A Tale of Two Traps

NOTE: Due to spotty internet from the storm there is no livestream of this sermon.

July 5, 2026

Luke 20:20-40

“A Tale of Two Traps”

We’re in the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. His crucifixion is a few days away. Those who oppose Jesus are growing desperate to turn the crowds against him.

Let’s look at this long section:

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. 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?” 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.

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.”

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. 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.” For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Right from the beginning, we know the hearts of those who try to trap Jesus. The word translated, “Pretended to be sincere,” is from the Greek, hypokrinomenous. What English word does that sound like? Exactly. Hypocrites pretend to be something they’re not. They play the role of being sincere enquirers after theological truth. But their only desire is trapping Jesus. They want him to say something that’s either going to turn the crowd against him, or the governing authorities, or both. Preferably, both.

We know they’re going to fail miserably. But along the way, we get clear and concise insight into important truths.

The first trap they try is about money and taxes. What can go wrong with asking someone their opinion about money and taxes?

First thing Jesus does is he asks for a coin. The trappers suddenly become the trapees.

Here’s the thing about the coin they produce. On one side it says, “Emperor Tiberias Son of the Divine Augustus.” On the other side it shows a female figure holding a scepter with the words, Chief Priest. The woman is the priestess/wife of Augustus, who was the divine emperor. His son, Tiberias, is considered either divine or semidivine. Either way, not a good look.

So, here’s where Jesus reverses the trap they think they’re setting for him. To get a sense of it, here’s something to remember:

The denarius oozes idolatry.

The fact that they have one and have brought it into God’s temple reflects poorly on them. They have brought a graven image into the house of God. Just awful.

Here’s the beauty of how Jesus reverses this first trap. The better translation of verse 25, “render to Caesar,” is “give back.” Jesus isn’t saying anything about what is owed the state or what is owed God. I love open-ended responses. Jesus puts the question of what is owed God on us. Based on what we read in Scripture, we must fill in what is owed God. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Let this big picture point guide us:

WHAT GOD REQUIRES IS OUR WHOLE LIFE.

In other words, if you’re going to play by Caesar’s rules, then you have to pay Caesar’s taxes. Jesus flips it…what do you owe God? In other, other words, Jesus is our only Lord and Savior. What God has done for us in Jesus Christ makes all earthly rulers irrelevant. Amen?

The second trap comes under the guise of an attempt to ridicule Jesus. The Sadducees are the would-be mockers.

Luke reminds us of what we need to remember about the Sadducees. Unlike the Pharisees, Sadducees do not believe in life-after-death. They are like many of your family and friends. Something like 20% of people in the United States don’t believe in an afterlife. And another large chunk have an unbiblical view of life-after-death. The Sadducees set up looking at life and death in a way that mocks what Jesus teaches about the resurrection. Fun

guys, right?

Here’s the main point:

JESUS TEACHES THAT THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED TO A NEW EXISTENCE THAT CANNOT BE COMPARED TO EARTHLY EXPERIENCE.

That is a hugely important teaching from our Savior.

Here’s a starting point. It’s fascinating what people, from all cultures and walks of life, expect the afterlife to be like.

Over 5,000 years ago, an Egyptian Pharaoh was buried in a tomb with a boat with which he could sail through heaven in the afterlife.

In ancient Greece, a silver coin was placed in the mouth of a corpse to pay the fare across the river of death into the land of new life.

Norsemen were buried with a dead horse and armor to carry on life in the world to come.

Benjamin Franklin, not a Christian, wrote his own epitaph – “The body of Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book lies here food for worms. Its content torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, but the work shall not be lost, for it will appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the

author.”

A more recent notion is the Rainbow Bridge – it describes a “mythical meadow-like paradise in the afterlife where pets go when they die. According to the story, animals wait there, running and playing free of pain, until their human owners pass away. They are then reunited to cross the Rainbow Bridge into Heaven together.”

There’s many more. You’ve probably heard it said, “Grandma’s smiling down from heaven as we gather for dinner.” Streets paved in gold. Getting your angel wings, flying around in heaven. Some weirder than others. Then there’s this from a recent obituary: “Heaven just became a little livelier {when this loved one passed away}.” All grossly wrong and unbiblical.

Jesus talks a lot about eternal life. It is essential to why he turns his face toward Jerusalem. He will die on the cross for our sin so we can enter into heaven. That’s the primary point of his life, death, and resurrection. Eternal life for us.

So the Sadducees think they’re going to play Jesus the fool by asking him

about whose wife will the widow be in heaven after many marriages. Don’t

you just love stupid questions? This is a doozy of a scenario conjured up by the Sadducees.

Once, many years ago, after meeting a couple for the first time, knowing I was a pastor, they asked me a theological question. We were talking about marriage. Lori and I had been married about 25 years. They wanted to know if people will be married in heaven. To which I replied, “No…that’s why it’s called heaven.” In hindsight, not my greatest moment. Sometimes, I’m kind of a nightmare. Like someone once said, “Sorry for acting a little weird last night. It’s because there’s a bunch of stuff wrong with my brain.”

But you understand the point. There’s only one right way to think about heaven. And it’s found in God’s Word.

First thing Jesus makes clear is that not all will share in his resurrection. In verse 35, he says, “But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age.” So it’s not everyone. Only those whose names have been written

down in the Lamb’s Book of Life. You have to believe in Jesus Christ as

your Lord and Savior in order to attain the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus cannot be any clearer.

The second point flows out of the first. After establishing that those who put their faith in him will enter into eternal life, Jesus then gives a broad framework for what heaven is going to be like. In doing that, he challenges the assumption of the Sadducees. They think that, if there were to be a resurrection life, it will be in a world where life is like here on earth. Think the Rainbow Bridge. That is such a carnal understanding of heaven. It’s very much like what many people today believe.

Here’s something you might want to write down and hold on to:

RESURRECTION LIFE WILL BE TOTALLY DISSIMILAR FROM THIS WORLDLY ONE.

That’s all we need to know. That’s the only information we need to have. No fanciful images. No poetic descriptions. No child-like dreams. Simply what Jesus promises. Our God is the God of the living. And Jesus makes the way to eternal life possible. That’s all we need to know.

We need no other testimony. Jesus says, “The dead are raised.” That’s

good enough for us. I detest stories about people who died and came back and now tell us what heaven is like. That is such garbage. Is someone’s faith so weak that they need someone other than Jesus to encourage them? It’s idiocy. To know the promise and beauty of heaven, all we need to do is believe the words of Jesus in Luke 20. He tells us all we need to know.

Finally, two wonderful affirmations from God’s Word:

1 Corinthians 15:50-58…I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

And then…

1 Corinthians 2:9…But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Boom…that’s it. That’s all we need to know. Heaven is a promised mystery beyond human imagination. The only thing we have to know is the One who makes the promise of heaven possible. Amen?

Here’s the final word. It’s more than enough for us to know and affirm.

Charles Spurgeon once said:

“The supreme joy of the afterlife is beholding the face of Jesus and being in His immediate presence.”