God and Government (Mark 12:13-17)

There is an ancient proverb that says, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This is what comes to my mind when I see the Pharisees and the Herodians uniting together to look for a way to trap Jesus. Up until this time they represented two opposing positions. While the Herodians sympathized with Rome, the Pharisees opposed Rome. The only thing that brought them together was their hatred of Jesus.

“Teacher, we know You are truthful and defer to no one, for You don’t show partiality but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay, or should we not pay” (Mark 12:14,15)? They had only been paying this tax for twenty years. A tribute tax was paid by those who had been conquered. It was an insult to the Jews to pay the Roman taxes, so they knew that whatever position Jesus took, it be offensive to someone.

Jesus saw their hypocrisy and asked them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at” (Mark 12:15). When they brought one to Him He asked whose image and inscription was on it. On the coin was an image of Caesar. But what was the inscription on it? “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, Son of the Divine Augustus,” claiming that Augustus was a god, and that would make Caesar the son of god. A zealous Jew shouldn’t have this coin because of the image and inscription on it.

“Jesus told them, ‘Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). And what belongs to God? In Exodus 19:5 God says, “All the earth is mine.” They were amazed at Him. Jesus had taken their attempt to trap Him and had turned it around to show their own sinful hearts.

I have been meditating on the verses all week, watching the political chaos going on. I see a warning as I look at the Herodians and the Pharisees. We as Christians need to guard our hearts and not become like the Herodians who were willing to compromise what they believed to seek protection and profit from the government. Nor should we be like the  Pharisees who complicated God’s law by added to it. Neither of these religious positions could see the Messiah when He was standing in front of them.