Overcoming Opposition Mark 12:13-17

On a February day in 1925, Floyd Collins climbed into Sand Cave in search of fortune. Suddenly, his lantern failed. Crawling through the darkness, Collin's foot hit a seven-ton boulder. It fell on his leg, trapping him in the coffin-like narrowness of a dark, subterranean straitjacket. For days Collins was trapped 125 feet below ground in an ice-cold space 8 inches high and 12 feet long. In the meantime, his plight became a national sensation. As the rescue attempt wore on, some 50,000 tourists bought hot dogs, balloons, and soft drinks from vendors at the cave in Kentucky. But in the end, Floyd Collins died alone in the icy darkness, crying out deliriously, "Get me out. Why don't you take me out? Kiss me goodbye, I'm going."

-Jesus faces and overcomes opposition through the wisdom of God, understanding both the nature of God and man

I. Jesus Faces Opposition vv. 13-14

In our passage, Jesus faces a test at the hands of men who oppose Him. It’s an interesting coalition

The group contains both Pharisees and Herodians. Both are important groups, but they represent differing political and cultural perspectives

What is it that unites them? It is their enmity with Christ

The fact that Jesus is condemned on all sides is noteworthy. It means that He is probably the one who is telling the truth. The truth is opposed by all error!

They are looking to set a trap for Jesus by asking Him a question without a good answer

Whatever He says will be wrong and give opportunity for accusation

Understand that these questions are not being asked by seekers in good faith but are intended to bring harm

They have thought this through and set it up nicely:

They begin with flattery that will accomplish one of two things:

Lull Jesus to sleep

Anger and frustrate Him

In either case, the goal is to get Him to overlook the danger of the answer

The choices feel very binary:

Either you serve as a good citizen of Rome by paying taxes or you honor God by a whole-hearted devotion to Him

We may not face this exact question, but we can be sure that we will face these kinds of situations in our walk with Jesus

How should we respond when we are under attack from people of ill will?

Maybe the most important pastoral ministry book I’ve ever read was John Bisagno’s Letters to Timothy. In it, he quoted one passage over and over again. At the time, I could not understand it, but now I do!

Matthew 10:16

[16] “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (ESV)

II. Jesus Understands His Opposition v. 15

First, we see that Jesus recognizes their hypocrisy

This is not too much of a crisis, because all of the people coming to Him claim to love the Lord and also pay their taxes

They are creating a false dilemma that they do not bother with in their own lives

They expect Jesus to worry about a crisis that they has not moved them to act differently

Second, we see that Jesus is unafraid to define the situation and confront it:

They are attempting to test Him, they do not have any kind of good intention

He is willing to call this behavior out to the opposition

We do not have to show up to every fight that we are invited to

However, we do not have to fear the fight when it comes

Third, we see Jesus offer up a wise answer

Jesus is unafraid to answer hard questions and we shouldn’t be afraid either

How can we find the answers we need for difficult problems?

The Scripture

The Spirit

The Saints and their testimony

Also, we must always remember that very few circumstances require an immediate answer!

The questions we face may be difficult, but none of them are impossible and none of our opposition is bigger than the God that we serve

Mark 13:11

[11] And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. (ESV)

III. Jesus Overcomes His Opposition vv. 16-17

Jesus does something incredibly wise here: He rejects either of their proposed answers

They want Him to answer with a binary, yes or no, Caesar or God kind of answer and He refuses to play by those rules

Rather, His answer is both. Caesar is not an alternative authority opposed to God, but is a secondary authority under God

Jesus illustrates this with a coin:

It carries the image of Caesar and it represents the kinds of things that civil governments have authority over

Likewise, there is an unspoken question hanging out there: What belongs under the authority of the Lord? Everything does, including Caesar!

We need to have a right-sized view of God:

He is the great authority and we recognize our souls belong to Him

We owe Him total devotion

We need to have a right-sized view of government:

It carries a secondary authority

We do not owe it our love and devotion; in fact, if we give it that, we will likely be disappointed!

We do owe it a few things though:

Our respect for the government as an authority put in place by the Lord (Romans 13:7)

Our obedience under the Lord as good citizens (Romans 13:1-5)

Our prayers for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

We can trust God to use this moment for His glory!

Many years ago in St. Louis, a Christian man was completing some business with a lawyer. Before leaving the office, the Christian turned to the lawyer and said: “I have often wanted to ask you a question, but I have been a coward.” The lawyer replied, “I didn’t think you were afraid of anything!” What is the question?” The client asked, “Why aren’t you a Christian?” The lawyer hung his head. “You know my weakness,” he said. “Isn’t there something in the Bible about drunkards having no part in the kingdom of God?” Not to be detoured, the Christian said, “That’s not what I am asking you. I want to know why you aren’t a Christian.” “Well,” said the lawyer, “I can’t recall that anybody ever told me how to become a Christian!” Before long, the two were praying together, and God saved him and immediately broke the power of alcohol that had bound him. The lawyer was Cyrus L. Scofield - Publisher of the Scofield Reference Bible.