They asked Him, Teacher, we know that You speak and teach what is right, and that You show no partiality to anyone but teach the way of God honestly and in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? But He recognized and understood their cunning and unscrupulousness and said to them, Show Me a denarius (a coin)! Whose image and inscription does it have? They answered, 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. So they could not in the presence of the people take hold of anything He said to turn it against Him; but marveling at His reply, they were silent. Luke 20:21-26 [AMP]
The passage above is something we often see from those out to discredit God’s Word but it ‘always’ falls short. Jesus knew the Pharisees were trying to get Him seized and killed and were even trying to get Him in trouble with Caesar. The Pharisees would send in spies pretending to be followers of His so they could ask a question that they thought would be foolproof in getting Jesus to answer with something that could convict Him…but nope, He knew their schemes and always had an answer that trapped and tied their hands.
The lesson is that God’s Word holds true; it never refutes itself. This goes with the other post I had about how Jesus would often quote scripture to silence His critics.
The Bible IS the answer. Consuming the Rhema everyday and hearing the literal word of God in your life is paramount to a follower of Jesus. This article by Piper is a great read about the Bible and how important it is to the Christian life.
Being filled with the word of Christ and being filled with the Spirit are parallel, because the Spirit comes where the word comes and fills us with faith.
And when the Spirit comes, he comes to make much of Jesus. Which means he comes to ignite joy in our hearts over the glory of Jesus. And there will be no greater joy than the fullness of joy in the glory of Jesus. Which means the word of God is worth more than anything this world can offer.
The Infinite Worth of the Word of God – John Piper