Mark 12:13-17
If you go back with me to early 2020, your minds will surely be flooded with memories of fear, chaos, uncertainty, anger, and many other emotions. Maybe videos of rioting, looting, or even empty apocalyptic streets begin to replay. Protests over injustices, a call to “defund the police,” occupying and setting up makeshift cities. Names like QAnon or Antifa. Polarizing issues in which Christians found themselves on both sides. And perhaps it all boiled over during the election of that year, an election in which candidates and parties used the tragedies of that year to fuel the fire against the opposition, and instead of Christians running to the church for security and peace, many ran to a political party or candidate and dug their claws in. And during a time when unity of the Spirit should have brought us together, disagreements around political parties divided us, and the effects of that are still felt today. And it’s perhaps one of the great tragedies of our day: Christians up in arms, standing across from one another, ready to do battle, and in many cases running across the lines and brutally attacking one another.
And while we should be concerned with injustices, and as Christians should step in to help those without a voice. And while we should think rightly about politics, and as Christians should exercise our right and freedom to vote. And while we should engage the culture with the love of Jesus, and as Christians should not live in fear of what’s outside of those doors, we must know in our deepest beings that God is in control of it all, and as Christians this world is not our home, but we are citizens of heaven.
This morning, in what many have said is the most profound and important statement about the Christian’s view of government, Jesus aligns our perspective to a right understanding of the relationship between civic and spiritual authority.
Read Mark 12:13-17
This short little passage is absolutely loaded. If you remember last week, the Sanhedrin came at Jesus with a challenge to His authority. He asked them a question that kind of created a lose-lose situation for them. Remember? Was the baptism of John of heaven or of man? If they answered that John was sent by God, they would be agreeing with his assessment of Jesus as the Messiah. If they answered that he was working by his own power, they would be denying that he was a prophet, and the crowds would become angry. They choose to remain silent, and instead leave the conversation frustrated. Got to regroup and come up with a plan B.
And they do. This is so crazy. You know the saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Well, the Pharisees and the Herodians hated each other. The Pharisees were religious leaders that could not stand the Romans, and the Herodians were a group of people who loved the Herods and therefore the Romans. But, they were united under a common cause, get rid of Jesus. So they came up with a plan that they thought for sure would trap Jesus. And they begin with such hypocritical flattery. As if Jesus doesn’t know their disdain for Him.
The strategy is this. Puff him up in the hopes that his guard will come down and we’ll catch him in our trap. The definition of “flattery” is “praise that is not sincere but is intended to get you something that you want.” Someone once said that “gossip involves saying behind a person’s back what you would never say to his face. Flattery is saying to a person’s face what you would never say behind his back.” And this is exactly what they are doing! And then they drop this incredibly difficult question. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Here’s why it’s difficult. Earlier in that century there was a rebellion against Rome, and the rallying cry was “no tribute to the Romans!” Those leading the rebellion preached taxation being on the same level as slavery. The rebellion failed, but the point was made clear, the Jewish people despised taxation by the Romans. There were 3 different taxes that were collected by the ruling Romans:
1.. Ground Tax: Made up of 10% of all the grain and 20% of all the wine and fruit produced.
2.. Income Tax: 1% of a man’s income.
3.. Poll Tax: A flat tax of one denarius (a day’s wage) which was paid by all men from 14 to 65 years of age and all women between the ages of 12 to 65. This was paid every time a census was taken.
Specifically in our text, Jesus addresses the poll tax. And I’ll talk more about this in just a minute when we get to Jesus’ response.
But first, let’s talk about the question that they asked. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” Much like last week, the question posed doesn’t seem to have a good answer. See, if Jesus said that it was ok to pay taxes, then immediately all the Jews would turn on Him for supporting Roman oppression. But, if He said that it was NOT ok to pay taxes, then the Herodians would go straight to Herod and Jesus would most likely be arrested as an insurrectionist, which would mean the death penalty. It seems an impossible question. So what does Jesus do? He asks for a denarius.
This denarius represents the Jews hatred for the poll tax. This coin was the exact coin that they had to pay year after year, just to live freely in a Roman province. They literally had to pay to live. On one side of the denarius was the head of Caesar, and on the other was the Latin inscription, “Tibirius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, Augustus.” A claim to deity on one side, and the face of a tyrant on the other.
One more thing about this coin. From a historical commentator: “It was the practice of all new emperors to issue new coins with their own likeness stamped on the face. There is a sense in which the coin was considered to be the personal property of the king. It bore testimony to the rule of the king whose likeness it carried. The first thing that a conqueror would do would be to issue new coins with a new face.” So in effect, the denarius belonged to whichever emperor had their face on the coin at that time.
Jesus asks the question that would lead to this profound theological statement. Whose likeness is on this coin? In other words, “who does this coin belong to?” Well, it’s Caesar’s. Right, so: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods.”
And the message beneath the statement is this: The image of Caesar is on this coin, therefore it belongs to him. But, the image of God is imprinted on all mankind, therefore you belong to Him. Give Caesar his coins, but give God your life.
And Mark tells us that the crowds, the Pharisees, the Herodians, probably Jesus’ disciples, marveled at Him. Jesus brilliantly side-steps the trap that was laid, and leaves them absolutely speechless. They heard the message loud and clear: “Caesar had the right to claim their tax money, but he had no claim on their lives.” One commentator says that “In one succinct sentence, He showed that God and Caesar each have legitimate realms of authority with corresponding responsibilities. But if there is a conflict between realms, God is supreme over Caesar.”
And while we don’t live under a tyrannical government, there is still great application for us today.
1.. We are called to submit to the governing authorities
Romans 13:1-2 - “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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” Peter teaches this as well in 1 Peter 2:13-17.
2.. We are called to pray for the governing authorities
1 Timothy 2:1-2 - “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
While we are called to submit to the governing authorities, we don’t do so blindly. In fact, there ARE times when we are called to stand against them. If anything is made law that contradicts the commands of God, then we stand in opposition. We see this in Scripture:
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Remember those guys? In chapter 1 of Daniel, we see them refusing to eat the king’s food because it was against their religious law to do so. In chapter 3, they refuse to bow down and worship a golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar, and they are thrown into the fiery furnace, of which they miraculously survive. In chapter 6, Daniel refuses to stop worshiping the true God, and gets thrown into the lion’s den, of which he miraculously survives. Both Kings passed laws that went against the commands of God, so they stood in opposition to those laws, and God blessed them for it.
In Acts chapter 5, the high priest and council forbid teaching in the name of Jesus, but Peter and other apostles would not stop preaching. They are thrown in jail, an angel lets them out, and they go back to the temple courts to preach again. When the high priest questioned them, Peter answered, “we must obey God rather than men.”
Now, here’s the tricky thing. In our day and age, we have to be incredibly discerning and reliant on the Holy Spirit to be able to wade through the thickness of our political climate. We have to be able to disagree with a political authority but still respect the position.
And here’s how I believe that we can do that. In 1 Peter 2 that I referenced a few minutes ago, right before Peter tells his Christian readers to honor and submit to the government, specifically emperors, here’s what he says in verse 9-11a: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles…” Wanderers just passing through. Aliens that are not of this world. We are citizens of heaven. This world is not our home.
Philippians 3:20 - “Our citizenship is in heaven.”
Ephesians 2:19 - “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
Now, let’s get right back to where we started this whole conversation. We are under a year away from another election, and we all know what that means. The heat is getting ready to get turned up. It already is!
The challenge for us in such trying times is to not get so caught up in a specific party or presidential candidate but to instead find rest in the fact that we don’t belong to the systems of this world, but are marked by the image of the Creator. Listen, Jesus is neither democrat, republican nor independent. Jesus is for the kingdom of God. That is where His allegiance lies.
Right perspective would tell us that instead of #notmypresident, we recognize that God is Sovereign over the governments of this world, of which we are called to submit. And whoever is in power is not our Savior. Our Savior is currently seated at the right hand of God, and one day He will create a new heaven and a new Earth. That is where we belong. Don’t let allegiances to fallen humans ever take the place of your allegiance to Jesus. Give respect in submission to the God given governing authorities, but give God your life.
