Mark 12:13-17 - BACK UP

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Even those who are now skeptical of Jesus will one day marvel at Him.

Jesus does not give a straight answer to those with crooked intentions.

God is not obligated to bless you if you by your thoughts, words and deeds cursing Him.

Last week, He has the right to ask questions of us. He will question all those who question His authority.

Mark 12:13–17 ESV

13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

Mark 12:13 (ESV)

13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.

Ok, let’s set the scene. Remember context is king in biblical interpretation. The “they” is this passage are the one’s spoken of in verse 27 of the last chapter. They are the “chief priests, the scribes and the elders.”

These guys collectively demonstrated their incompetency in a public way when they couldn’t answer a simple question from Jesus. They questions His authority, but He obliterated theirs and the walked away with their tails between their legs, but that didn’t stop them from doubling down on their foolishness. They went and tagged a few more religious elite to jump in the ring with them to engage in a Royal Rumble with Jesus in the temple.

Look at this. They, the “chief priest (s), the scribe (s), the elder (s),” sent “some” of the Pharisees and “some” of the Herodians to “trap” Jesus.

Let’s do the math. If we take the most extreme conservative approach and say that when Mark used the plural forms, he was intending to only mean “2.” If by the word “some” He also meant 2. Then we can simply do some math and multiplication to find out the minimum number of people Jesus was up against.

5 different categories of the religious elite, times 2 from each category equals???

10V1

The odds of Jesus pulling this off were pretty slim; that is unless He actually is the King that was coming from the Line of David.

Who, categorically, are these people?

We already had our math lesson, now on to History and Social Studies.

In 1st century Palestine, the chief priests, scribes, elders, pharisees, and Herodians differed in their roles, beliefs, and relationships with Jesus:

Chief priests - Were a collection of people belonging to priestly families and held a high position among the Israelites. Normally the “High Pries

The high priest was the supreme religious leader of the Israelites. The office of the high priest was hereditary and was traced from Aaron, the brother of Moses, of the Levite tribe

They were part of a broader group of influential religious leaders who shared administrative and judicial responsibilities. Scribes - Interpreters of Jewish law. They were specially trained in writing and were often lawyers and judges. They were influential as teachers of the law and agents of the rulers. Elders - Community leaders and judges who applied the law. Pharisees - A strict religious sect of the Jews who sought to restore the kingdom of David. They were more representative of the common working people and had the respect of the masses. Herodians - Wanted political independence for the Jewish people and to restore a member of the Herodian dynasty to the throne in Judea.

So all these people are trying to “trap,” Jesus in His talk. They are trying to trip up the “word” made flesh with use of His own “words.”

Good luck with that. Makes me think of the opening of Psalm 2…

Psalm 2:1–2 (ESV)

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed…

These guys are familiar with this passage, and they know that it won’t work, but that doesn’t stop them from trying and sadly enough, we act in a very similar manner quite often.

We, like Saul, “kick against the goad” so often and we end up damaging our feet.

Self inflicted wounds that cause damage to us and people all around us.

It is a repeated life group reflection question that appears often on the back of our handout because I know that we do the same so often.

Are there any areas of life where you are delaying obedience? Don’t delay any longer.

Don’t give into the deception that God can be duped into not noticing your words, thoughts or deeds.

God cannot be mocked. You and I will reap what we sow.

Mark 12:14 (ESV)

14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”

The Pharisees, who sought to restore the kingdom of David and that had the respect of the masses along with the Herodians, a group of Hellenistic Jews who were loyal to the Herodian dynasty and wanted desperately to gain policatl independence from Rome.

This has been a work in the making for some time now…

Mark 3:6 (ESV)

6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

So this grouping of people has a very similar end goal, now they plot together the means to achieve their common goal.

There strategy is “flattery.” They attempt to butter him up so that they can watch Him be devoured by the people. They ask a leading question that is explosive in nature and want Jesus to respond with a simple, “Yes” or “No.”

But the problem is, some things are not that black and white.

There really is a whole bunch that we could unpack from that word choice “lawful,” but we won’t. That could lead us down a thousand rabbit trails and I want to stick on the main trail today.

The question asked of Jesus is loaded because it raises the issue of fidelity to the God of Israel. Can one pay taxes to Caesar and still give allegiance to the God of Israel? Are people traitors to God for supporting Caesar’s hegemony over the land?

These opponents probably peg Jesus as an extremist…

If he openly rejects the head tax, he will be like those diehard rebels who incited revolt and will be subject to arrest for treason. But if he endorses the tax, he will undermine his support among the zealous, who chafe under Roman rule. Almost every resident of Palestine knew someone, even a father or a brother, whom the Romans had victimized.

Furthermore, a yes answer will also throw into question whether he is really the Christ since the Messiah was expected to depose those who tyrannized God’s people and to enforce justice.

So this is a calculated, complicated trap. And it is a trap that thankfully and expectedly Jesus sees right thru.

We will see His response to the question in a moment, but first let’s think about “flattery” for a moment.

Danger of flattery. Give all of yourself to his. Gif is the giver of all

Insincer praise. Who is guilty of that?

Flattery is the epitome of self centered selfish ambition. Do you have any selfish ambitions?

Flattery is the outward expression of an inner state of a selfish heart

Attacked at all times. Unguarded statement.

they could snare him into making an unguarded statement they might be able to succeed in destroying him.

Lane, W. L. (1974). The Gospel of Mark (p. 422). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

r The evil one knows where you are vulnerable and will attack early and often. T

And we will see by the end of the passage today, those that showed up to question Him, ended up marveling at Him.

Okay, let’s do a quick straw poll, who thinks this is going to work?

These leaders didn’t get it. We must get it. Install the leadership and commission them to take to the people the elements that represent the means by which have been made right with a Holy God. It came by an infinitely costly sacrifice.

You are about to hold in your hands the symbolic representation of the the GOSPEL. You are going to hold in your hands trays and distribute those trays to rows of people who will pass on what you are giving to them.

This should send a shiver up your spines. What a holy privilege to do this work of the ministry. Do not take this lightly. What an honor to do this once a month in our corporate gathering andbe willing to bring the Gospel to bear in the lives of these sheep in this local flock 24/7.

Discussion Questions

Are there any areas of life where you are delaying obedience?