Give God What is God's
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
What do you call a shipment full of military-issued T. Rexes? Small arms
What do you call a solider who loves to hang out? Company Commander
Anyone who would like to help plan our 50th anniversary celebration, please get with Carolyn.
This is a very special weekend! Not only do we get a day off work, a 3 day weekend. We get to honor and remember those that went to defend our freedom and never made it home. It is because of them that we can enjoy our great country! They paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy free speech, guns, the right to assemble! We can openly worship our God without fear because of what the sacrificed. So the rest of today and tomorrow, think about our freedoms and what it cost for us to enjoy them.
Today we are going to be in Mark 12:13-17.
Last week we saw Jesus tell a parable that was a little different the most parables, this one was not difficult to understand. He was calling out the religious leaders who had supposed to be taking care of what God had given them, and to be producing fruit with it. They were not and were abusing and killing the prophets that God had sent to them to call out their sins. He also foretold His death and the fact that He was going to become the chief cornerstone on which our salvation is built on. He is our level and He makes us straight. He also told them that God was going to give His vineyard to other to take care of. That is us, we are to be active in taking care of the things that God has given us. We are to use them to produce fruit in our lives and be ready to give God what is His.
Today we are going to see that the religious leaders are going to try and trap Jesus again! They are relentless if nothing else. They are batting 0 for! Nothing they have done has worked to trap Jesus, and they are still trying. They really hate Jesus. They hate all that He stands for. With Jesus, they lose all their power and status. With Jesus, we can come to our Father ourselves, we do not need a priest to interceded for us. We can talk directly to God once we become one of His children, through repentance and believing in Jesus Christ. They want to stop Jesus at all cost! All they ever get when they try and trap Jesus, is made to look like fools! This time they have brought in some new blood! They have the Herodians with them. Maybe they will have better luck.
Please stand as we read God’s Word
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.
Pray
This is still the same day as when Jesus returned after clearing out the temple. He is till in the temple teaching and walking around. He had just finished with His parable and another group of religious leaders come up to Him and try to trap Him. Some of the Pharisees come again and this time they bring some of the Herodians with them. Now these two groups of people did not like each other. They were normally against each other. The Herodians were a political party that back Herod Antipas. They were sympathetic to the Romans and were the group that the Romans gave oversight jobs to. They were not only disliked by the Pharisees but also the normal every day Jew would have not liked them. There is an old saying,” the enemy of my enemy is my friend!” They both wanted to get rid of Jesus and this brought them together. They had a common enemy. The Pharisees thought that maybe with the Herodians there it would help with the trap.
Before they ask their question, they flatter Jesus with compliments. I imagine that it was hard for them to say these things, since they hated Jesus so much. The flattery that they gave Jesus, was all true. They said that they know that Jesus is true, that what He teaches is true and right. They said that Jesus does not care about anyone’s opinion. They are saying that Jesus does not play favorites. Jesus treated everyone equally. He had no biases. It didn’t matter who the person was, the power that the person had, the prestige they may have. Jesus treated all the same. The next bit of flattery was probably the hardest thing for them to say! You teach the true way of God! If He does that, then why are you so against Him!! Why do you want to kill Him? This was lip service to try and butter Jesus up and get Him to slip up and say something that they can get Him on! They didn’t believe anything that they just told Jesus. They were just saying whatever they thought would help them! We probably all know someone like that. Hopefully we are not like that!
With all the flattery done, they get to the trap. They ask Him if it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Bam! the trap is set and Jesus is in it, will He trip the trap or walk right out? This was quite a question for their day! The stakes are high, and the issue at hand is volatile. This is a yes or no question. He has to answer with one of those answers. They finally have Him! Regardless of how He answers, He loses!
The Greek word for taxes is kenson, a transliteration of the Latin word census. It refers to an imperial Roman tax. Rome required every Jew to pay a denarius every year as a tax to them. The Jews despised it because it was a constant reminder of their subjection to pagan Rome. If Jesus says pay it, the people would turn on Him as a traitor, and He would be finished. On the other hand, if He said don’t pay it, He could be arrested and tried by the Romans for sedition and insurrection. He couldn’t ignore the question either. He had to answer. They had Him trapped, or so they thought they did!
Jesus recognized their evil intent. He saw right through their hypocrisy. They were acting like they agreed with all He taught and stood for, but really they wanted Him dead.
All eyes were on Jesus as they waited for His answer. You could probably feel the tension in the air. The Pharisees and Herodians were probably high fiving each other and giggling, thinking that they finally had Him. Jesus’ first response was to expose their hypocrisy! He said why to you put me to the test? The Bible tells us that we are not to test God. Matt 4:7
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Jesus is God! We should never test Him, He is true and right! We are going to be talking about Him this Wednesday night, as we continue to look at the Holy Trinity. We are discussing God the Son! Hope you can be there.
Jesus points out that they are not really there to learn the truth, they are there to trap Him. The word used for test here is the same word used when Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus already said they were sons of their father the devil, and they are acting just like him. There is demonic intent in their motivation to destroy Jesus, just like their father the devil. Also just like their father failed, they will also!
Next Jesus asked for a denarius. A denarius was a typical days wage for a laborer in Isreal. Notice that Jesus didn’t have a Roman coin on Him, but they did. They gave one to Him.
I can see Jesus quickly look at the coin and begin to roll in through His fingers, while He asked them whose image in on it? They told Him “Caesar’s” On one side of the coin was Tiberius Caesar’s face. The other side had Tiberius’ mothers face with the inscription, “ Pontifex Maximus,” which means Highest Priest” The Jews found this to be idolatrous: a man claiming to be a god and a woman a priest - blasphemy!
Next Jesus said some of the most significant words in history. Their impact on Western civilization is huge! “ Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They never saw this coming!
They were like what just happened! How did this happen again. We had Him!
Jesus’ reply acknowledges the legitimacy of human government. God has ordained the family, the church, and human government. It has the right to require taxes, and we have the responsibility to pay. It has the right to make laws, and we have the responsibility to obey. Both Paul and Peter reaffirm this later on in the New Testament. They had an even worse Roman ruler than Tiberius, they had Nero as their ruler!
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
As Christians, we have responsibilities to the government, and as long as those obligations do not interfere with our ability to honor, worship, and obey God, we are to fulfill them. It is our Christian duty! Even if we can not respect the person in office, we must respect the office. No ruler has ever be in power without God putting them their. God has appointed the rulers!
The word used for render means to pay a debt, or to pay back. We owe our government a debt for the services that they provide. Today those services are among other things, first responders, military, the salaries of those who run our government, local, state and national, special programs for the poor and underprivileged. We may not agree with they way all of the tax money is used, and we can express ourselves our voices and our votes, but we must except the fact that God has established government for our good. We are to pay our taxes.
Jesus also said to give God what is God’s! Jesus refused to be trapped by their either/or proposition. Once again, He amazed them with His teaching and wisdom! If the coin had Caesar’s image on it, then it belonged to Him. So give to him what is his! Whose image do we bear?
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
We bear the image of God, we belong to Him. We must give Him what is rightfully His. We owe God our lives! We have a duty to government, but we have an even greater duty to God, who created us and redeemed us! 1 Corinthians 10:31
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
All that we do should glorify our God! We should never worship anyone or thing other than God! Peter and the Apostles said it best in Acts 5:29
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
God must be first!
With one simple statement, Jesus put everything in proper perspective. He put Caesar in his place and God where He rightfully belongs in our lives! All that the people could do was to stand there in amazement!
Liberty, as devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we must say yes to obeying the government and paying taxes, but we must say no to disobeying the Word of God and worshipping a man or institution. Independence Day for the Christian is not marked by a flag. No, our independence day is Easter, marked by the cross and an empty tomb!
Obedience to God must be first and most important! Part of that obedience to Him is obedience to our government that He established and sets the rulers in their place!
I pray we all keep these thing in their proper place.
Let’s pray
