Luke 20:19-37 "How To Argue Like Jesus"

You’re going about your day, minding your own business, thinking your own thoughts—when out of the blue, someone says something that doesn’t sound quite right. Or absolutely wrong. Or they do something you don’t like. You feel your pulse quicken. Your heart beats a little louder. 

People. With opinions! 

What happens next? Do you speak up? Do you stuff it down inside but it feels like a Mentos in a Diet Coke bottle? 

If you do argue with someone, who usually gets mad first? You or them? 

Some people are proud of how they go straight to aggressive—don’t take nothing off nobody! Like it’s a virtue. Do we really think letting our emotions bubble up and take control just because someone is frustrating us is a sign of strength? Maturity? If that’s the case, babies must be the strongest, most mature people on the planet—they lose their mind if they have to burp. 

I’m always amused when big, tough guys who think they’re an “alpha male” get mad and are like, “You wanna go? You wanna be on the news? Staring a hole through me with their rage. “Who do you think you are cutting me off like that?” And I’m like, “Nah, it’s okay, you can use the self-checkout next, I wouldn’t want your sad Hungry Man dinner to thaw out.”

But it’s not just men, we all know women are just as likely to be a powder-keg. Go full-on chihuahua mode or shrieking banshee over the smallest things. Like, someone may or may not have left a cereal bowl on the couch, or forgot to take out the trash, or said they’re acting like their mother. What!?

I’m really talking about the dumb arguments though. Arguments with friends. Classmates. Co-workers. The ones when we’re just trying to prove we’re right. 

Ever get mad because someone has a different understanding of political ideas? Baptism? How to raise kids? Whether chili should have beans or not? It should, otherwise it’s just hotdog sauce. I’m kidding. Except about the beans part.

Why do we get mad when we argue? Are we surprised someone has different opinions than we do? Why do we think it’s okay to get mad just because they get mad at us?

The Bible has something to say about this. In Proverbs 26:4 it says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.”

Don’t return the anger of Alpha Baby Man or Chihuahua Mamma—try to not let it affect you. It’s like that saying, “Don’t wrestle with a pig, you’ll just get muddy, and the pig will enjoy it.”

On the other hand, the Bible also has this to say about disagreement: Proverbs 26:5,

“Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.”

Do not answer a fool according to his folly… also, answer a fool according to his folly. Well, that clears things up.

It actually does but it’s in the second half of the lines: “... or you’ll be just like him.” In other words, don’t let their emotions and foolishness drive you to sin. And “... or he will be wise in his own eyes,” meaning, it would not be good to let a fool walk around thinking their foolishness is wisdom—somebody might get hurt. But pick your battles. And when you do, the truth must be spoken with grace, in humility. Not with you all jacked up on anger and pride. 

Today Jesus is going to get into some arguments. Let’s pay attention to how He handles Himself.

Jesus had just told the parable of The Vineyard—accusing the most important religious leaders, in the capital city of Jerusalem of rejecting the Messiah and God’s plan of salvation. He also told them God was going to judge them, destroy them, and give everything they were trying so desperately to hold onto to someone else. Obviously, they were not pleased. Luke chapter 20, starting at…

The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, (no kidding) but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. Luke 20:19-20

So, they’re going to send some spies to flatter Him and try to trap Him into saying something they can run to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate—something that would get Him in trouble with Rome. It’s all an attempt to kill Jesus without making the people turn against them.

He’s very respectful for a guy who knows they’re trying to get Him to say something they can use to hang Him. We can learn a lot about how to have conversations with people who are attacking us.

So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” Luke 20:21-22

Okay, we know they’re buttering Him up, which is gross, but they’re also doing it in front of the people. Even if they’re lying through their teeth, it still affirms what the people believe about Him. From the people’s perspective, the religious establishment is praising Jesus. That what He’s teaching is right and true. That He says the truth no matter who is listening—they even go so far as to say He speaks with the authority of God! Which is what they were trying to challenge last time they showed up.

So, sure, we know they’re as phony as a politician selling used cars, but it’s having the opposite effect on the people who are watching. 

Then they set their trap, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 

They think they’re being tricksy because if Jesus says, “Yes, you should pay tribute to Caesar,” then all the Zealots and patriotic Jews will turn against Him—all those people who hate the tax collectors. But if He says, “No, you should not pay taxes to Rome,” then they can run straight to Pilate and have Jesus arrested. Very tricksy question.

So, Jesus knew when He was beat. He threw up His hands and said, “You got me! You’re too clever for little ol’ me! I give up.” Well, either that or… 

But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 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. 
Luke 20:23-26

They didn’t see that coming. It’s actually quite an answer. First, He asks them to show Him a denarius—a Roman coin worth about a day’s wages. So, a couple hundred bucks in Katy, Texas money. Dude didn’t hesitate, he pulls a coin out of his own pocket—he also didn’t see that he was about to fall into a reverse trap. 

Jesus asks whose image is on the coin. He says it has Caesar’s image on it. That seems innocent enough to us because we have faces on our money, too. But He also asked about the inscription that said, “Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus.” So, it not only has the image of Caesar but calls him “divine,” which brings the possession and use of the coinage into the realm of idolatry. Poor little scribe didn’t see that coming, did he?

So, Jesus’ answer goes far beyond, “Sure, pay your taxes.” He actually says something more like, “You should get rid of all those idolatrous demon coins, give them back to Caesar—all of them.” And when He says, “Give to God what has His image on it,” He’s talking about the scribe himself. People are made in the image of God. They are made to give tribute (worship) to God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. He also knew the scribes weren’t going to do either of those things. They were too greedy to give up their money, and they were too prideful to walk humbly with their God.

But what about us? What does this mean for us? Well, we can take some comfort that our money currently has the words, “In God We Trust,” printed on it. Which means, at least in theory, that our government acknowledges there is a God and it’s not them. So, having money isn’t automatically idolatry. Not automatically. It depends on how we use it. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil—I think we all already knew that. I would suggest that every dollar that comes into our possession, we prayerfully consider exactly what the God in whom we put our trust wants us to do with it.

And then there’s really good news! Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He became a human being in the incarnation. That’s what the whole Gospel of Luke is all about. Jesus is the ultimate rendering unto God for all of us. He’ll do it perfectly, which is good news because all our feeble attempts to give ourselves to God are barely half-measures. God will accept our offering of ourselves to Him ONLY because Jesus went first and brought us to the altar with Him.

So that was the end of the Pharisees, scribes, and Sanhedrin trying to trick Him with their questions. But they weren’t the only ones there with an agenda… 

There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” Luke 20:27-33

The Sadducees were the religious liberals but they controlled the temple. They didn’t believe in the resurrection or angels—not really in anything supernatural at all. They only acknowledged the validity of the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses, the Pentateuch—mostly because that’s where the instructions for how to do the temple stuff was found. They had no use for the rest of the books. 

They basically approach Jesus with what they think is the equivalent of “Can God make a rock that’s too heavy for Him to lift?” They’re trying to point out the absurdity of the resurrection. The Bible says that if a brother dies before he has a child, his brother is supposed to marry the widow and provide an heir. So they come up with a ridiculous situation where the poor woman is passed down to seven brothers who all die without her having a child. I mean, that’s a sad story.

So, the question is, since none of them have any children with her, or any more claim to her than the others, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? 

And they had Him. So, Jesus admitted that He had been mistaken. There’s obviously no resurrection—that would be silly. “You got me!”

No. He’s going to give them a little peek into some mysteries of the afterlife they had absolutely no knowledge of… 

And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Luke 20:34-36

Jesus dismantles a lot of their bad theology here. “Who’s wife will she be in the resurrection? That poor woman isn’t going to belong to anyone. She’s going to be a fully adopted child of God, and she’s going to inherit like a son. The afterlife isn’t like this life, no one is going to marry or be given to anyone in marriage.” He affirms the resurrection of the dead—He even gets a jab in about angels. In the resurrection, everyone who’s considered worthy will be a son of God and equal to angels—those creatures they don’t think exist—and being sons of the resurrection, they will never die again.

So, what does He mean by, “Those who are considered worthy?”

What do you have to do to make sure you’re worthy? This is where the Gospel comes in, what Jesus did for you that you could have never done for yourself. You can’t make yourself worthy, only Jesus can do that for you. In His death and resurrection, which are going to happen just a few days after all these conversations, He’s going to die in your place, for your sins, for your unworthiness—and He’s going to rise from the dead and offer you the greatest gift. His worthiness—just give it to you. Trust in this promise and you will be considered worthy, a son of God, and equal to angels.

The Sadducees aren’t really the main adversaries of Jesus but this does give Him a great opportunity to lay down some truth about the resurrection. Their influence didn’t really go beyond the temple and the temple was going to be destroyed pretty soon after Jesus rose from the dead. But for the sake of the people who were going to be the church, Jesus needed to set everyone straight on the promise and reality of the resurrection. 

Also, since He’s talking to Sadducees, He’s going to blow their minds and answer from the Pentateuch—point out a few things these Sadd smarty-pants had missed about the resurrection they refused to believe in.

But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” Luke 20:37-39

When Moses was called into ministry by the voice of God speaking from the Burning Bush—again, in Genesis, Jesus was kind enough to limit His answer to the part of the Bible the Sadducees actually believed in—God says , “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Not, “I was.” It’s present tense. He’s still the God of those men who had died a long time before. Jesus is saying very clearly, “Those men are still alive in the presence of God.” Jesus knows them. He is the resurrection and the life. He’s also saying anyone who believes in Him is already part of that heavenly kingdom that exists outside of time as we know it—with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven!

It doesn’t say what the Sadducees thought of His answer. If they’re anything like the liberal theologians I’ve met, they didn’t really hear Him and just wanted to continue in their disbelief.

But the Pharisees, the scribes, they were like, “Yeah! In your face sad-boys!” 

“Teacher, you have spoken well,” is like what happens at the State of the Union Address when all the suckups stand and applaud along party lines. Gross partisanship. 

But no one was trying to trap Him with questions in front of the people anymore. They had been humiliated enough. Jesus wasn’t quite done dropping truth bombs for the day but we’ll get to that next week.

So, thinking about these interactions—what did you notice about how Jesus talked with them? 

He was respectful. He didn’t get angry. He answered each question according to what they understood. He used their own knowledge and presuppositions to point them to the truth. 

It doesn’t do any good to appeal to something a person doesn’t believe or respect. This is why just throwing Bible verses at people who don’t care about the Bible doesn’t get you anywhere. God’s word is true, it’s active and alive—but you don’t have to “chapter and verse” your references like a baseball bat for it to work.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. 

Seems to me that Jesus did both of these things perfectly.

You have all kinds of relationships with people who have foolish ideas. And by “foolish” I mean ideas that are contrary to the wisdom of God. And it is your job to have conversations with those people about these things. It is. It’s your responsibility. That’s why God put you in their life.

But don’t argue with them. Don’t be disrespectful. Don’t let their foolish emotions control you—don’t let your foolish emotions control you, either. You’re not trying to win, stop trying to win the argument. The goal is just to say something true the Holy Spirit can use to speak to them on a level that you don’t even have access to. You’re just planting seeds, you have no control over what God is going to do with them. 

This is true with your family members that you would love to see come to faith—the ones you would love to be sitting next to in church right now. Or your friends. All the people you care about. You need to do more listening than talking. They need to believe you understand where they’re coming from. When they tell you their foolish ideas, you need to show wisdom and restraint. What you’re looking for is an opportunity to say something true in a way they can hear you. Like the way Jesus spoke to the Sadducees from the first book of the Bible. Like the way He used a coin out of the scribe’s own pocket to answer about paying tribute. 

The same is true with anyone you talk with. Friend, stranger, enemy. Whether it’s about politics or theology or mask mandates or whatever the current hot topics might be. People are going to have all kinds of crazy opinions. Walk in humility. Speak the truth in love. Whatever you say, make sure you say it in a way that doesn’t chase them away from Jesus. You might be the last chance they get. There also might be other people watching—it might be for them.

And try to remember that you’re not Jesus. You’re not going to be as clever as Him. And you probably have some foolishness mixed in with your opinions, too. A little humility goes a long way.

One day I hope we’ll be able to open that restaurant/pub we keep talking about. A place where all kinds of people will show up and we’ll have the opportunity to talk with them about all kinds of things. I pray that we would start getting ready to have those friendly conversations so we don’t chase off the people God sends to us. We can start practicing now—with each other. AMEN