Oglethorpe Bible Study

Can one pay taxes to Caesar and still give allegiance to the God of Israel?

We as Christians hold a citizenship in heaven (Phil 3:20) but that does not exempt us from being engaging citizens here now. We are not free from the civil law even though one is free from the law of God in Christ.

One owes Caesar by doing business and gaining the benefits living under his rule. If we make use of the state’s resources we are bound to pay taxes.

Christians have legitimate responsibilities to the government, and as long as those obligations do not interfere with our ability to honor and worship God, we are to fulfill them. It is our Christian duty.

If our Lord had replied "Give," the Pharisees would have accused him before the priests, as one who regarded the Jewish nation as under subjection to Rome. If our Lord had replied, "Do not give," the Herodians would have accused him before Pilate, as a seditious person who taught rebellion against the Roman government. The trap was indeed well planned. Surely we may see in it the cunning hand of one greater than man. That old serpent the devil was there.

In this world we oblige the two kingdoms, this world and eternity, now that we have been made new in Christ, we are now to look at life and death and The God over both.

If the coin has Caesar’s image on it, then it belongs to him. So give him what is rightfully his. However, as humans, you all bear the image of God (Gen 1:26–27). You must give to God what is rightfully His—your entire life. Last week we talked about giving Jesus Authority in every area of our lives and not just things we want to submit to Him.

Exactly what we owe God becomes clear in Jesus’ answer to a certain teacher of the law we will read about next.

So, as a devoted follower of Jesus, I will say yes to obeying the government and paying taxes to Caesar, but I will say no to disobeying the Word of God and worshiping a man or institution.

Mark 12:18-27

Jesus corrects the Sadduccees view of the resurrection life.

A small sect of the priestly families, the Sadducees were wealthy aristocrats with significant political and temple influence. They dominated the Sanhedrin (Acts 5:17). They were sympathetic to Hellenism, the Herods, and Rome. They considered only the books of Moses (the Pentateuch) as authoritative. In a sense this made them theological conservatives. They also had a strong doctrine of human free will and did not believe in angels and demons (Acts 23:8). They did not believe in the immortality of the soul or in a future bodily resurrection. Josephus said, “The doctrine of the Sadducees is this: souls die with bodies” (Antiquities, 18:1, 4). Because of their truncated Scriptures, they were not looking for a Messiah King from David’s line. With the total destruction of their center of power—Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70)—their political influence came to an end, and they vanished from history. Their trick question was grounded in the issue of “levirate [Latin for ‘brother-in-law’] marriage” mentioned in Genesis 38:8–10 and in the book of Ruth. It is explained in Deuteronomy 25:5–6: Jesus took them to the only part of Scripture the Pentateuch (first five books of the bible) The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” If death were truly an obliteration as they believed, would not God have referred to himself as “I was the God” If God has the task of protecting us from misfortune during the course of this life, but fails to deliver from death, our hope is worthless as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Mark 12:28-34

Remember, these are not things I do to get God to love me. They are things I do because I am loved by Him and because I love Him. I love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:10).

Expound on what loving the Lord our God with all our soul mind and strength looks like practically.

surrounding Leviticus 19:, showing that loving your neighbor as yourself means that you will • care for the poor (19:10), • not steal (19:11), • not lie (19:11), • be fair in business dealings (19:14), • care for the deaf (19:14), • care for the blind (19:14), • deal justly with all (19:15), • avoid slander (19:16), • not “jeopardize” the life of your neighbor (19:16), • not “harbor hatred against your brother” (19:17), • rebuke your neighbor when necessary for his and your good (19:17), and • not take revenge or bear a grudge against others (19:18). God does not leave it to our imaginations as to what He means when He tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

To love God supremely and our neighbor genuinely “is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Real religion ultimately is a matter of the heart. Religious rituals always must give way to the superiority of a right relationship with God and others. Indeed rituals have no real meaning unless they are expressions of our love for Jesus and others. Such spiritual insight finds its echo in the Old Testament at numerous points. Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. (1 Sam 15:22) Doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. (Prov 21:3) For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hos 6:6) Such Love Is Crucial to Salvation (Mark 12:34)

Conclusion: Such Love Is Crucial to Salvation (Mark 12:34) Jesus was pleased with the scribe’s answer. He told the man, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” What did Jesus mean by this? It is not, “You are close, so try harder!” Rather, the man has come to see that entering the kingdom of God is a matter of heart devotion not hard duty. Obeying rules and regulations will never get me into the kingdom because I can never measure up to God’s perfect standard. No, I need a new me. I need a new heart (Ezek 36:26). I need the grace and mercy of my God who can make me a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). I need to draw near to Jesus, who has brought the kingdom of God near (Mark 1:15). One draws near and enters the kingdom not by religion but by a relationship with Jesus, a relationship that results in loving God supremely and others genuinely. Jesus essentially tells the man “Follow Me”

To love God is to love others. To love others is to love God. Two great commands. Two great loves.

Are you still going through these questions trying to pin Jesus, still trying to conclude why you aren’t following Jesus. You can come up with a lot of reasons like the pharisees to not follow. “Is he really the God of the living and the dead? Will Jesus really take care of all my needs?” Are you like the Scribe that is ever so close to the kingdom but not fully surrendering to Jesus and following Him?