[After a short break we return to our series in Mark, SN.]
“I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb”
Mark 12:13-17
Consider the political diversity among these first, hand-picked
disciples of Jesus. At one end of the spectrum you had Matthew, a tax
collector, who would have been considered a Roman sympathizer and traitor by
many first century Jews, and at the other end was Simon the Zealot, who was
committed to oppose Rome in every way possible, even to the point of armed
resistance (at least up to the time when he was called by Jesus!). Nothing
would have piqued their sensibilities more than taxes! At the time of Jesus,
there was a head tax, one denarius that was paid by each person in Roman
territories, essentially for the “privilege” of being a Roman subject. 25 years
earlier there had been a revolt, led by Judas the Galilean [JG], when the tax
was instituted over the Jews, JG had called the people to revolt, to refuse to
pay the tax. He went in and cleansed the Temple, casting out any gentiles even
from the outer court, and he and called for the initiation of the Kingdom of
God… Let’s throw off the yoke of Rome and bring in the Kingdom of God! Only God
can be the King of the Jews! Judas the Galilean was eventually arrested and put
to death. Now put that in perspective with respect to the ministry of another
Galilean, Jesus of Nazareth.
Like JG, Jesus too had come preaching the Kingdom of God: “…Jesus
came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the
gospel…’” (1:14,15). Most Jews in
the first century would not have “spiritualized” that message. They would have
understood that an earthly kingdom was about to be established, a theocracy,
the Kingdom of God on earth—the promises at least realized—The Way Life Should Be! Jesus
was announcing the dawn of the Messianic age for which the nation had so long
waited. He continued preaching that message for three years, doing the
kinds of miracles the prophets had said the Messiah would do: Preaching to the
poor, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind.
Now, just a couple of days before this scene, He had gone in and
cleansed the Temple. JG had proven not to be the messiah, but this
man Jesus had now done two out of the three things that Judas did: kingdom
preaching and cleansing the Temple. What about the tax that had been
the last straw 25 years earlier and had pushed JG to revolt? These leaders were
now attempting to force Jesus to take a position regarding the “poll tax” that
would either brand him as a traitor (to the Pharisees) or as a rebel by the
authorities (and the Herodians, who were comfortable with the status quo).
The BIG Idea: Believers are called to respect
government authority (as far as we are able), but our ultimate allegiance is to
God, Him alone do we worship.
We’ll consider that from a simple two-part outline…
1) A
Cunningly laid trap (13,14); and 2) A Divinely inspired answer (15-17).
I. A Cunningly Laid Trap (13,14). The presidential election cycle is already beginning
to ramp up – and it has never been clearer how deep the divisions go in our
country. One of the strangest things, it seems to me, has been the consistency of
those on the extremes in determination to not work together, unless absolutely
necessary! Their minds are made up, and and so gridlock reigns! That was
essentially the view of the religious leaders of the Jews in the time of Jesus,
but not with respect to Rome, they were actually divided about that. But when
it came to Jesus, they found something they could agree about. This
Galilean carpenter could not be the messiah! Not-My-King bumper stickers were on all of their cars (well, they
would have been if they had cars!). Their minds were set. Even these leaders
from opposite sides of the political spectrum, the Pharisees and the Herodians,
could agree that Jesus had to go.
13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to
trap him in his talk. 14 And
they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and do not
care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly
teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we
pay them, or should we not?"
An unholy alliance with malicious intent (13).
This is not the first time in Mark’s gospel that we saw the Pharisees and the
Herodians come together in their opposition to Jesus. Back in Mark 2, Jesus had just been
confronting the Pharisees about their traditions, and then we see the following
scene in Mark 3:1-6,
Again he entered the synagogue, and a
man was there with a withered hand. 2
And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so
that they might accuse him. 3
And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." 4 And he said to them, "Is it
lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?"
But they were silent.
5 And he looked around at them with
anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch
out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and
immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Rather than responding to the
revelation of His power and mercy in the healing, the Pharisees “held counsel”
with the Herodians… This would have been more shocking than seeing the Tea
Party and Bernie Sanders suddenly working together to get something done! But what were they discussing? “…how
to destroy Him.” Now, a couple of years later, they are again working to
accomplish that same goal. These unlikely allies were sent (apostello, “sent with a mission”) for
what purpose? “…to trap Him in His
talk…” A vivid word, used to describe “trapping” an animal or “catching” a
fish. These leaders had been hunting for three years, and they felt like they
finally had their prey cornered!
Insincere compliments intended to disarm
(14a). First, look how these leaders bait their trap, and set the stage for
their questions: "Teacher, we know
that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not
swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God…” Ironically, what
they said was actually true. Jesus only taught the truth and was not influenced
by the opinions of others! Did these leaders actually believe that? Obviously
not! They had rejected Him and His message, and seemingly, they thought they
could “disarm” Him with their flattery. For most of us, flattery feels good, I
think because we like to imagine that the flatterer really believes what they
are saying about us! Jesus knew their hearts, and their motives. He was the
last person who would ever be taken in by such flattery!
A
carefully worded inquiry (14b). Notice how the question is framed. The
second part, “Should we pay it or not?”
essentially is demanding a “yes” or “no” answer. They were probably thinking,
“We’ve really got him this time!” If He says we should pay this tax to Rome, He couldn’t possibly be the Messiah,
the One who would deliver us from oppression and set up God’s kingdom on earth!
If He says don’t pay the tax, well
then, our “good friends” the Herodians will inform the proper authorities, and
we’ll let the Romans take care of our problem!
And so, these leaders had cunningly
laid their trap. They thought they had Jesus cornered. Do any of you play chess? I learned very
young, but never was too good. I couldn’t seem to look ahead very well beyond
the next move. These leaders thought they had the end-game figured out. They
believed that “check-mate” was only a move or two away. Until, again, He
completely disarms them with His response!
Believers are called to respect government authority, but our ultimate
allegiance is to God, Him alone do we worship.
II. A Divinely Inspired Answer (15-17)
15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the
test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." 16 And they brought one. And he
said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to
him, "Caesar's." 17
Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him.
Jesus, again, knew their
hearts and intentions (15a). “But,
knowing their hypocrisy…” He was the last person on earth who would be
taken in by their flattery. He knew their hearts and intentions. “Hypocrisy” came from the idea of an
actor, wearing a mask, playing a part. His omniscience should have shaken them.
How could He know the things that He knows? He was no mere man!
Jesus’ first question reveals to his “stalkers” that He knew what they
are doing, and He was not taking their bait: “Why put me to the test?” The verb “to test” [peirazo] can also have the idea “to try, to tempt.” It appears only four
times in Mark, here, in chapters 8 and 10 when the Pharisees came with the
intent of catching Him in His works, and for first time, it was used in chapter
1, when Jesus was “tempted” by the devil in the wilderness. I think Mark
wants us to make that connection – this is part of a spiritual battle, these
leaders are unwittingly tools in the hands of Satan, seeking to destroy the Son
of God! But Jesus is in control, and He already had the perfect
counter-measure to their trap: “Bring me
a denarius.”
The “King without a quarter” asks for a
coin (15b). Notice that Jesus asks for a coin in order to make His point.
The implication is that He didn’t have one! And notice that He asks for a
specific coin, a denarius. This was a
small coin, maybe the size of a quarter, worth a day’s pay for a soldier or an
average laborer. He didn’t have a coin, but one of those leaders readily
produced one. This is part of the problem the leaders had with Jesus. They
imagined a Messiah with the prestige of David and the wealth of Solomon. Not a
poor, traveling preacher from Galilee. He didn’t even have a coin, a single
day’s wages? He said that “the foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to
lay His head”? He couldn’t be Messiah! Or was His kingdom different,
not of this world…
The
image (icon) and inscription – The image on the coin was that of Tiberius
Caesar. The inscription said, “Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus, High
Priest.” Essentially that was calling Him Son of God and High Priest. Someone
else has those titles, it seems to me! We should give Caesar his coin, but only
God deserves our worship!
Give Caesar his due… The principle of
respecting government authorities, and paying taxes, is taught in more detail
elsewhere by both Paul and Peter. Paul is talking about how we live in the
light of the Gospel in Romans 13:1-7,
Let every person be subject to the
governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those
that exist have been instituted by God. 2
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and
those who resist will incur judgment. 3
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear
of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his
approval, 4 for he is God's
servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the
sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's
wrath on the wrongdoer. 5
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for
the sake of conscience. 6 For
the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God,
attending to this very thing. 7
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom
revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed...
That is pretty clear! As a counter-point, he had also said, a
chapter earlier in 12:1, “Present your
bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which is your reasonable service of
worship…” Likewise, Peter wrote of respecting authorities in I Peter 2:13-17,
13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be
to the emperor as supreme, 14
or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those
who do good. 15 For this is
the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of
foolish people. 16 Live as
people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living
as servants of God. 17 Honor
everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
In that context Peter puts it into
perspective by saying we are pilgrims and exiles in this fallen world, our
citizenship is in a still future kingdom. God has us here on assignment and our
respect for authorities is one aspect of our witness to the world. So, we pay
our taxes and we pray for those in authority. We honor the delegated
authority of government as far as we are able, as long as it does not conflict
with the absolute authority of God. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. We pay
our taxes, we honor, in a proper sense, those in authority. But worship is
reserved for the One True God. I think that is what Paul is saying in Rom 12:1,
“…present your bodies, a living sacrifice…”
Give to God what is His: Our
ultimate allegiance and worship: “…and
render to God what is God’s…” The Roman denarius had the image of Caesar on
it. Give it back to Him when we are taxed. They can ask for it and we should
give it. The inscription, calling Caesar Son of God and High Priest, is asking
from believers what we cannot give. Our
coins are minted by men, they have the “stamp” that reflects their authority,
we can give those back in taxes. We are created in the image of God, and Him
alone can we worship. We read in the Creation account…
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth." 27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them… (Gen 1:26-27).
Caesar’s image is on your coin, so pay
your taxes! God’s image is on you, you owe Him your life, your obedience, your
worship. Commenting on this, Dr. John Stott, wrote:
“We bear the royal stamp of God upon
us, we are His kingdom’s royal coin. Jesus looks to us and asks, ‘Who’s image
is this? Who made this life? Who owns it? Who gives value to it?’ Our Creator,
of course. And Jesus challenges us, ‘This life is not yours. It was provided
for you to use. But, it really belongs to someone else. So, give it back!’”
What is God saying to me in this passage? Believers are called to respect
government authority, but our ultimate allegiance is to God, Him alone do we
worship.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage?
1) Jesus’ teaching about the tax
shows that we are to respect the authority of government—so long as it doesn’t
conflict with the absolute authority of God. They are where they are because
God, for His purposes, has allowed it. He raises up kings, and He takes them
down. Think about some of the ways that God used the Romans. They built a
system of roads throughout much of southern Europe and western Asia. The Roman
occupation controlled lawless-ness and brought about the so-called Pax Romana. Ultimately, those roads and
that law and order allowed the Gospel to spread rapidly throughout the
mid-east, north Africa, and Europe. When
those same authorities arrested Christians and threatened them with death if
they did not call Caesar “god,” thousands died, refusing to deny their Lord and
Master, Jesus Christ. Give Caesar what
is Caesar’s, but only God do we worship.
2) The unholy alliance that came
together against Jesus, coming from political poles, reminds us that Christianity
if not a matter of political affiliation, it is a matter of the heart. Notice
too the diversity of those who followed Jesus!
3) We are created in God image, we owe
Him our absolute allegiance, our wholehearted obedience, Him alone do we
worship. We pledge allegiance to the Lamb! AMEN.
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