April 10, 2025 • 32 mins
We'd love to hear from you. Message us here.
When religious leaders attempted to trap Jesus with a seemingly impossible question about paying taxes to Rome, they never expected His answer would echo through centuries. The Pharisees and Herodians—strange bedfellows united only by their hatred of Jesus—approached Him with fake flattery and a political landmine: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?"
Their trap was carefully designed. If Jesus supported paying taxes, He'd alienate Jewish nationalists. If He opposed it, He'd be reported to Roman authorities as inciting rebellion. Either way, they thought they had Him cornered.
Jesus saw through their hypocrisy immediately. Yet rather than dismissing them, He requested a denarius coin and asked whose image it bore. When they responded "Caesar's," Jesus delivered the profound statement that continues to shape our understanding of faith and civic duty: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
With these words, Jesus acknowledged legitimate governmental authority while establishing a deeper truth: while coins bearing Caesar's image belonged in some sense to Caesar, humans bearing God's image belong ultimately to God. The principle extends far beyond taxes—it speaks to our very identity and purpose.
This message transforms how we view everything: our time, resources, relationships, and ambitions. If we truly grasp what it means to bear God's image and to render our lives to Him, we'll never look at ourselves the same way again. In a world obsessed with self-determination, Jesus reminds us that we are God-made, not self-made.
Take some time this week to reflect on what areas of your life you might be holding back from God. What would it look like to fully render to God what is God's?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Mark, chapter 12, verse 13, and you know that we
are in the final week of Jesus'earthly ministry.
By this point it is Wednesday inthe time frame and you know
(00:33):
Jesus has successfully stirredthe pot there in Jerusalem.
He's made a scene from ridinginto Jerusalem, accepting praise
and worship there on the Mountof Olives.
He's gone into the temple andmade quite the scene when he
cleansed the temple, when hethrew people out and, through a
(00:55):
parable we saw last week, he hasaccused the religious leaders
of being wicked tenants who haverejected God's servants and
were rejecting God's son.
And before the week is over,you know they will have tried
him and they will have killedhim.
(01:15):
Now, in our account today, thereligious leaders send
representatives to Jesus to traphim in his words, verse 13.
There it says that they aretrying to catch him in his words
.
That idea just to kind of getthe flavor of it in verse 13, is
(01:39):
that they're trying to hunt himdown and catch him.
They are wanting him to betheir prey.
So with that in mind, let'sread Mark 12, verse 13, through
27.
Then they, that's the religiousleaders, sent to him some of
(02:01):
the Pharisees and the Herodiansto catch him in his words.
When they had come, they saidto him Teacher, we know that you
are true and you care about noone, for you do not regard the
person of men, but teach the wayof God.
In truth, is it lawful to paytaxes to Caesar or not?
(02:26):
Shall we pay or shall we notpay?
But he that's Jesus, knowingtheir hypocrisy, said to them
why do you test me?
Bring me a denarius, denariusthat I may see it.
That's a coin, by the way.
So they brought it and he saidto them whose image and
inscription is on this?
(02:47):
And they said to him Caesar's.
Jesus answered and said to themrender to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's and to God thethings that are God's.
And they marveled at him.
So here we are, mark 12, 13.
And first off, we see some wiseguys.
(03:07):
Now, I say wise guys as in thewise guy, right, I say it as
that.
That's the professional way tolook at this term wise guy.
We see the wise guys.
We also see the wise one andhis wise words, right?
So let's spend a minute withthese wise guys.
The religious leaders Noticewhat we know about them.
(03:30):
The story is set up with thecoming of the Pharisees and the
Herodians Right.
Pharisees and the Herodians.
Now check it out.
The Pharisees were thetheologians Right To use a nice
big word.
Theologians.
The Pharisees were thetheologians right To use a nice
big word.
Theologians, the Pharisees.
They were concerned with theholiness of God and a holy life,
(03:51):
knowing the word and doing theword.
That's the Pharisees.
The Herodians were thepoliticians of the day right,
you could say religiouspoliticians.
They supported a man namedHerod, not just a man named
Herod, but a family of theHerods.
Right Now, you who have beenaround the Bible, you know the
(04:12):
Herods are sleazy people.
Right, they are.
He was known as King Herod, buthe was really just a
representative of the Jewishpeople and he wasn't even of
Hebrew DNA, hebrew descent.
He was a representative king.
It was a political thing.
He was there by the Romans tokeep the peace and you remember
(04:38):
he was anything but a nobleperson.
Pretty much no matter whateverHerod you look at, and pretty
much no matter whatever Herodyou look at anything but noble.
They're corrupt, they'reperverted, they're vicious and
prone to intrigue.
It was said of one of theHerods that it was safer to be
one of his sheep or his cattlethan one of his sons Because
(05:00):
they were prone to killing offtheir own kids if they got
jealous.
They were prone to throwingaway wives if they wanted a
different one.
And so these Herods arepolitical slimeballs right,
that's what it says in the GreekPolitical slimeballs.
And the Herodians theysupported Herod.
(05:23):
That's what they were there for.
They supported Herod, that'swhat they were there for.
Now, when you look at these twogroups that come the Pharisees
and the Herodians you could notfind two more different people.
Pharisees were into holiness.
The Herodians were just intosupporting a very unholy person,
herod.
And notice, they come with thiscommon ground that they hate
(05:48):
Jesus.
It's interesting what that cando for a relationship, right, as
long as we have this mutualhatred for Jesus, we can get
along.
And they come to Jesus andnotice verse 14.
Notice verse 14.
They come saying teacher Alittle bit of flattery here,
(06:09):
right, the word is rabbi.
So picture this.
They come to Jesus and theycall him rabbi.
Now, he was a teacher.
He was a rabbi in the day, buthe wasn't their teacher by any
means.
They didn't respect the wordsthat he said.
So it's a bit flattering herethat they call him teacher.
(06:29):
Look at verse 14 also.
They say about him we know thatyou are true and notice a
little further that you teachthe way of God in truth.
So here's something they admitabout Jesus You're true and you
teach the way of God in truth.
(06:50):
Now they say that, and it wastrue, jesus was true and taught
the way of God in truth.
But they didn't really believethat, did they?
Because if they had believedthat they would have trusted
Jesus and followed Jesus, theydidn't care about that.
Notice what else they say abouthim, though, there in the
(07:12):
middle of verse 14.
You care about no one.
Now, this isn't to say thatJesus didn't care about people.
They weren't saying that.
They knew that he cared aboutthe poor, care about people.
They weren't saying that theyknew that he cared about the
poor.
They knew that he spent timewith the sick and the downcast
and the demon-possessed.
It wasn't that he didn't careabout people, it's more.
(07:34):
What's said next?
Notice, you don't regard theperson of men.
So, jesus, we know that youdon't get into this whole thing
of politics and positions.
You aren't treating powerfulpeople better than the lowly,
right.
You're not treating rich peoplebetter than poor people or vice
(07:57):
versa, right?
You don't look at people on theoutside and treat them
differently because of who theyare.
You're not into celebrity.
You treat everybody equally.
Now we see this as a positive.
Right, jesus loves everyone.
(08:18):
They see this as a negativebecause, check it out, they were
into position.
The religious leaders were intoworking to make your name great
and having people respect you.
Jesus doesn't care about that.
And they come to him with thisflattery.
But even more than that, theycome to him with a question.
(08:40):
Notice the question.
It's a huge question, even forour day, right, verse 15.
Is it or shall we pay or let's?
I'm sorry, let me back up Verse14.
Is it lawful to pay taxes toCaesar or not?
Big question Should we paytaxes?
(09:03):
And the Bible has something tosay about that.
Jesus has something to sayabout that.
We want to see what he says.
But we want to notice a couplemore things as we look at this.
Check it out the religiousleaders, the Pharisees and the
Herodians come, but what's theirmotivation?
Because that says a lot about aperson.
What is your motivation?
(09:24):
Look at verse 13.
They sent him some of thePharisees and the Herodians to
catch him.
In his words, verse 13,.
The narrator here says theirwhole purpose in coming to Jesus
was to trap him, to catch him.
Again, that word is a huntingterm.
It's about baiting someone andtrapping them like an animal.
(09:50):
Right, this is their motivationto trap him, to destroy him.
Notice verse 15.
Jesus knew their hypocrisy.
So another thing we are toldhere, from the narrator I guess
you could say, is that thesepeople were hypocritical.
Right, they're coming to Jesuswith their flattery oh, teacher,
(10:12):
you respect no one.
You speak the words of God intruth, teacher.
And Jesus sees right throughthat.
He sees through their flattery,he sees through their hypocrisy
, their fakes.
Now pause for a second.
This is important for us toknow.
(10:33):
Jesus sees our heart.
God looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16, samuel is told,man looks at the outward
appearance, but God looks at theheart.
So right now, even though we'reall here and I can't tell
(10:53):
what's going on in your heart,god knows what's going on in
your heart.
He sees our hurts, he sees ourconcerns, he sees the points
where we're honest and thepoints where we're not honest.
And amazing to understand thatGod still loves us.
Because I know what goes on inmy heart.
God still loves me Kind ofcrazy.
(11:16):
So Jesus here sees theirhypocrisy.
They're just a bunch of fakes.
They're here to trap him.
Notice not just theirmotivation, but we could say
their affiliation.
We talked about it the Phariseesand the Herodians.
The Pharisees were intoholiness.
(11:38):
They were the ones who wouldlook at people and go are they
being holy?
Are you a holy person, like?
I'm a holy person, I've beenthere, right, I'm a good
Pharisee, right.
But they would look at peopleand they could judge Now check
it out.
Would look at people and theycould judge, now check it out.
With this in mind, if Jesussays something blasphemous, pay
(12:02):
taxes.
That would have to some degreebeen idolatrous.
We'll see in a second.
The Pharisees were there tojump on that.
They would say, oh, that'sblasphemy what he says.
And they would get everybody topick up rocks and throw them at
Jesus.
That's the way that the Jewswould have put somebody to death
throwing rocks at them untilthey were dead.
The Pharisees were there forthat.
(12:24):
That would have been their job.
Now check it out.
The Herodians, again, were thereto support what Rome said.
They were there for thepolitical side of things.
So if Jesus were to saysomething against Rome like,
don't pay your taxes, don't payyour taxes to Rome, don't obey
(12:45):
Caesar.
The Herodians would be there totake that to the governor and
have Jesus executed for being arebel and calling for a revolt.
So when we see their motivationand we see their affiliation,
we realize that this trap isserious business.
They really want to find a wayto kill Jesus.
(13:09):
That's their whole point here.
That's their whole point here,and Jesus knows it.
They're there verse 15, to testhim.
So the wise guys are there andthere's not much else we want to
say about them, nothing goodreally to say.
But the wise one, jesus, isalso there and that we want to
(13:30):
look at.
Verse 15, they ask theirquestion Jesus, knowing their
hypocrisy, he says why do youtest me?
You're trying to get me to fail.
Bring me denarius.
(13:52):
Jesus knows all this, that thisis their intention.
Intention is to trap him andtest him and destroy him.
And he still talks to them.
You know, an option would havebeen you know what guys?
I'm not getting into this.
You're just here to test me.
You're here to trap me.
You're here to destroy me.
I don't need to answer thisquestion either, and Jesus could
(14:13):
have just left.
But Jesus takes the time toaddress the question and he
gives them insight way deeperthan they were looking for.
That's the love of God.
Even people who hate God, godtakes time and patiently follows
after us and patiently followsafter us, pursues us.
(14:34):
It's so amazing to see.
Now notice what Jesus says here.
Knowing all these things, whatJesus says in his patience and
his kindness and his love.
He says this whose image andinscription is on.
(14:56):
So check it out.
A denarius we don't use thoseanymore.
A denarius was a coin.
It was about the size of aquarter Right, a little smaller,
so you can picture it.
It was a coin.
It was known as a day's wagefor the common worker.
That's kind of the significance.
(15:17):
It was what you would get forworking a day.
So you saw these.
If you were working, you'd getone every day.
You worked.
A denarius On one side.
On one side it had a picture ofTiberius Caesar, the king at
the time.
On the back side it had apicture of his mom.
Because why not?
(15:38):
Right, you know, want to have apicture of your mom on the coin
if you can.
It's nice.
She was dressed in robes andsitting on a throne with a
scepter in one hand and an olivebranch in another, as if to say
you can choose the scepter oryou can choose peace.
(15:58):
If you choose peace, it's goodfor you.
If you choose the scepter,clunk, it's not going to be good
to oppose Rome.
And so this is the picture thatwas on both sides of this
Picture of Caesar on one,picture, of his mom on the other
.
And what was also significant inthis was the words.
Jesus will get into the wordsthat are on it.
But on the side of Caesar'sface, it said this Tiberius
(16:22):
Caesar, son of the divine,augustus, augustus.
Tiberius Caesar, son of Godright.
Tiberius Caesar, son of Godright.
On the other side, it saidPontifex Maximus, high priest.
So all these things puttogether, caesar was making a
(16:44):
huge statement.
Every time you worked a day, yougot a denarius and you looked
at this picture of Caesar,caesar, tiberius, son of the
divine, high priest.
You turn it over and there wasthis coin.
Jesus asks for this coin, andverse 16, he says this Whose
(17:08):
image and inscription is on this?
Well, it's Caesar's image,that's obvious, the one we're
looking for.
The inscription it'sblasphemous Tiberius Caesar, son
of the divine.
It said so much.
Now, this was Caesar's coin.
(17:30):
Check it out.
You couldn't get away from it.
Right, there's so many thingsin the society of ours that are
wicked at their ground level,but they're just a part of our
everyday life.
We live in the world right Now.
We're not of this world, but welive in this world and we deal
with all sorts of stuff likethis every single day.
(17:52):
But Jesus brings this coin, andsomebody had it, and he says
whose image is on it?
Caesar's.
What's the inscription?
It's Caesar's.
(18:17):
And notice Jesus' remedy here inverse 17.
And this is one of those thingsthat could be a life verse.
You could definitely considerthis verse all week, all month,
all year, whatever you want to.
There's so much in this.
Notice verse 17.
Jesus answered and said to themrender to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's.
Now, in a practical sense, jesusis saying this about taxes.
We love to talk about taxes.
(18:38):
It's April, tax season is uponus, right, render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's.
Pay your taxes.
That's a biblical mandate.
Pay your taxes.
That's a biblical mandate.
Pay your taxes, I know.
(18:59):
Right, by paying your taxes,you're doing the will of god.
Oh, that's not a very americanway to look at things, is it?
But that's something that godsays to do.
Um, we should probably be awareof what Paul says in Romans 13
why don't we turn?
Because we're so far ahead ofthings.
Romans 13 you want a good verseproof text on paying your taxes
(19:21):
?
Right, who doesn't?
13 verse 1.
Romans 13 1.
Let this is Let every soul besubject to the governing
authorities, for there is noauthority except from God and
the authorities that exist areappointed by God.
(19:43):
Therefore, whoever resists theauthority resists the ordinance
of God, and those who resistwill bring judgment on
themselves, for rulers are not aterror to good works, but to
evil.
Do you want to be unafraid ofthe authority?
Do what is good, and you willhave praise from the same, for
(20:06):
he is God's minister to you forgood.
But if you do evil, be afraid,for he does not bear the sword
in vain, for he is God'sminister, an avenger to execute
wrath on him who practices evil.
Therefore, you must be subject,not only because of wrath, but
(20:26):
also for conscience sake, forbecause of this you also pay
taxes, for they are God'sministers attending continually
to this very thing.
Render, therefore, to all theirdue taxes to whom taxes are due
.
Customs to whom customs are due?
Fear to whom fear.
(20:47):
Honor to whom honor so veryclearly here in the Roman Empire
, very corrupt Roman Empire.
Rome was brutal.
If you stepped out of line,they just worked you over, right
?
And Paul says honor thegovernment, listen to the
government, pay your taxes.
(21:09):
Titus 3.1, same kind of thing.
Remind them to be subject torulers and authorities to obey,
to be ready for every good work.
Check it out, peter in 1 Peter,2.13, in case you're still
skeptical.
Peter says this in 2.13,therefore, submit yourselves to
(21:31):
every ordinance of man for theLord's sake, whether to the king
of supreme or to the governorsor those who are sent by him for
the punishment of evildoers andfor the praise of those who do
good.
So even people who knew whatRome was like said give honor to
the government, Listen to them,obey them.
(21:53):
Now point of balance here.
Acts, chapter four, verse 19.
The story there is Peter andJohn.
They're taken into thereligious authority still
authority, still government, butthe religious government and
they're told stop teaching inthis name of Jesus.
(22:16):
You're causing trouble, wedon't like it.
Acts, chapter 4, stop teachingthis name of Jesus.
And Peter says this.
Peter and John answered andsaid to them whether it's right
in the sight of God to listen toyou more than God you judge.
So Peter makes a clear pointhere that we ought to know that
(22:40):
if government ever gives you arule or regulation that goes
against God's word and be sureit's not just opinion, but we're
talking about God's word, god'sspecific word don't preach
Jesus, don't read the Bibleright, don't talk about sin Then
(23:01):
we ought to obey God before man.
That's the balance of thesethings and so pretty
straightforward in the BibleHonor the government, pay your
taxes.
If the government tells youanything that's contrary to
God's word, don't listen to them.
Listen to God before you listento man.
(23:21):
So at any rate, we're back herein Mark, chapter 12.
And Jesus says render to Caesarthe things that are Caesar's
and to God the things that areGod.
Now, the first part.
That's fascinating.
It's good to know.
But the second part is the best.
This is where we really get thedevotion out of it.
Right, the second part there,verse 17.
(23:44):
Render to God the things thatare God's.
So if this picture of Jesusholding up this coin and saying
whose image Caesar's Render toCaesar the things that are God's
, so if this picture of Jesusholding up this coin and saying
whose image Caesar's Render toCaesar the things that are
Caesar's, then of course, youknow the punchline here.
We can look at our lives.
Whose image is on us?
Genesis 1, 16, that God mademan in the image of God.
(24:10):
We're made in God's image.
Now, I'm not 100% sure whatthat all means, right, does God
have feet and arms and hair?
I don't think so.
I don't think that's the imagewe're talking about.
I think it's something morethan that.
It's the spiritual side ofthings, maybe.
But we know very clearly peopleare made in the image of God.
(24:33):
Therefore, it makes good senseto render to God the things that
belong to God.
If God made us, then we own ourlife Right Now.
That's not the way we look atour lives in any kind of way.
Right, look at our lives in anykind of way?
(24:59):
Right, we're self-madecreatures.
But Psalm 100, verse 3, saysit's he that made us and not we
ourselves.
We forget that.
I'm a self-made person.
Crazy, you had zero to sayabout being born right.
If God didn't make us, wewouldn't be here.
Born right.
If God didn't make us, wewouldn't be here.
We're self-made, we'reself-sustaining, at least.
Well, daniel, chapter five, isan amazing passage where a very
(25:21):
cocky king gets up and praisesthe gods of silver and gold, and
the prophet Daniel comes in andsays you know what?
The prophet Daniel comes in andsays you know what?
The God who holds your verybreath in his hand, you have not
acknowledged.
That's an interesting thought.
Take a breath Feels good, right.
(25:44):
Feels good to be able to take abreath.
It feels bad to not take abreath for a long time, right.
But every time you breathe in,it's because God gives you
another breath.
It happens while you sleep.
You're not even aware of it,and yet God takes care of us, he
sustains us.
So we're not self-made, none ofus are self-sustaining.
(26:09):
And yet, generally, we don'tacknowledge God at all 99%.
I don't know if that's a realstatistic, but I'm just going to
say it.
99% of people who have everexisted did not acknowledge God
Never.
They arrogantly just said I'mmy own person, I do what I want.
And yet, even just on thesurface of things God made us,
(26:33):
his image is on us as humanbeings.
It makes good sense that werender our lives to him.
That word render is really cool.
It means to give back tosomebody something that they've
already given to you, right?
So in the case of Caesar.
The idea was Caesar providesfor you this money and this
(26:55):
employment.
You give back to him a piece ofthat.
Even better, with us, god givesus a life.
We give back our lives to him.
Now, for us, as believers.
If you are a believer, ifyou've trusted what God has done
for you even more so, thinkabout it Even more so.
(27:18):
He saved us.
That's what the cross tells usthat Jesus died on the cross to
save us.
We were lost in our sins, everysingle one of us.
We were destined in our sins,every single one of us.
We were destined for hell.
And yet God, the hero, jesus,he saves us.
We owe him our life.
(27:39):
He redeems us.
That's cool terminology, right.
Redeems.
That's the idea of buyingsomething back that was lost.
It's the idea of slavery, right?
We're slaves to sin, the wagesof sin being death.
We owed everything because ofsin, and yet God redeems us.
(28:02):
He buys us out of slavery.
He pays the debt for us.
He buys us.
That means we're not our own.
Let's turn to Romans one moretime.
I don't know if you turn backto Mark.
I guess we were in Romans.
Romans chapter 12.1, classicRomans 12.1.
(28:36):
I beseech you, I beg youtherefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God or because ofGod's mercy, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice,holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service.
So Paul here paints us a picture.
(28:58):
He says, guys, god's doneeverything for you, and that's
what the book of Romans, 1through chapter 11, are all
about, what God has done for you.
And he says God's doneeverything for you In light of
everything that God's done foryou.
And he says God's doneeverything for you In light of
everything that God's done foryou, present your bodies a
living sacrifice, render yourwhole lives to God.
(29:20):
It makes sense, it's reasonableservice in how he saved us and
bought us and redeemed us.
It just makes perfect sense tooffer everything, to render
everything to him.
(29:41):
Now, that's the application,right.
More than taxes, pay your taxes.
That's a great application,right?
If you come out of it with I'mgoing to pay my taxes, then you
probably missed it, right?
The punchline here, theapplication for the week, is to
look at it that way God trulyhas done everything for us.
(30:01):
He redeemed, bought, saved us.
It only makes good sense torender our lives back to him,
our life.
Think about it as you see itthis week, your life.
We're going to guess that youhave life in front of you this
week.
Render it to God.
(30:23):
God, it's yours, my life.
You have some power right Now.
Some of us look and we go on.
Not much power, strength to getout of bed is about all I feel
like I have sometimes.
But you have some strength, youhave some energy, you have some
time this week and yet, to lookat it, god, every good thing
(30:47):
comes from you.
My breath comes from you, mysalvation comes from you.
It's yours.
Now, we don't usually get to thepoint where we say that we're
already, you know, planning ourweek.
What am I going to do with mytime?
What am I going to do with myenergy this week?
But yet, to look at it as afact, it's God's, it belongs to
(31:11):
him.
God, how do you want to usethis week?
It makes sense because of how hesaved us.
If he truly has saved us, weowe him everything.
So, god, it's so beautiful whatyou do to us and, truth be told
, we may most of us may getthrough this week and realize
(31:35):
that we haven't even thoughtabout you.
It's not what we want, but it'ssadly true, because we get very
distracted when we think aboutour own needs and our own wants,
and yet we haven't thoughtabout you, god.
I just pray that we would havethis on our mind from the
beginning here, god, that wewould have in our minds that
(31:58):
you've done everything for us.
We owe you our lives.
That just makes good sense.
Help us to render all thesethings to you, god.
You're so good.
You deserve all of our praiseand all of our thanks.
You deserve our life.
Help it to be true in our lives.
We pray in Jesus' name Amen.
Mark, chapter 12, verse 13, and you know that we
are in the final week of Jesus'earthly ministry.
By this point it is Wednesday inthe time frame and you know
(00:33):
Jesus has successfully stirredthe pot there in Jerusalem.
He's made a scene from ridinginto Jerusalem, accepting praise
and worship there on the Mountof Olives.
He's gone into the temple andmade quite the scene when he
cleansed the temple, when hethrew people out and, through a
(00:55):
parable we saw last week, he hasaccused the religious leaders
of being wicked tenants who haverejected God's servants and
were rejecting God's son.
And before the week is over,you know they will have tried
him and they will have killedhim.
(01:15):
Now, in our account today, thereligious leaders send
representatives to Jesus to traphim in his words, verse 13.
There it says that they aretrying to catch him in his words
.
That idea just to kind of getthe flavor of it in verse 13, is
(01:39):
that they're trying to hunt himdown and catch him.
They are wanting him to betheir prey.
So with that in mind, let'sread Mark 12, verse 13, through
27.
Then they, that's the religiousleaders, sent to him some of
(02:01):
the Pharisees and the Herodiansto catch him in his words.
When they had come, they saidto him Teacher, we know that you
are true and you care about noone, for you do not regard the
person of men, but teach the wayof God.
In truth, is it lawful to paytaxes to Caesar or not?
(02:26):
Shall we pay or shall we notpay?
But he that's Jesus, knowingtheir hypocrisy, said to them
why do you test me?
Bring me a denarius, denariusthat I may see it.
That's a coin, by the way.
So they brought it and he saidto them whose image and
inscription is on this?
(02:47):
And they said to him Caesar's.
Jesus answered and said to themrender to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's and to God thethings that are God's.
And they marveled at him.
So here we are, mark 12, 13.
And first off, we see some wiseguys.
(03:07):
Now, I say wise guys as in thewise guy, right, I say it as
that.
That's the professional way tolook at this term wise guy.
We see the wise guys.
We also see the wise one andhis wise words, right?
So let's spend a minute withthese wise guys.
The religious leaders Noticewhat we know about them.
(03:30):
The story is set up with thecoming of the Pharisees and the
Herodians Right.
Pharisees and the Herodians.
Now check it out.
The Pharisees were thetheologians Right To use a nice
big word.
Theologians.
The Pharisees were thetheologians right To use a nice
big word.
Theologians, the Pharisees.
They were concerned with theholiness of God and a holy life,
(03:51):
knowing the word and doing theword.
That's the Pharisees.
The Herodians were thepoliticians of the day right,
you could say religiouspoliticians.
They supported a man namedHerod, not just a man named
Herod, but a family of theHerods.
Right Now, you who have beenaround the Bible, you know the
(04:12):
Herods are sleazy people.
Right, they are.
He was known as King Herod, buthe was really just a
representative of the Jewishpeople and he wasn't even of
Hebrew DNA, hebrew descent.
He was a representative king.
It was a political thing.
He was there by the Romans tokeep the peace and you remember
(04:38):
he was anything but a nobleperson.
Pretty much no matter whateverHerod you look at, and pretty
much no matter whatever Herodyou look at anything but noble.
They're corrupt, they'reperverted, they're vicious and
prone to intrigue.
It was said of one of theHerods that it was safer to be
one of his sheep or his cattlethan one of his sons Because
(05:00):
they were prone to killing offtheir own kids if they got
jealous.
They were prone to throwingaway wives if they wanted a
different one.
And so these Herods arepolitical slimeballs right,
that's what it says in the GreekPolitical slimeballs.
And the Herodians theysupported Herod.
(05:23):
That's what they were there for.
They supported Herod, that'swhat they were there for.
Now, when you look at these twogroups that come the Pharisees
and the Herodians you could notfind two more different people.
Pharisees were into holiness.
The Herodians were just intosupporting a very unholy person,
herod.
And notice, they come with thiscommon ground that they hate
(05:48):
Jesus.
It's interesting what that cando for a relationship, right, as
long as we have this mutualhatred for Jesus, we can get
along.
And they come to Jesus andnotice verse 14.
Notice verse 14.
They come saying teacher Alittle bit of flattery here,
(06:09):
right, the word is rabbi.
So picture this.
They come to Jesus and theycall him rabbi.
Now, he was a teacher.
He was a rabbi in the day, buthe wasn't their teacher by any
means.
They didn't respect the wordsthat he said.
So it's a bit flattering herethat they call him teacher.
(06:29):
Look at verse 14 also.
They say about him we know thatyou are true and notice a
little further that you teachthe way of God in truth.
So here's something they admitabout Jesus You're true and you
teach the way of God in truth.
(06:50):
Now they say that, and it wastrue, jesus was true and taught
the way of God in truth.
But they didn't really believethat, did they?
Because if they had believedthat they would have trusted
Jesus and followed Jesus, theydidn't care about that.
Notice what else they say abouthim, though, there in the
(07:12):
middle of verse 14.
You care about no one.
Now, this isn't to say thatJesus didn't care about people.
They weren't saying that.
They knew that he cared aboutthe poor, care about people.
They weren't saying that theyknew that he cared about the
poor.
They knew that he spent timewith the sick and the downcast
and the demon-possessed.
It wasn't that he didn't careabout people, it's more.
(07:34):
What's said next?
Notice, you don't regard theperson of men.
So, jesus, we know that youdon't get into this whole thing
of politics and positions.
You aren't treating powerfulpeople better than the lowly,
right.
You're not treating rich peoplebetter than poor people or vice
(07:57):
versa, right?
You don't look at people on theoutside and treat them
differently because of who theyare.
You're not into celebrity.
You treat everybody equally.
Now we see this as a positive.
Right, jesus loves everyone.
(08:18):
They see this as a negativebecause, check it out, they were
into position.
The religious leaders were intoworking to make your name great
and having people respect you.
Jesus doesn't care about that.
And they come to him with thisflattery.
But even more than that, theycome to him with a question.
(08:40):
Notice the question.
It's a huge question, even forour day, right, verse 15.
Is it or shall we pay or let's?
I'm sorry, let me back up Verse14.
Is it lawful to pay taxes toCaesar or not?
Big question Should we paytaxes?
(09:03):
And the Bible has something tosay about that.
Jesus has something to sayabout that.
We want to see what he says.
But we want to notice a couplemore things as we look at this.
Check it out the religiousleaders, the Pharisees and the
Herodians come, but what's theirmotivation?
Because that says a lot about aperson.
What is your motivation?
(09:24):
Look at verse 13.
They sent him some of thePharisees and the Herodians to
catch him.
In his words, verse 13,.
The narrator here says theirwhole purpose in coming to Jesus
was to trap him, to catch him.
Again, that word is a huntingterm.
It's about baiting someone andtrapping them like an animal.
(09:50):
Right, this is their motivationto trap him, to destroy him.
Notice verse 15.
Jesus knew their hypocrisy.
So another thing we are toldhere, from the narrator I guess
you could say, is that thesepeople were hypocritical.
Right, they're coming to Jesuswith their flattery oh, teacher,
(10:12):
you respect no one.
You speak the words of God intruth, teacher.
And Jesus sees right throughthat.
He sees through their flattery,he sees through their hypocrisy
, their fakes.
Now pause for a second.
This is important for us toknow.
(10:33):
Jesus sees our heart.
God looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16, samuel is told,man looks at the outward
appearance, but God looks at theheart.
So right now, even though we'reall here and I can't tell
(10:53):
what's going on in your heart,god knows what's going on in
your heart.
He sees our hurts, he sees ourconcerns, he sees the points
where we're honest and thepoints where we're not honest.
And amazing to understand thatGod still loves us.
Because I know what goes on inmy heart.
God still loves me Kind ofcrazy.
(11:16):
So Jesus here sees theirhypocrisy.
They're just a bunch of fakes.
They're here to trap him.
Notice not just theirmotivation, but we could say
their affiliation.
We talked about it the Phariseesand the Herodians.
The Pharisees were intoholiness.
(11:38):
They were the ones who wouldlook at people and go are they
being holy?
Are you a holy person, like?
I'm a holy person, I've beenthere, right, I'm a good
Pharisee, right.
But they would look at peopleand they could judge Now check
it out.
Would look at people and theycould judge, now check it out.
With this in mind, if Jesussays something blasphemous, pay
(12:02):
taxes.
That would have to some degreebeen idolatrous.
We'll see in a second.
The Pharisees were there tojump on that.
They would say, oh, that'sblasphemy what he says.
And they would get everybody topick up rocks and throw them at
Jesus.
That's the way that the Jewswould have put somebody to death
throwing rocks at them untilthey were dead.
The Pharisees were there forthat.
(12:24):
That would have been their job.
Now check it out.
The Herodians, again, were thereto support what Rome said.
They were there for thepolitical side of things.
So if Jesus were to saysomething against Rome like,
don't pay your taxes, don't payyour taxes to Rome, don't obey
(12:45):
Caesar.
The Herodians would be there totake that to the governor and
have Jesus executed for being arebel and calling for a revolt.
So when we see their motivationand we see their affiliation,
we realize that this trap isserious business.
They really want to find a wayto kill Jesus.
(13:09):
That's their whole point here.
That's their whole point here,and Jesus knows it.
They're there verse 15, to testhim.
So the wise guys are there andthere's not much else we want to
say about them, nothing goodreally to say.
But the wise one, jesus, isalso there and that we want to
(13:30):
look at.
Verse 15, they ask theirquestion Jesus, knowing their
hypocrisy, he says why do youtest me?
You're trying to get me to fail.
Bring me denarius.
(13:52):
Jesus knows all this, that thisis their intention.
Intention is to trap him andtest him and destroy him.
And he still talks to them.
You know, an option would havebeen you know what guys?
I'm not getting into this.
You're just here to test me.
You're here to trap me.
You're here to destroy me.
I don't need to answer thisquestion either, and Jesus could
(14:13):
have just left.
But Jesus takes the time toaddress the question and he
gives them insight way deeperthan they were looking for.
That's the love of God.
Even people who hate God, godtakes time and patiently follows
after us and patiently followsafter us, pursues us.
(14:34):
It's so amazing to see.
Now notice what Jesus says here.
Knowing all these things, whatJesus says in his patience and
his kindness and his love.
He says this whose image andinscription is on.
(14:56):
So check it out.
A denarius we don't use thoseanymore.
A denarius was a coin.
It was about the size of aquarter Right, a little smaller,
so you can picture it.
It was a coin.
It was known as a day's wagefor the common worker.
That's kind of the significance.
(15:17):
It was what you would get forworking a day.
So you saw these.
If you were working, you'd getone every day.
You worked.
A denarius On one side.
On one side it had a picture ofTiberius Caesar, the king at
the time.
On the back side it had apicture of his mom.
Because why not?
(15:38):
Right, you know, want to have apicture of your mom on the coin
if you can.
It's nice.
She was dressed in robes andsitting on a throne with a
scepter in one hand and an olivebranch in another, as if to say
you can choose the scepter oryou can choose peace.
(15:58):
If you choose peace, it's goodfor you.
If you choose the scepter,clunk, it's not going to be good
to oppose Rome.
And so this is the picture thatwas on both sides of this
Picture of Caesar on one,picture, of his mom on the other
.
And what was also significant inthis was the words.
Jesus will get into the wordsthat are on it.
But on the side of Caesar'sface, it said this Tiberius
(16:22):
Caesar, son of the divine,augustus, augustus.
Tiberius Caesar, son of Godright.
Tiberius Caesar, son of Godright.
On the other side, it saidPontifex Maximus, high priest.
So all these things puttogether, caesar was making a
(16:44):
huge statement.
Every time you worked a day, yougot a denarius and you looked
at this picture of Caesar,caesar, tiberius, son of the
divine, high priest.
You turn it over and there wasthis coin.
Jesus asks for this coin, andverse 16, he says this Whose
(17:08):
image and inscription is on this?
Well, it's Caesar's image,that's obvious, the one we're
looking for.
The inscription it'sblasphemous Tiberius Caesar, son
of the divine.
It said so much.
Now, this was Caesar's coin.
(17:30):
Check it out.
You couldn't get away from it.
Right, there's so many thingsin the society of ours that are
wicked at their ground level,but they're just a part of our
everyday life.
We live in the world right Now.
We're not of this world, but welive in this world and we deal
with all sorts of stuff likethis every single day.
(17:52):
But Jesus brings this coin, andsomebody had it, and he says
whose image is on it?
Caesar's.
What's the inscription?
It's Caesar's.
(18:17):
And notice Jesus' remedy here inverse 17.
And this is one of those thingsthat could be a life verse.
You could definitely considerthis verse all week, all month,
all year, whatever you want to.
There's so much in this.
Notice verse 17.
Jesus answered and said to themrender to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's.
Now, in a practical sense, jesusis saying this about taxes.
We love to talk about taxes.
(18:38):
It's April, tax season is uponus, right, render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's.
Pay your taxes.
That's a biblical mandate.
Pay your taxes.
That's a biblical mandate.
Pay your taxes, I know.
(18:59):
Right, by paying your taxes,you're doing the will of god.
Oh, that's not a very americanway to look at things, is it?
But that's something that godsays to do.
Um, we should probably be awareof what Paul says in Romans 13
why don't we turn?
Because we're so far ahead ofthings.
Romans 13 you want a good verseproof text on paying your taxes
(19:21):
?
Right, who doesn't?
13 verse 1.
Romans 13 1.
Let this is Let every soul besubject to the governing
authorities, for there is noauthority except from God and
the authorities that exist areappointed by God.
(19:43):
Therefore, whoever resists theauthority resists the ordinance
of God, and those who resistwill bring judgment on
themselves, for rulers are not aterror to good works, but to
evil.
Do you want to be unafraid ofthe authority?
Do what is good, and you willhave praise from the same, for
(20:06):
he is God's minister to you forgood.
But if you do evil, be afraid,for he does not bear the sword
in vain, for he is God'sminister, an avenger to execute
wrath on him who practices evil.
Therefore, you must be subject,not only because of wrath, but
(20:26):
also for conscience sake, forbecause of this you also pay
taxes, for they are God'sministers attending continually
to this very thing.
Render, therefore, to all theirdue taxes to whom taxes are due
.
Customs to whom customs are due?
Fear to whom fear.
(20:47):
Honor to whom honor so veryclearly here in the Roman Empire
, very corrupt Roman Empire.
Rome was brutal.
If you stepped out of line,they just worked you over, right
?
And Paul says honor thegovernment, listen to the
government, pay your taxes.
(21:09):
Titus 3.1, same kind of thing.
Remind them to be subject torulers and authorities to obey,
to be ready for every good work.
Check it out, peter in 1 Peter,2.13, in case you're still
skeptical.
Peter says this in 2.13,therefore, submit yourselves to
(21:31):
every ordinance of man for theLord's sake, whether to the king
of supreme or to the governorsor those who are sent by him for
the punishment of evildoers andfor the praise of those who do
good.
So even people who knew whatRome was like said give honor to
the government, Listen to them,obey them.
(21:53):
Now point of balance here.
Acts, chapter four, verse 19.
The story there is Peter andJohn.
They're taken into thereligious authority still
authority, still government, butthe religious government and
they're told stop teaching inthis name of Jesus.
(22:16):
You're causing trouble, wedon't like it.
Acts, chapter 4, stop teachingthis name of Jesus.
And Peter says this.
Peter and John answered andsaid to them whether it's right
in the sight of God to listen toyou more than God you judge.
So Peter makes a clear pointhere that we ought to know that
(22:40):
if government ever gives you arule or regulation that goes
against God's word and be sureit's not just opinion, but we're
talking about God's word, god'sspecific word don't preach
Jesus, don't read the Bibleright, don't talk about sin Then
(23:01):
we ought to obey God before man.
That's the balance of thesethings and so pretty
straightforward in the BibleHonor the government, pay your
taxes.
If the government tells youanything that's contrary to
God's word, don't listen to them.
Listen to God before you listento man.
(23:21):
So at any rate, we're back herein Mark, chapter 12.
And Jesus says render to Caesarthe things that are Caesar's
and to God the things that areGod.
Now, the first part.
That's fascinating.
It's good to know.
But the second part is the best.
This is where we really get thedevotion out of it.
Right, the second part there,verse 17.
(23:44):
Render to God the things thatare God's.
So if this picture of Jesusholding up this coin and saying
whose image Caesar's Render toCaesar the things that are God's
, so if this picture of Jesusholding up this coin and saying
whose image Caesar's Render toCaesar the things that are
Caesar's, then of course, youknow the punchline here.
We can look at our lives.
Whose image is on us?
Genesis 1, 16, that God mademan in the image of God.
(24:10):
We're made in God's image.
Now, I'm not 100% sure whatthat all means, right, does God
have feet and arms and hair?
I don't think so.
I don't think that's the imagewe're talking about.
I think it's something morethan that.
It's the spiritual side ofthings, maybe.
But we know very clearly peopleare made in the image of God.
(24:33):
Therefore, it makes good senseto render to God the things that
belong to God.
If God made us, then we own ourlife Right Now.
That's not the way we look atour lives in any kind of way.
Right, look at our lives in anykind of way?
(24:59):
Right, we're self-madecreatures.
But Psalm 100, verse 3, saysit's he that made us and not we
ourselves.
We forget that.
I'm a self-made person.
Crazy, you had zero to sayabout being born right.
If God didn't make us, wewouldn't be here.
Born right.
If God didn't make us, wewouldn't be here.
We're self-made, we'reself-sustaining, at least.
Well, daniel, chapter five, isan amazing passage where a very
(25:21):
cocky king gets up and praisesthe gods of silver and gold, and
the prophet Daniel comes in andsays you know what?
The prophet Daniel comes in andsays you know what?
The God who holds your verybreath in his hand, you have not
acknowledged.
That's an interesting thought.
Take a breath Feels good, right.
(25:44):
Feels good to be able to take abreath.
It feels bad to not take abreath for a long time, right.
But every time you breathe in,it's because God gives you
another breath.
It happens while you sleep.
You're not even aware of it,and yet God takes care of us, he
sustains us.
So we're not self-made, none ofus are self-sustaining.
(26:09):
And yet, generally, we don'tacknowledge God at all 99%.
I don't know if that's a realstatistic, but I'm just going to
say it.
99% of people who have everexisted did not acknowledge God
Never.
They arrogantly just said I'mmy own person, I do what I want.
And yet, even just on thesurface of things God made us,
(26:33):
his image is on us as humanbeings.
It makes good sense that werender our lives to him.
That word render is really cool.
It means to give back tosomebody something that they've
already given to you, right?
So in the case of Caesar.
The idea was Caesar providesfor you this money and this
(26:55):
employment.
You give back to him a piece ofthat.
Even better, with us, god givesus a life.
We give back our lives to him.
Now, for us, as believers.
If you are a believer, ifyou've trusted what God has done
for you even more so, thinkabout it Even more so.
(27:18):
He saved us.
That's what the cross tells usthat Jesus died on the cross to
save us.
We were lost in our sins, everysingle one of us.
We were destined in our sins,every single one of us.
We were destined for hell.
And yet God, the hero, jesus,he saves us.
We owe him our life.
(27:39):
He redeems us.
That's cool terminology, right.
Redeems.
That's the idea of buyingsomething back that was lost.
It's the idea of slavery, right?
We're slaves to sin, the wagesof sin being death.
We owed everything because ofsin, and yet God redeems us.
(28:02):
He buys us out of slavery.
He pays the debt for us.
He buys us.
That means we're not our own.
Let's turn to Romans one moretime.
I don't know if you turn backto Mark.
I guess we were in Romans.
Romans chapter 12.1, classicRomans 12.1.
(28:36):
I beseech you, I beg youtherefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God or because ofGod's mercy, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice,holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service.
So Paul here paints us a picture.
(28:58):
He says, guys, god's doneeverything for you, and that's
what the book of Romans, 1through chapter 11, are all
about, what God has done for you.
And he says God's doneeverything for you In light of
everything that God's done foryou.
And he says God's doneeverything for you In light of
everything that God's done foryou, present your bodies a
living sacrifice, render yourwhole lives to God.
(29:20):
It makes sense, it's reasonableservice in how he saved us and
bought us and redeemed us.
It just makes perfect sense tooffer everything, to render
everything to him.
(29:41):
Now, that's the application,right.
More than taxes, pay your taxes.
That's a great application,right?
If you come out of it with I'mgoing to pay my taxes, then you
probably missed it, right?
The punchline here, theapplication for the week, is to
look at it that way God trulyhas done everything for us.
(30:01):
He redeemed, bought, saved us.
It only makes good sense torender our lives back to him,
our life.
Think about it as you see itthis week, your life.
We're going to guess that youhave life in front of you this
week.
Render it to God.
(30:23):
God, it's yours, my life.
You have some power right Now.
Some of us look and we go on.
Not much power, strength to getout of bed is about all I feel
like I have sometimes.
But you have some strength, youhave some energy, you have some
time this week and yet, to lookat it, god, every good thing
(30:47):
comes from you.
My breath comes from you, mysalvation comes from you.
It's yours.
Now, we don't usually get to thepoint where we say that we're
already, you know, planning ourweek.
What am I going to do with mytime?
What am I going to do with myenergy this week?
But yet, to look at it as afact, it's God's, it belongs to
(31:11):
him.
God, how do you want to usethis week?
It makes sense because of how hesaved us.
If he truly has saved us, weowe him everything.
So, god, it's so beautiful whatyou do to us and, truth be told
, we may most of us may getthrough this week and realize
(31:35):
that we haven't even thoughtabout you.
It's not what we want, but it'ssadly true, because we get very
distracted when we think aboutour own needs and our own wants,
and yet we haven't thoughtabout you, god.
I just pray that we would havethis on our mind from the
beginning here, god, that wewould have in our minds that
(31:58):
you've done everything for us.
We owe you our lives.
That just makes good sense.
Help us to render all thesethings to you, god.
You're so good.
You deserve all of our praiseand all of our thanks.
You deserve our life.
Help it to be true in our lives.
We pray in Jesus' name Amen.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.