Mark 12:13-17
13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” [1]
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The Pharisees and Herodians tried to trip Jesus up with their question about paying taxes. Jesus not only avoids the trap, but actually uses the tax question to remind them of an important truth.
It is interesting that Jesus asked for a Roman coin and they quickly produced it. Because of the image of Caesar on the coin, the very pious Jews, including Pharisees, would seek to handle the coins as little as possible. In fact they would try to avoid using them at all. But apparently Jesus knew they would still have one. (Notice that Jesus doesn’t have one.)
His answer focuses on that very point, the point of image. The coins bore the image of Caesar. They likely contained wording that referred to Caesar as Lord as well. Jesus uses this as a call to give to God what is God’s. What is the connection?
It has to do with image. The coin bears Caesar’s image. We bear God’s image. All people are created in the image of God. Our first mission as humans is to faithfully fulfill that image as the representatives of God for His creation. It was the failure to live that image that brought brokenness to all creation.
To give to God what is God’s is to seek to live the image in which we are created, to which we are called. This is the image that is restored in us through faith in Jesus. By grace, we have received a new identity through faith in Jesus, crucified and resurrection. We belong to God. Our lives belong to Him. All that we are and all that we do is a paying of our “taxes” to the one in whose image we are created.
Lord Jesus, help me be faithful in giving to You what is Yours: All that I am and all that I do.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Mk 12:13–17). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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