Authority Questioned
“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” Luke 20:24 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus says, 'Show Me a coin. Whose face and name are on it?' 'Caesar's,' they reply. He's about to turn their trap into one of the most famous teachings in history.
By asking about the image on the coin, Jesus is setting up a truth that goes way deeper than taxes. If the coin bears Caesar's image and belongs to him, what bears God's image and belongs to God?
Jesus asks a simple question about a coin that will reframe the entire debate.
A coin becomes a classroom. Jesus holds it up and asks the simplest question: whose picture is this? They answer 'Caesar's' without realizing they just walked into the most elegant lesson ever taught.
Jesus requests a denarius and asks whose image (eikōn) and inscription (epigraphē) it bears. The coin would have shown Tiberius Caesar's portrait and his title. Jesus uses their own coin as His teaching tool.
The denarius bore Caesar's image and the inscription 'Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, high priest.' The word eikōn ('image') resonates with Genesis 1:26-27, where humans are made in God's image — a connection Jesus will exploit.
Jesus asks for a coin and poses a question that reframes the entire debate.
Instead of answering directly, Jesus asks for a coin and poses His own question. By making them produce Caesar's coin — in the temple, no less — He shifts the dynamics entirely.
22Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them,
24“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
25So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
26And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people. And amazed at His answer, they fell silent.
Read all of Luke 20 — The religious leaders challenge Jesus' authority. He answers with a parable about murderous tenants that leaves them furious and afraid.
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