Thursday, November 19, 2020

Submitting to One Honors the Other - Mark 12:13-17 - November 15, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for November 15, 2020. We are meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 12:13-17 Submitting to One Honors the Other

Good morning! We are returning to our study in the Gospel of mark with chapter 12, verses 13-17, page 848 in the pew Bibles, and what a timely passage it is!

You’ll remember from last week Jesus was teaching in the Temple when He was confronted by the Sanhedrin, the rulers of the Jewish people. They questioned where he got His authority from but they got no answer, He told the parable of the tenants against them as they were proving that they were falling in line with all those Jewish rulers who had murdered the prophets, and were looking to do it again. And now we see that they were at it again, this time sending a smaller delegation to question Jesus.

So let’s look at our text together.

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?” 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.

Let’s pray.

So as we often do, let’s start our study by examining the players on the stage.

First, there’s Jesus. Perhaps you’ve heard of Him.

Second, there is a group of Pharisees and Herodians sent to trap Him in His talk. The fact that this delegation was made up of people from these two groups is very significant. These two groups were not normally allies, they hated each other!

The Pharisees were, in large part, the religious leaders of the Jewish people. They were, at least on the surface, loyal to God’s Law, and the traditions passed down from their forefathers. These guys were notoriously opposed to the Roman yoke, opposed to Rome ruling over Israel.

The Herodians, on the other hand, were Jews who were loyal to Herod, hence the name. This was a political party, whose allegiance was to Roman rule that only pretended to be righteous in the sight of the people.

So this group that was sent to Jesus to trap Him in His words was a kind of unholy alliance. The Pharisees and Herodians hated each other, but they joined forces here because they hated Jesus more. If this doesn’t sound like politics at work, I don’t know what does…

So here we have our slimy little group, now let’s examine their slimy little approach to Jesus.

How else do you approach someone you are trying to trap so you can kill them? Just like you would trap a mouse, you offer them something you think they will want. In this case, instead of cheese, it’s flattery. After all, who doesn’t like to be told they are awesome?

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.

Were they right? Of course they were. Jesus, the ultimate Teacher, is true, He taught the truth, He was not swayed by anyone’s opinion of Him, He didn’t change His teaching based on the whims of men, like any good politician will do, He wasn’t swayed by appearances, but truly taught the way of God.

All this was true… Don’t fall for the bait! Their motivation was what made their speech evil. Feeding cheese to mice is nice if you care about the well-being of the mice, it’s not so nice if you’re using it to lure them into a trap.

So here is the trap: “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?”

This is a simple yes or no question, right? Should we pay the Roman tax or not?

The tax that they were asking about was based on the Roman census, the annual poll tax, which every man counted in the census as a citizen in Israel had to pay since Israel became a Roman province in 6 AD. 

The Jews resented this tax, not like everybody doesn’t resent paying taxes, but this one they hated in particular because it really represented Israel’s subjugation to Rome. It was an annual reminder that they were not their own nation and they hated that.

So this question was a little pointier than just a question of paying any old tax. But what would Jesus’ answer mean?

If Jesus simply said, “yes, pay the tax.” The Pharisees would turn the people against Him for being loyal to Rome, they would make Him out to be a traitor to Israel.

If Jesus simply said, “no, don’t pay the tax.” The Herodians would turn Him in to the governor as a traitor to Rome, they would charge Him with sedition, rebellion against the Roman Empire.

This is a question with no right answer! Well that’s not entirely true, Jesus gives them an answer and it was the right one.

Just as a point of interest, does anybody remember the former occupation of the disciple Matthew? His name was also Levi, he used to be a tax collector. What about the disciple named Simon, not Simon Peter, but Simon the Zealot. Do you know what a Zealot was? The Zealots were a group of Jews in Israel that refused to submit to Roman rule, they refused to pay taxes to Caesar. And only in the kingdom of Christ can you have a tax collector and a zealot united in fellowship.

So how does Jesus answer their question? He doesn’t fall for the bait.

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.”

A Roman Denarius was the roughly the equivalent of a day’s wages, it was a silver coin about the size of a quarter. The image that was stamped on these coins at this time was the image of Tiberius Caesar, and the inscription read, “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine Augustus.” Under the image of Tiberius Caesar were the words, “Chief Priest.”

So think about this with me. The Romans held Caesar up as a god, and demanded him to be worshipped. This idea was repulsive to the Jews. And it wasn’t many years after this that Christians would be martyred for refusing to proclaim that Caesar was lord, because Jesus is Lord. The idea is repulsive, but Jesus wasn’t telling them to worship Caesar, just making it clear whose likeness and inscription was on the coin.

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.

The word, “render,” means to pay what is owed. What was owed to Caesar was the annual tax.

Paul taught on this same topic 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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 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, 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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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, honor to whom honor is owed.

Peter also commented on this in 1 Peter 2:17.

17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

John Calvin wrote, “When we perform our duty towards men, we thereby render obedience to God.”

Christianity, in no way, fosters disloyalty to the government. The annual tax was a debt owed to Caesar that could be paid with the coins that bore his image. But just as Jesus commanded them to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, the coins, He also commanded them to render unto God the things that are God’s.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Caesar’s image was stamped on the coins, but whose image is stamped on mankind? God’s!

This statement of Jesus is a command that carries with it a reminder. It’s a command to submit to the human authorities put in place to govern and protect us but it also carries a reminder that human authority is limited in its duration and scope. We must not submit when Caesar stats to demand the things that belong to God.

Jesus responded to their trap with the truth, and the Pharisees and Herodians responded to the truth with wonder. They marveled at Him. What they didn’t do was change their position, they didn’t accept the truth, they simply wondered at it.

What I wonder, is what will we do with that truth?

Jesus told them, pay what you owe. What you owe Caesar is taxes, what you owe God is worship. 

By submitting to one, we honor the other.

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. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Amen.