“I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb”
Mark 12:13-17
As I read this
account this week I couldn’t help but think of the political diversity among
these first, hand-picked disciples of Jesus. How would they have reacted to
this scene? At one end of the spectrum you had Matthew, a tax collector, who
would have been considered a Roman sympathizer and traitor by many first
century Jews, and at the other end was Simon the Zealot, who was committed to
oppose Rome in every way possible, even to the point of armed resistance (at
least up to the time when he was called by Jesus!). Nothing would have piqued
their sensibilities more than taxes! At the time of Jesus, there was a head
tax, one denarius that was paid by each person in Roman territories, essentially
for the “privilege” of being a Roman subject. 25 years earlier there had been a
revolt, led by Judas the Galilean [JG], when the tax was instituted over the
Jews, JG had called the people to revolt, to refuse to pay the tax. He went in
and cleansed the Temple, casting out any gentiles even from the outer court, calling
for the initiation of the Kingdom of God… Let’s
throw off the yoke of Rome and bring in the Kingdom of God! Only God can be the
King of the Jews! JG was eventually arrested and put to death. Now put that
in perspective with respect to the ministry of another Galilean, an itinerant
preacher, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus too had
come preaching the Kingdom of God: “…Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the
gospel of God, 15 and saying,
‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe
in the gospel…’” (1:14,15). Most
Jews in the first century would not have “spiritualized” that message.
They would have understood that an earthly kingdom was about to be established,
a theocracy, the Kingdom of God on earth: The
Way Life Should Be! He was
announcing the dawn of the Messianic age for which the nation had so long
waited. He continued preaching that message for three years, doing the kinds of
miracles the prophets had said the Messiah would do. Preaching to the poor,
healing the sick, giving sight to the blind. And now, just a couple of days
before this scene, He had gone in and cleansed the Temple. JG had proven not
to be the messiah, but this Jesus had now done two out of the three things that
Judas did: kingdom preaching and cleansing the Temple. What about the tax that
had been the last straw 25 years earlier and had pushed JG to revolt? These
leaders were now attempting to force Jesus to take a position regarding the
“poll tax” that would either brand him as a traitor (to the pharisees) or as a rebel
by the authorities (and the Herodians, who were comfortable with the status quo).
The Maine* Idea: Believers are called to respect
government authority, but our ultimate allegiance is to God, Him alone do we
worship.
The Context: The final week, a series of conflicts
with the leaders had begun. The Triumphal Entry and the Cleansing of the Temple
had solidified the resistance against Jesus by the leaders. The chapter will
continue with several more scenes, with the leaders trying to force Jesus into
a position that would either provide a basis for the condemning Him, or something
to force the authorities to do so.
I. A Cunningly Laid
Trap (13,14). The most
recent presidential election brought out some strong feelings from people –
whether or not they liked the result. One of the strangest things, it seems to
me, was the declaration by some, before the inauguration had even happened,
that they were part of the resistance – that they were going to do all they
could to block judicial nominees no matter who they were, and to do all they
could do to “undo” the election. Their minds were made up, and it seems, any
hope of working together was out the window. That was essentially the view of
the religious leaders of the Jews in the time of Jesus, not with respect to
Rome, they were actually divided about that, but with respect to Jesus.
This Galilean carpenter could not be the messiah! Not-My-King bumper stickers were on all of their cars (well, they
would have been if they had cars!). Their minds were set. Even these leaders
from opposite sides of the political spectrum, the Pharisees and the Herodians,
could agree that Jesus had to go.
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?"
An
unholy alliance with malicious intent (13). This is not the first time in
Mark’s gospel that we saw the Pharisees and the Herodians come together in
their opposition to Jesus. Back in Mark 2,
Jesus had just been confronting the Pharisees about their traditions, and then
we see the following scene in the beginning of chapter three,
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there
with a withered hand. 2 And
they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that
they might accuse him. 3 And
he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." 4 And he said to them, "Is it
lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?"
But they were silent. 5 And
he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and
said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and
his hand was restored. 6 The
Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him,
how to destroy him.
Rather than responding to the revelation of His power and
mercy in the healing, the Pharisees “held counsel” with the Herodians… This
would have been more shocking than seeing the Tea Party and Bernie Sanders
suddenly working together to get something done! But what were they discussing? “…how to
destroy Him.” Now, a couple of years later, they are again working to
accomplish that same goal. These unlikely allies were sent (apostello, “sent with a mission”) for
what purpose? “…to trap Him in His
talk…” A vivid word, used to describe “trapping” an animal or “catching” a
fish. These leaders had been “hunting” for three years, and they felt like they
finally had their prey cornered!
Insincere
compliments intended to disarm (14a). First, look how these leaders bait
their trap, and set the stage for their questions: "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…”
Ironically, what they said was actually true. Jesus only taught the truth
and was not influenced by the opinions of others! Did these leaders
actually believe that? Obviously not! They had rejected Him and His message,
and seemingly, they thought they could “disarm” Him with their flattery. For
most of us, flattery feels good, I think because we like to imagine that the
flatterer really believes what they are saying about us! Jesus knew their
hearts, and their motives. He was the last person who would ever be taken in by
such flattery!
A carefully worded inquiry (14b).
Notice how the question is framed. The second part, “Should we pay it or not?” essentially is demanding a “yes” or “no”
answer. They were probably thinking, “We’ve really got him this time!” If He
says we should pay this tax to Rome,
He couldn’t possibly be the Messiah, the One who would deliver us from
oppression and set up God’s kingdom on earth! If He says don’t pay the tax, well then, our “good friends” the Herodians will
inform the proper authorities, and we’ll let the Romans take care of our
problem!
And so, these
leaders had cunningly laid their trap. They thought they had Him cornered. Do any of you play chess? They believed that “check-mate”
was only a move or two away. Until, again, He completely disarms them with His
response! Believers are called to
respect government authority (as far as we are able), but our ultimate
allegiance is to God, Him alone do we worship.
II. A Divinely Inspired
Answer (15-17)
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.
Jesus, again, knew their hearts and
intentions (15a). “But, knowing their
hypocrisy…” He was the last person on earth who would be taken in by their
flattery. He knew their hearts and intentions. “Hypocrisy” came from the idea of an actor, wearing a mask, playing
a part. His omniscience should have shaken them. How could He know the things
that He knows? He was no mere man!
Jesus’ first
question reveals to his “stalkers” that He knew what they are doing, and He was
not taking their bait: “Why put me to the
test?” The verb “to test” [peirazo]
can also have the idea “to try, to tempt.”
It appears only four times in Mark, here, in chapters 8 and 10 when the Pharisees
came with the intent of catching Him in His words, and for first time, it was
used in chapter 1, when Jesus was “tempted” by the devil in the wilderness. I
think Mark wants us to make that connection – this is part of a spiritual
battle, these leaders are unwittingly tools in the hands of Satan, seeking to
destroy the Son of God! But Jesus is in control, and He already had the perfect
counter-measure to their trap: “Bring me
a denarius.”
The
“King without a quarter” asks for a coin (15b). Notice that Jesus asks for a
coin in order to make His point. The implication is that He didn’t have one! And
notice that He asks for a specific coin, a denarius.
This was a small coin, maybe the size of a quarter, worth a day’s pay for a
soldier or an average laborer. He didn’t have a coin, but one of those leaders
readily produced one. This is part of the problem the leaders had with Jesus.
They imagined a Messiah with the prestige of David and the wealth of Solomon.
Not a poor, traveling preacher from Galilee. He didn’t even have a coin, a
single day’s wages? He said that “the
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has
no where to lay His head”? He couldn’t be Messiah! Or was His kingdom
different, not of this world…
The image (icon) and inscription
– The image on the coin was that of Tiberius Caesar. The inscription said, “Tiberius,
son of the divine Augustus, High Priest.” Essentially, Tiberius was calling himself
Son of God and High Priest. Someone else has those titles, it seems to me! We
should give Caesar his coin, but only God deserves our worship!
Give
Caesar his due… The principle of respecting government authorities, and
paying taxes, is taught in more detail elsewhere by both Paul and Peter. Paul
is talking about how we live in the light of the Gospel 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. 2
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and
those who resist will incur judgment. 3
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, 4 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. 5
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for
the sake of conscience. 6 For
the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God,
attending to this very thing. 7
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...
That is
pretty clear! As a counter-point, he had also said, a chapter earlier in 12:1, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice to
God, which is your reasonable service of worship…” Likewise, Peter wrote of
respecting authorities in I Peter 2:13-17,
13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to
every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him
to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God,
that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish
people. 16 Live as people who
are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants
of God. 17 Honor everyone.
Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
In that context Peter puts it into perspective by saying we
are pilgrims and exiles in this fallen world, our citizenship is in a still
future kingdom. God has us here on assignment and our respect for
authorities is one aspect of our witness to the world. So, we pay
our taxes and we pray for those in authority. We honor the delegated authority
of government as far as we are able, as long as it does not conflict with the
absolute authority of God. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. We pay our taxes,
we honor, in a proper sense, those in authority. But worship is reserved for
the One True God.
Give to God what is His: Our ultimate
allegiance and worship: “…and render
to God what is God’s…” The Roman denarius had the image of Caesar on it.
Give is back to Him when we are taxed. They can ask for it and we should give
it. The inscription, calling Caesar Son of God and High Priest, is asking from
believers what we cannot give. Our coins
are minted by men, they have the “stamp” that reflects their authority, we can
give those back in taxes. We are created in the image of God, and Him alone
can we worship. We read in the Creation account…
26 Then God
said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens
and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth." 27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them… (Gen 1:26-27).
Caesar’s image is on your coin, so pay your taxes! God’s
image is on you, you owe Him your life, your obedience, your worship. Dr. John
Stott, wrote:
“We bear the royal stamp of God upon us, we are His
kingdom’s royal coin. Jesus looks to us and asks, ‘Who’s image is this? Who
made this life? Who owns it? Who gives value to it?’ Our Creator, of course.
And Jesus challenges us, ‘This life is not yours. It was provided for you to
use. But, it really belongs to someone else. So, give it back!’”
What is God saying to me
in this passage? Believers
are called to respect govern-ment authority, but our ultimate allegiance is to
God, Him alone do we worship.
What would God have me
to do in response to this passage? To whom do you pledge allegiance? We should respect and
give proper honor to those in authority, as far as we are able. They are where
they are because God, for His purposes, has allowed it. He raises up kings, and
He takes them down. Think about some of the ways that God used the Roman government.
They built a system of roads throughout much of southern Europe and western
Asia. The Roman occupation controlled lawlessness and brought about the so-call
Pax Romana. Ultimately, those roads
and that law and order allowed the Gospel to spread rapidly throughout the
mid-east, north Africa, and Europe. When
those same authorities arrested Christians and threatened them with death if
they did not call Caesar “god,” thousands died, refusing to deny their Lord and
Master, Jesus Christ. Yes, in those rare
situations where the delegated authority of “Caesar” conflicts with the
absolute authority of God, we must agree with Peter and John in Acts 4:19-20, “…Whether
it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must
judge, 20 for we cannot but
speak of what we have seen and heard.” There is One who is truly God, who
is our High Priest, our King and our Creator. He deserves our willing, whole-hearted,
obedience. In those situations, we pledge allegiance to the Lamb – and Him
alone do we worship. AMEN.
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