Mark 12:13-17 - More than a Clever Answer

Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.

  

When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?

  

Shall we pay, or shall we not pay? But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.”

  

So they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

  

And Jesus answered and 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.

Render to Caesar...photo by Flickr user Icarus Kuwait, used under the creative commons license.
check out more photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/essam/

The Pharisees put on a false face. They came to Jesus and pretended that they wanted the truth about a certain matter. They came as seekers, flattering Him who was to give the answer but they didn't really want to know the truth. They were just hoping that a difficult scenario presented to Jesus would be His undoing. For had He answered with a basic "Yes" we should pay taxes, then the people would despise Him as a traitor to God and to Israel   If Jesus answered, "No" to paying taxes, then those same flatterers would turn Him into the Roman authorities to have him arrested as a usurper. In the Pharisees minds, it was a win-win because Jesus could give no answer that would not harm Him.  But they were wrong.

Jesus cut right to the heart of the matter with an object lesson. Taking a coin which bore the image of Caesar, He said His now famous quote  "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."  They didn't ask for Jesus to mention God but Jesus, always interested in proclaiming the Truth, made sure His hearers knew what really was important. Such a statement put things in perspective for who cares about how much we have to pay to Caesar in taxes when the more important question is, what do we owe to God? I may owe the Federal and State Government a larger percentage of my income than I really want to pay but I know I owe God all that I  have and  all that I am.

This day, may I not be like the Pharisees who put on a false face to God but rather, may I approach Him in honesty and humility so that I can hear His wisdom.  The people marveled at Jesus' wise and clever answer. May I stand in wonder at His Word today.  May I ever be attentive to Jesus' wisdom. Amen.