Take your copy of the New Testament now, turn to the New Testament book of Mark. We continue our series through Mark. Chapter 12, starting verse 13 this morning. Mark 12, starting at 13, before we hear from the Lord, though, let’s ask his blessing once more upon the reading and the preaching and the reception of that word, let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we pray once more that even as you spoke the world into existence, we want to affirm and remind ourselves, and you brought light out of darkness. We pray that you would speak to us through your word, through its reading and the preaching, Lord, and that you would shine the light of your truth upon even those often dark corners of our hearts.

And bring light and truth through the gospel, Lord, that you would further conform us into the image of your precious and only Son, our Savior, and that you would bring glory to your name. We pray, Lord, now bless the preaching of your word and the reception of that word.

We pray in us all these things as God’s people, and we all said together, amen, amen.

Mark 12:13-17

Mark 12, starting in verse 13, please be for full attention, this is the word of God.

And they said to him, some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 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? But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. And they brought one, and he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? And they said to him, Caesar’s. 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 of the Lord. Amen. May he have his blessing upon and now as it is preached. Please be seated.

Judas of Galilee

Every so often, there arises in the media, the news, people or groups who gain that notoriety for taking a stance against paying taxes. This is particularly true, at least in our part of the world. This idea, though, is not a modern thing or a local thing. It’s happened throughout history.

And indeed, in fact, 2,000 years ago, there was a man from Galilee, claiming to be the Messiah and the deliverer of Israel, who came and cleansed the temple, and he called Israel to stop paying taxes to Caesar.

This man, of course, was summarily captured and executed by the Roman government. That’s a true story, this happened. This man of Galilee. He’s not of Jesus of Galilee, but another man of Galilee, Judas.

Judas of Galilee was a historical figure who came along about 20 or 30 years before Christ. And this man, Judas of Galilee, came proclaiming that he indeed was the Messiah long waited for.

And one of his main points on his scheme of his beliefs was that Israel should stop paying taxes to Rome because it was a sign of their subservience to Rome. And in his rebellion, he went into the temple and tore down the golden eagle of Rome, symbol of Rome.

And as I said, not long after he was captured up and executed, and it became an example of what an insurrection, what insurrection looks like and how it’s to be punished.

Jesus Faces a Deadly Trap

Well, this morning we have in our text a man who was just hailed to be the Messiah. He comes forward on a colt in triumphal entry. And they said of him, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They have declared that this is the Messiah of Israel.

And as soon as he enters the city, again on his colt, hailed as a king, he walks into the temple and he cleanses it. Not unlike Judas the Galilean.

And after cleansing the temple and making no small amount of enemies, he’s visited by these two groups that find him this morning that we encounter. And they ask him the question, should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?

And we have to remember that right before this, earlier in our text, Christ answers with the question that they can’t answer. Remember, he asked the question about John’s baptism and he says, is it from heaven or is it from man? Both choices will give them problems if they answer it.

And here, they trap him, they try and trap him with a question that’s similar to that. So we have a question of our own that’s got an either or that you’re gonna be not happy with either way that you have to answer it. He will fall into a trap either way, either choice that he makes that they present.

But they present a faulty question. Christ doesn’t allow this framing of the question, though, or the worldview from which they are operating. And we must, too, as an aside, be aware of the worldview and the grounding of the presuppositions of the things that come to us.

And we, like Christ, must not allow the enemy to go unchallenged. We must see, be aware of, reject, and correct these things as they come to us.

Pharisees and Herodians Unite to Destroy

But we see here in the text, they come to him with this trap regarding taxes. And we see the trap is set, and then we see the truth is revealed, and then we see a proclamation of the tax or the debt that’s indeed owed to God as he opens it up and gives them the bigger picture of what’s going on.

But the first thing we want to look at is this question, this trap that they set and that question, should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?

And you’ll notice who comes together here. Again, it’s these two groups of people, the Herodians and the Pharisees. And these usually have nothing in common except this particular story and their desire to see this one demise, right? This teacher of Israel done away with.

The Herodians, for instance, were happy to support the power and dominion of Rome because it was of great service to them. They’re the ones who benefited from that particular rain.

But the Pharisees, they wanted a free nation. They wanted Israel to be ruled by God alone. And they no longer want this Gentile pollution coming into their land and making all things unclean.

And yet, for the purposes this morning, these two otherwise disparate groups have no problem joining together and asking Christ this question, this loaded question. And it is a big question.

Taxes Were a Symbol of Slavery

Remember the one of the charges that was brought against Christ in Luke? Before he was crucified, they said, you’ll recall, this man said that we should oppose paying taxes to Caesar, right? So they throw that out as something, you know, a severe issue that the Christ is violating.

It’s a false charge, but the charge is serious enough that it would get you executed. Taxes in this day were, not unlike our day, unpopular. But in a way, there are far worse, especially for the Jews at this time.

If you were a Roman citizen, you had certain privileges and rights, but if you’re not a Roman citizen, born in a particular city in the empire, you would never be a full-fledged citizen of Rome. And yet, each and every Jew was required annually to pay this tax.

And this tax was a very hard one for them to swallow. If you read through the Gospels, you’ll see there are all kinds of taxes that I won’t list this morning.

And yet this is a very specific tax that they’re asking about here. And it’s ultimately a head tax or a poll tax for the sake of Tiberius Caesar. It was a way for him in one sense to affirm, to let it be known that his dominion, that you’re in his domain as Caesar, and that it went as far as the tax was going.

And so he would put to all of his subjects that were under his dominion this tax. Every one of them would be required to pay one denarius per person under his dominion.

And it was a way of just establishing, right? I rule this particular land that you’re standing on. This is mine. You have to pay to be under, you’re under my subjection.

And it was so bad that historically we see this referred to as a sign of Jewish slavery, that they had to pay this tax. As they paid the tax, they’d say to themselves, gritting their teeth, we are not yet free men. We are still under the hand of another.

And so for them, it was very difficult pill for them to swallow. And Jesus comes, who’s now being hailed as the Messiah, who’s now entering into Israel as the would-be king who’s just cleansed the temple.

And they’re saying of him, well, what’s your agenda? What about you? What kind of Messiah will you be? Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?

A Question Designed to Condemn

And notice how they frame the question. Again, it’s an either or question, right? It’s a yes or no. And they ask him twice in a way to push them, right?

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or should we not? Just say yes or no, don’t give us anything else.

And you see what the setup is all about, right? If he says yes to them, I’m sorry, no to them, don’t pay taxes to Caesar, their goal has succeeded, right? That’s the trap.

If he says no, then he’s as good as dead, because it was a capital offense in that regard, and they’ve already seen people die from this sort of rebellion, and they’re hoping maybe he’ll get himself into trouble as well, and so they prompt him in this way.

But notice what happens. What happens if he says yes? Yes, you should pay taxes to Caesar. That’s the right thing to do.

Then for Christ, all of a sudden his credibility as Messiah and bringer of the kingdom goes down to nothing. Because no prospective Messiah who wants Roman oppression stopped would say that.

They would never say, yeah, just keep bowing the knee to Caesar and keep paying taxes to him. But Christ doesn’t answer their yes or no. He doesn’t say yes or no. He wants to address a far deeper issue than the one that they’re presenting before him in this ruse.

Christ Exposes Their Hypocrisy

And he shows them the type of Messiahship that he’s bringing. And that’s where he reveals the truth, right? This is the truth revealed.

And he answers them, bring me a coin. And he says, he knows that they’re hypocrites. He says, are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin.

And so they bring him a coin, this denarius. The denarius was, of course, well-known as it was a day’s wage, a day’s labor. It was a silver Roman coin. You can still see pictures of this online if you look for them.

And on the front of the coin is a picture of Tiberius Caesar. And underneath that image, it says this. It says, Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, or son of God Augustus. And on the back, it says, Pontifex Maximus, or High Priests.

And so at that time in Roman history, Caesars were viewed in a particular way, and they were never looked at just as mere kings. These men weren’t men who were just handed down a lineage of rule from their predecessors.

They were considered semi-divine kings. They were the ones that mediated on behalf of the gods. He’s a high priest, but those, by all those many gods that Roman had, Roman had in their pantheon, remember the Roman pantheon, right?

He’s also considered a son of a divine one, right? So he’s priest and he’s a divine one. Augustus Caesar, was the one who preceded them, and that’s who they take this from.

And so you’ll notice that on this coin, we see not only a claim of Roman rule, but also there’s a claim of certain religious authority and requirement given there that dominates that particular land.

And so they’re making a religious statement much more than just making a statement about civil governing, right, or civil practice. And think how, again, humiliating this would be to every Jewish citizen.

That every time you go to pay for something in this coinage, you’re reminded of two things thrown in your face, right? One, that the Romans own this piece of real estate. They are over us.

And then two, that they make us blaspheme, or they mock us with this blasphemy as we use this currency. Tiberius, divine son, high priest over the nation. You can see the offense that that would cause.

Rome’s Coin Mocks God’s People

And so what was a conscientious Jew to do? I mean, think of the evil of Rome. Where do you think the money went, right? We think of this kind of thing today, like, what’s my money being used for?

It’s a question that we need to grapple with. Where do you think this money went? You think it was planned solely for godly projects or to fix roads or something that a religious Jew could say, well, at least my tax money is going to something that’s righteous. It only goes to the roads.

But some of the taxes given, we know historically, by New Testament Christians would have gone to things like to pay for crucifixion stakes. To feed the wild beasts that they use for the bloody circuses, right, these ordeals, these bloody ordeals for entertainment, or to buy incense to be burned in honor of the self-proclaimed divine Caesar.

We’ve already seen that one would-be Messiah answered this particular question in a particular way, and he said, no more taxes for Israel. You resist and you rebel.

So what would Jesus of Nazareth say? When that same offer is made, should we pay tax to Caesar, or should we not?

Jesus Redefines Our Duty

And he responds, bring me the coin, and he looks at it, and he refers to the inscription. Whose inscription is on here? And they say, well, it’s Caesar’s.

And he says, then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s. Give to Caesar what is owed, or what is his, to owe and obligate yourself to God, what is God’s.

And so he puts it in the form of an obligation. He’s trying to communicate to them something that I think we need to see from this text, that governments, whether good or evil, are ultimately there and in control by the ordering, ordaining hand and sovereign permission of God.

And the government itself is a gift from God. It’s something that he has ordained to bring a certain amount of control or safety even to his own people.

That His plan on earth might unfold in the way that He has ordained it, not outside of His control. And what Christ is hinting at in this text is that it is right to pay taxes, even to an ungodly government.

As ghastly as that seems, this is what He says. And that is, in this sense, a debt owed because of how God has ordained the civil government and authority for society.

Scripture Affirms Civil Obedience

And you know, if we look at Romans 13, Paul says the same thing. It says this in Romans 13, Starting in verse one, Paul says, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there’s 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 the 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 a servant of God and an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Verse five, 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.

Right, so throughout the ages, they’ve had to wrestle with these passages. Again, they seem ghastly to us sometimes, we have to consider them, but because the testimony of scripture is, because government is ordained by God for the stability of human society, even though it seems bleak sometimes, that’s the case.

We in those societies, according to Paul, according to Christ, are called to pay taxes to that government, even when they rule in unrighteousness.

Even Democracies Demand Submission

And some may say, in our government, the people are Caesar, right? We don’t have a king. In our government, and that’s true. And we praise God for that. We praise God for the freedoms that come from that.

But even we who live in a representative government, elected officials who go and vote on our behalf, and when those votes are taken, whether they’re for us or against us, we are called to rejoice and to live in subjection to the authorities that God has put there.

And yes, there are times, most definitely, according to scripture, when we, as those made in the image of God and serving his people, are called to resist unrighteous decisions, right? Certainly we see this in scripture.

No doubt, we see that if someone’s called us to disobedience to God, we never, ever disobey God’s word over the word of the civil magistrate.

Resist by Obeying God Alone

But notice the form of that rebellion that is taken. Notice the form that our rebellion or our resistance should take. It simply takes the form of us obeying what God has said, right? Not flaunting some sort of rebellious attitude towards those who should be in subjection to.

We see this historically, even in modern times. Yet if they ask us to disobey, our way of countering that resistance is simply obeying the things that God has spoken to us plainly.

We see this in Daniel, right, of course, is the key example. When he’s told no longer to pray because of the authorities have spoken to him, what does he do?

He goes into his room and he goes through his normal routine and he prays in obedience to God. He’s not intentionally seek out to start trouble.

Rather, he’s just goes about his obedience as he’s called and has been called to as a faithful member of the people of God. And one who seeks to serve him.

We rebel only by obeying God, not by actively seeking the offense of the powers that be, like unnecessarily poking in the eye those beyond what God’s word has said.

Why Submit to Unjust Rulers?

Well, why would God have us do this? Why would God have us support or give of our sustenance to governments that seem so unrighteous at times? Why would he say, pay taxes to Caesar?

Well, this is the last point that I wanna point out this morning. And I want us to see that the tax to God, the ultimate tax, or the ultimate debt owed to God.

Notice what Christ says as we unfold this. He says, whose image is on the coin? And they say it’s Caesar’s image.

And he says, then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. And a lot of times that’s the part of the text that gets all the attention and gets quoted.

As we realize that in this text and in Romans 13, the taxes are called to be given by the faithful of God to a society that’s not faithful, that’s unfaithful.

And yet that’s not the end of what Christ said. It doesn’t say just give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, we’ll stop. No, he ends by saying, give to God what is God’s.

And this frames the whole thing. And this is the key to understanding all of it. And what’s interesting here is that there’s an assumed question there that Christ doesn’t put to them, right?

Remember, we talked about the structure of an argument and what we need to be aware of when we’re hearing and interacting with objections or otherwise, right? Sometimes there’s an invisible wall, there’s an unstated premises.

But Christ just gives an answer without stating this. Notice the question is whose image is on the coin? And they say, Caesar’s image is on the coin.

And he says, then give it to Caesar. And then he says, and also give to God what is God’s. And then we say, well, where’s God’s image, right? Where’s God’s image? This is kind of what’s shortcutted.

You Bear God’s Image

Where would we find God’s image? And then how would we give it back to him? If you’re called to give Caesar his coin back to him, God is clearly saying, Christ is saying that those who come to him and approach him, you can find God’s image on yourself.

And that is the debt that is owed to God. It’s you. You give to God what he owns, which is you, all of you.

And he’s calling them to a much higher obedience, saying in some respect very clearly that God created man to bear his own image and to reflect his glory.

And God has called man to spread that glory all over the globe at the beginning, the initial plan. And we, as God’s image, are always called to give ourselves fully back to God in everything that we do and everything that we say.

The whole of our lives lived is to be given to God as a debt that is owed to him because we are made in his image.

God Demands Your Allegiance

And notice what Jesus has done. He’s clearly affirmed the authority of Caesar to tax, but he’s also affirmed that God alone has ultimate authority, not Caesar, not any king, and that we owe our existence and our obedience, not to the government first and foremost, but to God, first and foremost.

He is our highest authority. For that reason, we will pay taxes, but not the other way around.

If you look throughout history, how many governments really did consider, right? And those of you who’ve looked at history know this. How many of them, they really did consider themselves of divine origin, like Roman Greece of old, to be deified man.

That’s how they looked at their rulers, their kings. And we are here not only as the state, that was the sentiment, but as the ultimate arbiters of justice to whom you will owe complete allegiance, because we’re the ones that get to say.

And Jesus is saying to them, you can give your taxes to Rome, but you owe your allegiance alone to God, to God himself alone.

And that Rome cannot be your God. And they are not the ones to whom you are to give your very life. God has owned our very life and the very action of that life.

Humanity Owes God Everything

And so the question is, how was he done? How has he succeeded in that particular regard? How has he carried that out? How has he done? How have these who come to question him pulled that off?

How have they done in regard to their allegiances due to God alone? Because when you look at human history, ever since the beginning, from the garden on man has failed in this particular task, where God has set us in place to obey him.

He’s given us all manner of good gifts and privileges and blessings. And he’s given us the gift of himself, both in Adam and Eve. And he also did so in Israel with Israel.

And yet man has never given themselves back to God as he has called them to do. Never once have they paid the debt that was owed.

Never once in gratitude do they delight in all the good things in this particular God’s presence to them that he owns. Rather, they sought their own good in their own way again and again.

Israel’s Rebellion Mirrors Our Own

These who are worried about taxes in this text, right? That’s what they’re presenting, is being concerned about taxes. Who are desiring revolution have failed to see this, where the real problem is, where their fundamental problem lies.

They have been in revolt against their true maker, you see, against the true government of earth, of all things, since the very date of their birth.

And they’ve refused to give him what is due to him. They’ve refused to pay him what is owed. They’ve lived holy for themselves, even as they, under the pretext of living in his name, they’re living for themselves.

And how can we tell? We can tell because notice what they do. They’re asking a question about a coin that says on that very coin, the son of God, Augustus, the great high priest that bears the image of the great king, right?

And they do so in order to trap this one who is truly the son of God, who truly images the father, who truly shows us what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God, the pure reflection of Yahweh, the true king.

They seek to remove not only that authority, his authority, but his very life. And they show in these actions their fundamental guilt in it all.

They have never loved God and they have never given him what he’s asked, which was their very selves, the whole of them.

Seeking Power, Not God’s Glory

And you see, they want a king who will remove Rome, because Rome represents what? It represents, for them, interference with their desires. Rome’s wealth, Rome’s power, their status, their grandeur in the world, that’s what they wanted.

And they figured the only way to get that kind of thing is to what? To become like Rome. If they could just be more powerful, if they could just exalt their own status, if they could just get their way.

They could just have a king who had all the things that Rome has, then he would lead us in our way to the things that we have been promised by God, acclimation, reputation, wealth, power, and control.

And so when Christ comes preaching a king that doesn’t give them any of those things that they are seeking, he keeps telling them, you have a guilt problem that I’ve come to deal with.

They want nothing to do with this sort of salvation. And the reason they despise Jesus they believe the only way to combat the problem is to fight fire with fire.

But it is a failure to see who we are when this is done, to see who they are, and to see what is owed truly to God. These Pharisees and the Herodians with them standing there wanting to baptize their own agenda.

Your Life Belongs to God

And Jesus demands a different agenda altogether. You owe all that you have, all that you owe to God. And you’re worried about your taxes? Don’t you have something else maybe to worry about?

This is more significant than that, by the way, he’s telling them. This is not an attack on Rome only in the first century. It’s not attack on the Pharisees or the Herodians, but it’s an attack on the very value system of this very world.

He says, you owe it all to God. And you have welched on your debt, to use an old phrase. And your whole life of self-service and self-desire and self-indulgence shows that you have a complete upside down in that debt.

And the only way that that can be paid is with your own very life. And here stands Jesus, claiming to be Messiah, claiming to bring the very kingdom of God, claiming that he will set all things right.

And he doesn’t even have his own coin with his picture on it. He comes as the incarnate God, God in human flesh. He comes ultimately in a status of weakness.

Christ’s Weakness Is Our Strength

The one who is rich beyond all splendor becomes poor. Why? In order to show that though he comes to set all things right, that the way of this world in giving power and dominion and exaltation will never know, they will never work in actually succeeding to make men and women who they were meant to be.

And this is why no civil government will ever be able to accomplish on earth what God has already said he’s accomplishing through his son, Jesus Christ.

Because the way of this kingdom comes through weakness, through humility, through self-sacrifice, the way of this kingdom comes through a cross and through that self-giving Christ.

Then and only then is highly exalted, highly exalted name given that is above every name, King of King and Lord of Lords to this one.

Jesus, Not Caesar, Is Lord

And there’s only one true ruler in this world and it’s not Caesar, it’s Christ. Jesus indeed is Lord. And Jesus has indeed come to bring a kingdom and to bring a revolution in Israel and to the whole earth.

But he has shown us as the church the way he’s going to accomplish that. As wonderful as human government is or can be, and as wonderful as a gift from God, it can be.

God will never usher in his kingdom through legislation or through power or through enough mere military might. He’s already showed us the way.

He comes through a cross and through a church that takes that message of the cross and lives cross-shaped lives, shaped by that cross into the world to love their neighbor as themselves.

And to offer to broken and sinful and arrogantly stubborn men a Savior who redeems sinners, like He redeemed you and like He redeemed me.

The Cross Transforms the World

And that is how the whole world will ultimately become a new creation. The kings of this earth, the kingdoms of this earth will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, we read at the end of our scriptures.

Because the Savior showed that while human governments are good, they are not ultimate, they are not eternal. And why we do owe them a certain amount of service because God has ordained them for a particular part of our lives.

They do not get our homage. They do not get our allegiance. There’s only one who can get that, you see.

And it wasn’t because he came in great minds and it wasn’t because he came wielding all of his power or wealth, but rather because he defeated our enemies, meeting them one-on-one and he willing to give himself to destruction so that you and I might avoid that destruction forever.

Christ Paid Our Debt

Christ has made a plane, but what is God’s belongs to him. And you and I can honestly say, sure, when asked that question was sure, we’ve done well in this. We’ve given our all fully holy to him.

And so Christ comes to make a way for us to enter into God’s rule, for us to be part of that new creation promised and declared.

And he says, you have not paid the debts as you’ve owed. So I will send my son that he might pay it for you, that he might lead you in the way everlasting as you place your faith and trust in him as the spirit gives faith.

As you live out your life to that end. And so we may we, brothers and sisters, as good citizens of this country, yes, become part of the political system that is there.

May we use all of our freedoms that God has given us in whatever way fills in accordance to his word. But when may we not put our trust in the particular system that we’re in, knowing that it is always going to be second to last.

It’ll never be ultimate. It’ll never be final. It’ll never be eternal. It will never answer the problems that face man, because they go far deeper than that.

Trust Christ, Not Systems

Yes, there are scoundrels all the way through on both sides and even in the middle, but there are scoundrels right here. In this room, for we all bear that title at some point, in some way.

And that is why Christ came, that we might be made new in him. And he might bring a kingdom that is eternal, as we trust in this one who made himself poor, that we might be rich forever in him.

So to him be the glory forever and ever, amen.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word to us. You have given us plain things, and we have the plain things to interpret those that we struggle with, that we find more complex, that we wrestle with in our hearts because of our sin, because of our nearsightedness, Lord, because of, yes, even our foolishness.

We pray, Lord, that you would indeed bless us as we seek to live our lives in accordance with what you command and what you demonstrate. In what you give for us, even in your word.

Bless us, we pray. Be with us for the remainder of this service. We ask it in Christ’s name, amen.