EMPIRES IN COLLISION: CHRIST AND CAESAR
Mark 12:13-17
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 marvelled at him. (ESV)
Introduction
In order to hopefully illustrate all this passage means for us, let me begin by showing how it may have impacted two very different people living in two completely different worlds.
Scene 1: There was Eliezar, he was 35 years old. He was a peasant from Galilee who came down for Passover. His brother had been sold into slavery because he couldn’t pay the land tax. His parents had been reduced to begging and he himself at the best of times was only a day away from complete destitution. Eliezar had followed Jesus for a while now. He was there for the triumphal entry and he thought to himself, ‘Could this be the one, the Messiah’. He had heard what Jesus had said in the Temple. He stood there amazed, astounded by his power to intellectually outwit and outgun the national leadership. He returned to his lodgings confident that Jesus was obviously no friend of Caesar’s and surely after such a provocative statement Jesus would, within the next few days, lead an armed rebellion against the occupying Roman forces. He returned to the Temple over the next few days to hear Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God. But he didn’t hear secret plans for a coup; instead he heard parables of a kingdom that grew like seeds, the salt of the earth, Gentiles participating in the messianic banquet, sinners preceding the righteous. Was this the kingdom? He had to think about it.
Scene 2: Rachel was 19 years old. She grew up in a Christian home. But lately her walk with good was more like a stumble. She had made great friends at University and at her part-time job at Coles. Her friends wanted her to come out and do things she know that a good Christian girl just shouldn’t do. She loved her family and her Church but the call from her friends was strong and she had to decide which group she belonged to the most.
What does this passage mean to those two people: hopefully we will see.
Nevertheless, I think it is important to initially qualify what is not being said in this passage. This is not about Church and State relationships. Sadly I think many preachers and scholars read Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 into this passage. In some tangential way it is related to the question of the existence of the State with the kingdom of God, but elucidating their precise relationship is not the point. Jesus is not condemning the inter-mingling of politics and religion. In virtually all cultures, including the Bible, politics, religion, family and economics are all closely intertwined. Neither is it about whether Christians should pay taxes or not. This is really about Jesus’ conflict with the national Jewish leaders and the politics of his day, not ours. With that caveat we may proceed to look at the text by viewing it through two distinct horizons or grids. The setting of Jesus’ ministry, and then, our own setting.
Horizon 1 – historical Jesus
We meet in the first instance two groups, the Herodians and the Pharisees. Who are they and what is their angle? The Herodians were the circle of supporters and beneficiaries of the Herodian dynasty. They didn’t mind the taxes at all as they gained from the Roman occupation, personally and financially. Now anyone cruising around the Palestinian countryside and talking about a ‘kingdom of God’ was sabre-rattling in their mind and had to be stopped. And it is here that they think that they have a chance to trap Jesus and to neutralize him.
Then there are the Pharisees. They were a group of associates, of relative popularity with the masses, who thought Israel would be restored if we just go ourselves religiously pure enough and committed ourselves to the Torah. But the Pharisees had a militant wing; they weren’t just interested in piety and debating fine points of the Torah. Oh no, access to real, political power was their agenda. At one time 6000 Pharisees refused to take an oath of allegiance to Caesar and King Herod, so Herod had the key leaders killed [Jos. Ant. 17.41-42]. Judas the Galilean started a revolt in Galilee when a census was taken for the purpose of taxation, his allies were the Pharisees on that occasion, and they had a distinct motto – No king but God. Paying taxes requires that you recognize Caesar’s kingship but only God is king. So in their view, paying taxes to anyone but God amounts to idolatry – you’re recognizing a king other than God [Jos. War 2.118; Ant. 18.23].
These guys, the Pharisees and the Herodians, were sworn enemies, but against Jesus they become allies. It’s like the IRA and the Ulster Para-militaries joining together to battle an Irish Priest. It’s like the Israeli Army and Hamas Jihad joining forces to fight an outspoken Rabbi. Can you see the irony, these two groups absolutely loathe each other, but what brings them together is their mutual hatred of Jesus.
You can imagine these guys making their compliments, dripping with sarcasm, so over the top it’s funny, very public and vocal so everyone could see. And so they ask him, ‘Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar’. The tax in question was the poll-tax which was paid not through the Herods but directly to Caesar’s own account – the royal slush find as it were. Moreover, it was a stinging badge of Jewish subjugation to Rome. Now the question itself is a trap: If Jesus says yes, he has betrayed the nation. Bowed the knee to Caesar. He looses any support or popularity he might have otherwise had with the crowds. If he says no, they can arrest him on the spot for encouraging revolution and political dissent. It’s a catch 22. And the cunning plotters and probably whispering beneath their breadth, ‘Let’s see if this young Galilean upstart can get out of this one.’ Or ‘let this kick about peasant learn what happens when ya play with the big boys.’ The Herodians and Pharisees think that they have Jesus in their cross hairs – but do they?
What does Jesus do? He says, ‘Show me a denarius. Whose inscription is on it? Caesar’s they answer, like it’s a no-brainer. Whose inscription did he expect to find on it? And here lies the crucial point. Tiberius was Caesar in Jesus’ day and he minted coins which had a picture of him on them with an inscription saying ‘Tiberias Caesar Augustus Son of the Divine Augustus’ and on the other side it said ‘Pontifux Maximus’ – or High Priest. So not only did it declare the Emperor to be semi-divine but it pronounced him as the highest religious figure in the Empire. This was particularly offensive to Jewish scruples. The Roman emperors, since Julius Caesar, were deified and worshipped as gods. So if Caesar is god, and if this is his image, this is a clear violation of the second commandment – you shall not make graven images of God. So Jesus says in kind, ‘Give to Caesar, what is Caesar’s.’ Lets unpack that. In other words, firstly, give this blasphemous king, back his blasphemous money.
Send this filthy stuff back to where it came from [Wright]. You shouldn’t be carrying it around anyway. By carrying around that pagan coinage you are compromising Israel’s most basic beliefs – you shall not make a graven image of God. Every Jewish kid knows that when he learns Torah. Secondly, what Jesus says could be perceived to be an encrypted manifesto of revolution. [See Wright]. The Maccabean warriors used to say, ‘Give the Gentiles what they deserve’ [1 Macc 2.66-68]. You can sense an echo of that here in Jesus’ words – give Caesar exactly what he deserves and we all know what that is don’t we. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. But he’s not talking re-igniting an armed struggle against the Romans. Jesus picks up a coin, whereas the later Zealots refused to even look at one let alone carry one feeling as if the presence of such a coin was contaminating. The point is not about obligation to state rulers, whether for or against, but rather their complete and utter insignificance in view of the in-breaking Kingdom [Witherington]. What is more, Jesus claims to be the Son of Man, the one who is gonna take on and take out the forth beast of the prophecy of Daniel. The powers-that-be need to know that one day they will be the-powers-that-had-been. Oh, and thirdly, Jesus says, give to God what is God’s – Israel. Israel is God’s son, and God is somewhat tired of seeing his prodigal son languish in bondage amidst the Roman pigs. Liberate this chosen nation from the bondage and captivity of Roman arrogance. Jesus’ message for Caesar is the same as Moses for Pharaoh – let my people Go!
You notice Jesus hasn’t fallen into their trap. He hasn’t consented to taxation in a way that denies God’s sovereignty and lordship. Unlike the Herodians and Pharisees who carry around pagan money belonging to a pagan king, Jesus has not hobnobbed with the Romans to save his neck. Jesus has not compromised God or Israel’s special place among the nations. Nor has he given support to a view of kingdom characterized by active violence against Rome.
The net effect is that Jesus has humiliated his opponents and thoroughly shattered their honour rating before the whole city. No wonder then that the audience is amazed.
Horizon 2 - Today
What does this message mean for us today? Jesus said that the coin bears Caesar’s image, so it belongs to Caesar. By implication because we bear God’s image, we belong to God.
When I joined the Army we received our issue of equipment and we were instructed to write our name on everything from water bottles to underpants. The reason was, what belongs to you should have your name on it. That way other people know that it is yours. By analogy, since we bear God’s image we are God’s. To give to God what is God’s means to give yourself to God, completely and utterly. Think of God as a King and a coin collector. Coins are minted with his image on them and because they are precious the King collects them. The coin collecting King does so in order that the coins can be put to good and noble use, to ensure his image is not profaned by illegitimate use and to guarantee that the value of the coins may be evident to all.
I have 25 Dinah bill from Iraq. It’s only worth a couple of dollars, but what makes it valuable now is the fact that one of the worst tyrants of this century has his face on it. Its value stems not from the exchange rate, but from the historical value of the bill denoting the megalomaniac excesses of a failed dictator. Now I’m not trying to compare the image of Saddam Hussein with the Image of God, but there is a certain analogy. The value of things is often dependent upon whose image is on it.
If you ever doubt your self-worth, if you ever loathe your own existence, remember you have intrinsic value because you bear God’s image. In other words because you represent what and who God is you are one of the most prized pieces of the cosmos.
But that carries with it some important implications. First, since you belong to God and you should give yourself back to God. Render to the cosmic coin collector one of his most prized possessions: you. Since the fall, the image of God has been marred by human sin and rebellion. But the image has not been completely lost, sin has made it look rotten and rusty but it has not disappeared completely. Now we give ourselves back to God by having faith in Jesus who is the most clear expression of God’s image. When you believe in Jesus, the Son of God, you become like a coin returned to its owner and the image though tarnished by sin is gradually beginning to be restored to pristine condition. But have you given yourself to God – have you taken that precious image you were made with and let it rot and rust with the decay of sin? If so, you need to know that God wants his coin back, he desperately wants you back. Even if it is a little tarnished, he can restore it and make it new again.
For those of us who have given ourselves to the Lord by coming to faith in Christ it behoves us to daily render ourselves to God. In whatever we do, we should remember we belong to God and we represent God. Romans 14:8 ‘For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.’
Conclusion
What about our two characters: Eliezar and Rachel.
Eliezar was furious. He had set his hopes on a man who promised the redemption of Israel but spoke in riddles of mustards seeds and prodigal children. He felt betrayed and angry. So angry in fact that he was even there at Pilate’s residence coldly crying out ‘Crucify him, crucify him’. Yet when he saw this tortured and battered man being dragged up the via dolorosa, his heart changed. He remembered the words Jesus had said as he entered Jerusalem, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes . . . because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’ Israel had suffered at the hands of pagan nations for five hundred years, but now it was Jesus who was suffering at the hands of pagans. It was like the destiny of Israel was being symbolized, played out and summed up in him who was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Perhaps he is the Messiah. Perhaps this is the Kingdom.
As for Rachel, the temptation was strong, cute boys, good money, successful career, the trappings of life beckoned at her door. Then one night she read this passage in her nightly devotions. She remembered that she had made a bargain long ago and given herself to God. God had been faithful and now it was her turn to do the same. It was God and not the world that she really belonged to.
These stories are indicative of what happens when worlds and kingdoms collide. We feel confused and dazed as to who is the real power-broker of this world. We feel disorientated and perplexed as to who we belong to. But the real ruler of the world is Christ and we are children and heirs of that kingdom.
You have heard it said, the two surest things in life are death and taxes. But I say to you the surest thing in life is the power of the kingdom of God which renders political rulers irrelevant in view of its coming tide. It has come and it will come – it is God’s kingdom who wins in the end. It is that to that kingdom and its king to whom we belong to. It is our hope, our identity, and our destiny.
Resources:
- Ray C. Stedman, ‘By What Authority? Mark 11:27-12:27’. http://www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/mark/3323.html
- N.T. Wright, Mark for Everyone.
- Ben Witherington, The Christology of Jesus.
- R.H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on his Apology for the Cross.
- Craig A. Evans, Mark 8-16 (WBC).
- Josephus: Complete Works, trans. Wm Whiston.
- Geza Vermes, The Religion of Jesus the Jew (1993).
mfbird@telstra.com
