The Gospel of Mark – Part 42

Questions and Observations – Part 1 – Mark 12:13-34

Mosaic Rockford – Dave Spooner – July 12th, 2020

Intro:

After His confrontation with the religious leaders about His authority, and telling the parable of the vineyard, the religious leaders try to trap Jesus by asking Him a number of questions. We will go through both the questions asked of Him and the questions Jesus asked, as well as His observations in this two-part mini-series within our series in the Gospel of Mark. Today we are looking at the questions about paying taxes, the resurrection, and the most important commandment. From these questions and Jesus’ answers, we are instructed and informed about these vital and important subjects. In knowing His answers, we have the truth of God on these subjects and will be best served by aligning our lives to these truths. 

Question about paying taxes

Mark 12:13-17 ESV

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.

The religious leaders were out to get Jesus, and they thought the best way to do so was to trip Him up and trap Him in His words. So, they started to ask Him questions. They were not sincere in wanting to know the answers, they just wanted to find a reason to bring Him down. The first question had to do with the controversy of paying taxes to the Romans. There were three main camps on this subject: the first was the anti-government group called the zealots.  They flatly refused to pay the tax, because for them it would be an admission of the Roman right to rule. The second group was the Herodians, who were pro-government and thought that everyone should pay taxes and support them. And the third group was the moderates, those in the middle, which would be the Pharisees who payed taxes but did not want to do so (these three main camps are similar to what we have today).They tried to set Jesus up by flattering and placing Him on a pedestal as a teacher, one who was true, one who did not care about people’s opinion, one who was not swayed by appearances and one who truly taught the way of God. Now all of these things were true of Jesus, and Lord held up to be the same way, because these were amazing characteristics! I wish we and all of our leaders were this way. But by stating these characteristics of Christ, they were setting Him up to take Him down.  So, they asked Him the loaded question about the government and if we should pay taxes to them. Jesus knew that they did not genuinely want to know that answer to this question. He knew they were hypocrites, saying one thing but really being another. He knew the intention of their hearts and knew that they were trying to trap Him. So, He called them out, “Why are you putting me to the test?” Why are you testing me if you know all these things about Me? Jesus asked them to bring to Him a coin. And looking at the coin, He asked them whose “likeness and inscription is this?” and they said “Caesar.” They give to Caesar what is Caesars and give to God what is Gods. In giving this answer Jesus, legitimized the Roman government’s authority to rule, noting that these things had their image on them, and also at the same time legitimized God’s authority on our lives because His image is stamped on us. There is both an “Internal Revenue Service” – give to th