing presses, radio and TV at their disposal. Choose
words of life instead. They alone will lead you home where God is. Prov 2: 6:
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and
understanding. Lets pray.