"13 Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to trap him in saying something wrong. 14 They came to him and said, 'Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them, or not?' 15 But knowing what these men were really trying to do, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin to look at.' 16 They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, 'Whose image and name are on the coin?' They answered, 'Caesar’s.' 17 Then Jesus said to them, 'Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.' The men were amazed at what Jesus said." ~ Mark 12:13-17
Today, we continue our study of Mark 12 where the religious leaders were running out of ways to stump the Lord Jesus. In this passage the Jewish religious leaders sent a group of politicians, the Pharisees and Herodians, to try and make the Lord Jesus look bad by getting Him to comment on the politics of the day.
In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to trap him in saying something wrong. 14 They came to him and said, 'Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them, or not?'"
The Pharisees and the Herodians teamed up in their attempt to nullify the Lord Jesus. But, the Pharisees were Jews who were against the rule of Rome in their land. And, on the other hand, the Herodians supported the rule of Rome in Israel. These two opposing groups, were unlikely allies who decided to lock arms in order to render the Lord Jesus powerless. The Pharisees hated having to pay taxes to Rome, whereas, the Herodians, enjoyed the opulence that the Roman taxes brought them.
In v.15-17 of today's passage we read, "15 But knowing what these men were really trying to do, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin to look at.' 16 They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, 'Whose image and name are on the coin?' They answered, 'Caesar’s.' 17 Then Jesus said to them, 'Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.' The men were amazed at what Jesus said."
The Lord Jesus asked these power hungry groups of "leaders" to give Him a Roman coin which bore the image of Tiberius Caesar and an inscription proclaiming him to be the "son of God". This coin, which had the image of Caesar on it, was a denarius which was equal to a day's wage for a Roman soldier or a day laborer. It was a small silver coin which was minted by the Caesar. Only the Caesar had the authority to mint gold or silver coins in those days.
With this illustration, the Lord Jesus introduced a new angle. "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s." We are citizens not only of heaven, but we are also citizens of this country, and that means God wants us to pay taxes. Caesar has right to collect our money, and, God has the right to collect our worship.
The resounding answer the Lord Jesus gave to these politically-minded groups was worship. Render to Caesar taxes and to God worship. We all have causes and we all seek to worship God. Our cause must be fueled by our worship, and our worship must never come from our cause. We are not to be defined by our cause but by our God. If we worship our cause, we will, like the Pharisees and Herodians, make the non-essentials our essentials.
The answer to all of our lives is worship, worship of the God of the Bible. Worshipers of God do not need power, like the Herodians, nor do we need to destroy power, like the Pharisees. Worshipers of God allow themselves to be embraced and defined by the culture of God.
With that, I think of a story that Max Lucado shares in His book, The Applause of Heaven. "It is a story about a man named Daniel. Daniel is big. He used to make his living by lifting weights and teaching others to do the same. His scrapbook is colorful with ribbons and photos of him in his prime, striking the muscle-man pose and flexing the bulging arms.
The only thing bigger than Daniel's biceps is his heart. Let me tell you about a time his heart became tender. Daniel was living in the southern city of Porto Alegre. He worked at a gym and dreamed of owning his own. The bank agreed to finance the purchase if he could find someone to co-sign the note. His brother agreed.
They filled out all the applications and awaited the approval. Everything went smoothly, and Daniel soon received a call from the bank telling him he could come and pick up the check. As soon as he got off work, he went to the bank.
When the loan officer saw Daniel, he looked surprised and asked Daniel why he had come. 'To pick up the check,' Daniel explained. 'That's funny,' responded the banker. 'Your brother was in here earlier. He picked up the money and used it to retire the mortgage on his house.'
Daniel was incensed. He never dreamed his own brother would trick him like that. He stormed over to his brother's house and pounded on the door. The brother answered the door with his daughter in his arms. He knew Daniel wouldn't hit him if he was holding a child. He was right. Daniel didn't hit him. But he promised his brother that if he ever saw him again he would break his neck.
Daniel went home, his big heart bruised and ravaged by the trickery of his brother. He had no other choice but to go back to the gym and work to pay off the debt.
A few months later, Daniel met a young American missionary named Allen Dutton. Allen befriended Daniel and taught him about Jesus Christ. Daniel and his wife soon became Christians and devoted disciples.
But though Daniel had been forgiven so much, he still found it impossible to forgive his brother. The wound was deep. The pot of revenge still simmered. He didn't see his brother for two years. Daniel couldn't bring himself to look into the face of the one who had betrayed him. And his brother liked his own face too much to let Daniel see it.
But an encounter was inevitable. Both knew they would eventually run into each other. And neither knew what would happen then.
The encounter occurred one day on a busy avenue. Let Daniel tell you in his own words what happened: 'I saw him, but he didn't see me. I felt my fists clench and my face got hot. My initial impulse was to grab him around the throat and choke the life out of him.
But as I looked into his face, my anger began to melt. For as I saw him, I saw the image of my father. I saw my father's eyes. I saw my father's look. I saw my father's expression. And as I saw my father in his face, my enemy once again became my brother.'
Daniel walked toward him. The brother stopped, turned, and started to run, but he was too slow. Daniel reached out and grabbed his shoulder. The brother winced, expecting the worst. But rather than have his throat squeezed by Daniel's hands, he found himself hugged by Daniel's big arms. And the two brothers stood in the middle of the river of people and wept.
Daniel's words are worth repeating: 'When I saw the image of my father in his face, my enemy became my brother.'"
