Mark: Render to Caesar [Mark 12:13-17]

Mark: Render to Caesar []

MI: Followers of Jesus should obey the government and the Lord according to what each one is due.

The insincerity of the questioners’ []

They pretended to be interested in Jesus [v.13-14]:

Their flattery was false, obvious, and ugly [v.14]:

The use of a clever device to lay a snare for Jesus [v.14-15]:

The importance of the question []

Paying tribute is an important question [v. 14-15]:

Could paying taxes to Rome betray God? [v.14-15]:

Was the use of Roman coinage a form of idolatry? [v.14-15]:

The wisdom of Jesus’ response []

He saw through the insincerity [v.15]:

The use of the coin pointed to something they could not deny [v.16]:

He eluded the trap without dodging the question [v.17]:

Jesus provided a sound principle on how to deal with our duties toward God and state [v.17]:

Principles

God and government have their kingdoms or domains and we have obligations to both of them.

Our obligations to both God and government need not be in conflict with each other, unless human government oversteps its domain.

In a sense, doing our duty to government is therefore a form of obedience to God.

When government issues currency and provides services, we who live in that context have an obligation to support it in taxes

We should therefore obey the powers that be until they require us to disobey God, and then we must resist.

We must not allow our duty to government displace our duty to God; rendering back to God the things that are His, our true King, is the most important thing in our lives