Luke 20:21
"Teacher," they inquired, "we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
So the spies questioned Him
This phrase introduces the context of the verse, where the religious leaders sent spies to trap Jesus in His words. The Greek word for "spies" (ἐγκαθέτους, egkathetous) implies individuals who are secretly planted or suborned to gather information. Historically, this reflects the tension between Jesus and the religious authorities, who felt threatened by His teachings and influence. The act of questioning was not for genuine understanding but to find grounds for accusation.

Teacher
The spies address Jesus with a term of respect, "Teacher" (Διδάσκαλε, Didaskale), acknowledging His role as a rabbi or instructor. This title, while respectful, is used here with a sense of irony or deceit, as their intentions were not to learn but to entrap. In the broader scriptural context, Jesus is often called "Teacher" by those who recognize His authority and wisdom, contrasting with the insincerity of the spies.

we know that You speak and teach what is right
This phrase is a form of flattery, acknowledging Jesus' reputation for truthfulness and moral integrity. The Greek word for "right" (ὀρθῶς, orthōs) means correctly or rightly, suggesting an alignment with divine truth. Historically, this acknowledgment of Jesus' teaching aligns with the broader Gospel narrative, where even His adversaries recognize His authority and the truth of His message.

and that You show no partiality
The phrase highlights Jesus' impartiality, a key aspect of His ministry. The Greek term for "partiality" (προσωπολημψία, prosōpolēmpsia) refers to favoritism or bias. In the historical and cultural context of first-century Judea, where social and religious hierarchies were pronounced, Jesus' impartiality was revolutionary, demonstrating God's equal love and justice for all people.

but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth
This concluding phrase affirms Jesus' role as a divine teacher. The "way of God" (ὁδὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, hodon tou Theou) refers to the path of righteousness and divine will. The emphasis on "truth" (ἀληθείας, alētheias) underscores the authenticity and divine origin of Jesus' teachings. Scripturally, this aligns with Jesus' self-identification as "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), emphasizing His unique role in revealing God's will to humanity.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus
The central figure in this passage, Jesus is being questioned by the religious leaders. He is recognized for His truthful teaching and impartiality.

2. Religious Leaders
These include the Pharisees and the Herodians, who are attempting to trap Jesus with their questions. They acknowledge His integrity, albeit insincerely.

3. Jerusalem
The setting of this event, where Jesus is teaching in the temple courts during the final week before His crucifixion.

4. The Temple
The place where Jesus is teaching, a significant location for Jewish worship and a center of religious authority.

5. The Question of Tribute
The context of this verse is a question about paying taxes to Caesar, which the leaders use to try to entrap Jesus.
Teaching Points
Integrity in Teaching
Jesus is recognized for teaching the truth without compromise. As believers, we are called to uphold the truth of God's Word in our lives and teachings.

Impartiality
Jesus' lack of favoritism is a model for us to treat others with fairness and justice, reflecting God's character.

Discernment in Challenges
Jesus demonstrates wisdom in responding to those who seek to trap Him. We should seek God's wisdom when faced with difficult questions or situations.

The Way of God
Jesus teaches the way of God in truth. We are encouraged to seek and follow God's path, as revealed in Scripture.

Sincerity in Acknowledgment
The religious leaders' insincere praise of Jesus serves as a warning against hypocrisy. Our acknowledgment of God's truth should be genuine.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Jesus' response to the religious leaders in this passage demonstrate His wisdom and understanding of their intentions?

2. In what ways can we apply Jesus' example of impartiality in our interactions with others today?

3. How does the acknowledgment of Jesus' truthful teaching by the religious leaders, despite their insincerity, challenge us to recognize truth even when it is inconvenient?

4. What other biblical examples can you find where God's impartiality is highlighted, and how do they reinforce the message of this passage?

5. How can we ensure that our acknowledgment of God's truth is sincere and not merely lip service, as seen in the actions of the religious leaders?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 22:15-22 and Mark 12:13-17
These parallel accounts provide additional context and details about the encounter between Jesus and the religious leaders.

Deuteronomy 10:17
This verse speaks of God showing no partiality, which aligns with the leaders' acknowledgment of Jesus' impartiality.

Acts 10:34-35
Peter's realization that God shows no favoritism, reinforcing the theme of divine impartiality.
The Sacred and the SecularW. Clarkson Luke 20:19-26
Caesar's Due and God's DueS. Hieron.Luke 20:20-26
Christ was Watched, and So are WeH. J. Wilmot-Buxton, M. A.Luke 20:20-26
Cowards are Like CatsDallas, "Natural History of the Animal Kingdom."Luke 20:20-26
Duty DiscriminatedW. Baxendale.Luke 20:20-26
Man is God's PropertyGrimm.Luke 20:20-26
No Division of AllegianceCanon Duckworth.Luke 20:20-26
Religion and PoliticsF. W. Robertson.Luke 20:20-26
Secular and Religious Duties not in ConflictAnon.Luke 20:20-26
The Divine Image in the SoulBishop Ehrler.Luke 20:20-26
The Medal Made UsefulLuke 20:20-26
Christ Supreme in DebateR.M. Edgar Luke 20:20-40
People
David, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, John
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
TRUE, Acceptest, Accordance, Anyone, Aren't, Correctly, Distinctions, God's, Man's, Master, Partial, Partiality, Position, Question, Questioned, Rabbi, Respect, Rightly, Sayest, Saying, Speak, Teach, Teacher, Teachest, Teaching, Truly, Truth
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 20:21

     1155   God, truthfulness
     1690   word of God
     5863   flattery
     5882   impartiality
     8168   way, the

Luke 20:3-26

     7552   Pharisees, attitudes to Christ

Luke 20:20-22

     5552   spies

Luke 20:20-25

     5257   civil authorities

Luke 20:20-26

     5260   coinage
     5577   taxation

Library
Whose Image and Superscription?
'Whose image and superscription hath it?'--Luke xx. 24. It is no unusual thing for antagonists to join forces in order to crush a third person obnoxious to both. So in this incident we have an unnatural alliance of the two parties in Jewish politics who were at daggers drawn. The representatives of the narrow conservative Judaism, which loathed a foreign yoke, in the person of the Pharisees and Scribes, and the Herodians, the partisans of a foreigner and a usurper, lay their heads together to propose
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Tenants who Wanted to be Owners
'Then began He to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The God of the Living.
He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.--ST LUKE xx. 38. It is a recurring cause of perplexity in our Lord's teaching, that he is too simple for us; that while we are questioning with ourselves about the design of Solomon's earring upon some gold-plated door of the temple, he is speaking about the foundations of Mount Zion, yea, of the earth itself, upon which it stands. If the reader of the Gospel supposes that our Lord was here using a verbal argument with the Sadducees,
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Resurrection of the Sleeping Saints.
"And the dead in Christ shall rise first." This is the second blessed event which shall occur at the Redeemer's return--the sleeping saints will be awakened and raised. This brings us to a branch of our subject upon which there is much ignorance and confusion in Christendom generally. The idea which popularly obtains is that of a general resurrection at the end of time. So deeply rooted is this belief and so widely is it held that to declare there will be two resurrections--one of saints and another
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Morality of the Gospel.
Is stating the morality of the Gospel as an argument of its truth, I am willing to admit two points; first, that the teaching of morality was not the primary design of the mission; secondly, that morality, neither in the Gospel, nor in any other book, can be a subject, properly speaking, of discovery. If I were to describe in a very few words the scope of Christianity as a revelation, [49] I should say that it was to influence the conduct of human life, by establishing the proof of a future state
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision A. Introduction ^A Matt. XXI. 23-27; ^B Mark XI. 27-33; ^C Luke XX. 1-8. ^c 1 And it came to pass, on one of the days, ^b they [Jesus and the disciples] come again to Jerusalem: ^a 23 And when he was come into the temple, ^b and as he was walking in the temple [The large outer court of the temple, known as the court of the Gentiles, was thronged during the feasts, and was no doubt the part selected by Jesus and his apostles when
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision C. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. ^A Matt. XXI. 33-46; ^B Mark XII. 1-12; ^C Luke XX. 9-19. ^b 1 And he began to speak unto them ^c the people [not the rulers] ^b in parables. { ^c this parable:} ^a 33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it, and digged a ^b pit for the ^a winepress in it
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cix. Jewish Rulers Seek to Ensnare Jesus.
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision A. Pharisees and Herodians Ask About Tribute. ^A Matt. XXII. 15-22; ^B Mark XII. 13-17; ^C Luke XX. 20-26. ^a 15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk. ^c 20 And they watched him, and sent forth { ^b send unto him} ^a their disciples, ^b certain of the Pharisees and of { ^a with} ^b the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. [Perceiving that Jesus, when on his guard, was too wise for them,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus' Last Public Discourse. Denunciation of Scribes and Pharisees.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXIII. 1-39; ^B Mark XII. 38-40; ^C Luke XX. 45-47. ^a 1 Then spake Jesus ^b 38 And in his teaching ^c in the hearing of all the people he said unto ^a the multitudes, and to his disciples [he spoke in the most public manner], 2 saying, ^c 46 Beware of the scribes, ^a The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: 3 all things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Events of that Day - the Question of Christ's Authority - the Question of Tribute to Cæsar - The
THE record of this third day is so crowded, the actors introduced on the scene are so many, the occurrences so varied, and the transitions so rapid, that it is even more than usually difficult to arrange all in chronological order. Nor need we wonder at this, when we remember that this was, so to speak, Christ's last working-day - the last, of His public Mission to Israel, so far as its active part was concerned; the last day in the Temple; the last, of teaching and warning to Pharisees and Sadducees;
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and Discourses - the Sadducees and the Resurrection - the Scribe and the Great Commandment - Question
THE last day in the Temple was not to pass without other temptations' than that of the Priests when they questioned His authority, or of the Pharisees when they cunningly sought to entangle Him in His speech. Indeed, Christ had on this occasion taken a different position; He had claimed supreme authority, and thus challenged the leaders of Israel. For this reason, and because at the last we expect assaults from all His enemies, we are prepared for the controversies of that day. We remember that,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Fac-Similes
OF ANCIENT NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS, TO ILLUSTRATE CHAPTER XXVI., PAGE 380. Most of the following specimens of ancient manuscripts are taken from Scrivener's Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. No. (1) is from Tischendorf s Novum Testamentum Graece ex Sinaitico Codice; Nos. (2) and (11) from Smith's Dictionary of the Bible; and No. (5) from Horne's Introduction, Vol. IV. No. (1). PLATE I. SINAI CODEX, Century IV. Heb. 12:27-29. Notice the occasional use of very small letters. In
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The Third Day in Pasion-Week - the Last Series of Parables: to the Pharisees and to the People - on the Way to Jerusalem: the Parable
(ST. Matt. xix. 30, xx. 16; St. Matt. xxi. 28-32; St. Mark xii. 1-12; St. Luke xx. 9-19; St. Matt. xxii. 1-14.) ALTHOUGH it may not be possible to mark their exact succession, it will be convenient here to group together the last series of Parables. Most, if not all of them, were spoken on that third day in Passion week: the first four to a more general audience; the last three (to be treated in another chapter) to the disciples, when, on the evening of that third day, on the Mount of Olives, [5286]
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Wherefore I Cannot Indeed Say, of Females who have Fallen Away from a Better...
14. Wherefore I cannot indeed say, of females who have fallen away from a better purpose, in case they shall have married, that they are adulteries, not marriages; but I plainly would not hesitate to say, that departures and fallings away from a holier chastity, which is vowed unto the Lord, are worse than adulteries. For if, what may no way be doubted, it pertains unto an offense against Christ, when a member of Him keepeth not faith to her husband; how much graver offense is it against Him, when
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Difficulties and Objections
"Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal?" (Ezek. 18:25). A convenient point has been reached when we may now examine, more definitely, some of the difficulties encountered and the objections which might be advanced against what we have written in previous pages. The author deemed it better to reserve these for a separate consideration rather than deal with them as he went along, requiring as that would have done the
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Synopsis. --Account to be Made of the Law of Atrophy through Disuse. --The virgin Birth and the Corporeal Resurrection of Jesus
VII SYNOPSIS.--Account to be made of the law of atrophy through disuse.--The virgin birth and the corporeal resurrection of Jesus, the two miracles now insisted on as the irreducible minimum, affected by this law.--The vital truths of the incarnation and immortality independent of these miracles.--These truths now placed on higher ground in a truer conception of the supernatural.--The true supernatural is the spiritual, not the miraculous.--Scepticism bred from the contrary view.--The miracle narratives,
James Morris Whiton—Miracles and Supernatural Religion

Of the Practice of Piety in Holy Feasting.
Holy feasting is a solemn thanksgiving, appointed by authority, to be rendered to God on some special day, for some extraordinary blessings or deliverances received. Such among the Jews was the feast of the Passover (Exod. xii. 15), to remember to praise God for their deliverance out of Egypt's bondage; or the feast of Purim (Esth. ix. 19, 21), to give thanks for their deliverance from Haman's conspiracy. Such amongst us is the fifth of November, to praise God for the deliverance of the king and
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cix. Jewish Rulers Seek to Ensnare Jesus.
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision B. Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection. ^A Matt. XXII. 23-33; ^B Mark XII. 18-27; ^C Luke XX. 27-39. ^a 23 On that day there came { ^b come} unto him ^c certain of the the Sadducees, they that { ^b who} say there is no resurrection [As to the Sadducees, see p. 71. We may regard their attitude toward Christ as expressed by their leader Caiaphas, see p. 528]; and they asked him, saying, 19 Teacher, Moses wrote unto us [See Deut. xxv. 5,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The King on his Throne.
"Crown Him with many crowns, The King upon His Throne." When the time came for our Blessed Lord to return into Heaven again, He ascended in the presence of His Apostles, whilst in the act of blessing them; "and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (Acts i. 9). And, we are told, they "returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (S. Luke xxiv. 52), not sorrowing as before at His being taken from them. And when we consider what His Ascension implied, we can see that they had good reason for their joy.
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

The Barren Fig-Tree;
OR, THE DOOM AND DOWNFALL OF THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR: SHOWING, THAT THE DAY OF GRACE MAY BE PAST WITH HIM LONG BEFORE HIS LIFE IS ENDED; THE SIGNS ALSO BY WHICH SUCH MISERABLE MORTALS MAY BE KNOWN. BY JOHN BUNYAN 'Who being dead, yet speaketh.'--Hebrews 11:4 London: Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion, in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1688. This Title has a broad Black Border. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This solemn, searching, awful treatise, was published by Bunyan in 1682; but does not appear
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Links
Luke 20:21 NIV
Luke 20:21 NLT
Luke 20:21 ESV
Luke 20:21 NASB
Luke 20:21 KJV

Luke 20:21 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Luke 20:20
Top of Page
Top of Page