Mark 12:13-17-- Pay Up

Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. They came and said to Him, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and defer to no one; for you are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brought one. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" And they said to Him, "Caesar's." And Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at Him. 

The leaders of Jerusalem continue the verbal war with Jesus by sending Pharisees and Herodians to trap him.  After offering some flattery to cause him to give a careless statement, they ask him whether they should pay taxes to the Romans or not.  Because Jesus was proclaiming himself king, they figured that he would say taxes are unnecessary to pay, which would be a popular answer with the people, and the Romans would then arrest him for rebellion.   

However, Jesus completely turns the tables on them.  He understands their “hypocrisy”, their false attitude, and challenges them. He asks them for a denarius, which is a Roman coin.  Not all Jews carried Romans coins because there were Jewish coins printed in Judea and Galilee that did not have images on them.  But the Pharisees and Herodians had a Roman coin.  Jesus then points out that the coin has an image, and that image was of Caesar-- a foreign god.  So he implied that his opponents brought an image into the Temple, where they were having the discussion.  

But even that isn’t his direct answer.  He says that since the coin has Caesar’s image on it, then it belongs to him.  Therefore if Caesar asks for it back, it is our responsibility to give it to him.  Then Jesus continues the statement with the principle that whatever is God’s should be given to God.  The principle of the coin is applied to God—what has God’s image?  According to Genesis 1, humanity has God’s image.  Therefore, every person should be giving to God their existence, their bodies and being. 

Every item bears the stamp of the maker, and that maker is the ultimate owner, the one to determine the proper use of the item.  Every bit of money is stamped with the owner, and we have to abide by the use of that money, determined by that owner, whether for good or for ill.  Those who wish to avoid income tax should recognize that the money is not their own and that the owner requires a part of their money as payment for the use of it.  If we don't like that system, we can always not use money.

Even so, human life is God's life, stamped with God's ownership.  We may not recognize that ownership, and not give to God what He is owed-- our devotion, trust and love-- but that doesn't keep us from having to pay the cost anyway.  God's tax on our lives is our love of Him and of each other.  We'd better pay up.