Mark 12:13-17 ¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. ¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.

I.   Context

1. 1. Judea became Roman province in 6AD; a census was taken from which the Romans levied a tax; this provoked a revolt that would have still been remembered by the people
   2. Most likely setting of this scene is at one of the porches of the Temple
   3. Pharisees and Herodians at opposite spectrum politically; Herodians would favor a tax; Pharisees would oppose it
   4. Religious leaders were looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus (11:18, 12:12)

II.    The Motives

1. 1. Insincere question; attempt to trap Jesus
   2. V. 14: they try to butter him up first with false flattery

III.    The Loaded Question

1. 1. If Jesus rejects the tax, he may be seen as a threat to the Roman officials; he can be arrested for inciting insurrection
   2. If Jesus endorses the tax, he would lose popular support of people who generally resented Roman rule
   3. Jesus answers their question, but not on their terms

IV.   The Response (Part 1)

1. 1. Jesus first exposes their false motives
   2. Denarius: the Roman coin used to pay taxes; bore the image of the Roman Emperor with the inscription “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus”
      1. Coin indicated Roman belief of emperor as semi-divine
   3. Jesus has them answer whose image and inscription is on it

V.   The Response (Part 2)

1. 1. “Give to Caesar…and give to God…”
   2. “let Caesar have his idols” paraphrase by scholar David Garland
   3. Jesus’ response indicates that there is a necessity to work within the earthly system (the irony is that all in this story were willing to use Roman money for business transactions)
   4. Jesus doesn’t explicitly endorse the tax, but he implies that opposing it is the wrong focus
   5. Give to God what is God’s… the coin bears Caesar’s image, but we bear the image of God: we have a higher allegiance than the government
   6. Jesus’ comment is a statement that Caesar is NOT our final authority and not divine

VI.   Application in 21^st Century America

1. 1. We should faithfully seek to be good citizens (be honest with our taxes)
   2. We are not controlled by the issue of money
   3. Trust in God’s sovereignty
   4. Take more time to pray for government officials than to denounce them (be cautious of email slander)
   5. Our calling to follow Christ may (and should) affect our political convictions, but our faith also transcends political ideology
   6. Our primary allegiance is to God and our primary mission is to make Christ known