"And they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him, in order to trap Him in a statement. And 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.' And they brought one. And He said to them, 'Whose likeness 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." (Mark 12:13-17)
Riding down the road sometime back, I saw a bumper sticker which read, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go." I smiled a knowing smile. All of us can attest to the universal truth of that slogan. All of us have payments to make. All of us have obligations to meet. It is a way of life. We owe for the car. We owe for the house. We owe for the refrigerator. We owe for this commitment and that. We owe, we owe, so off to work we go.
The secret of owing is not to become involved with unmanageable debt. Unfortunately, it is reported that most Americans live on about 120% of their income. It doesn't take very long to put yourself in a position where debt runs your life. Christians should never get into that situation. If you cannot control your credit cards, cut them up. If you don't, they will control you.
But even so, all of us have responsibilities. We have obligations. There are none of us that do not have some debt. And along with that debt goes a consequent responsibility. That responsibility is the duty to pay what we owe.
God's word reveals that we have a two-fold debt. We have both horizontal and vertical obligations to fulfill. Our horizontal obligations are to man. Our vertical obligations are to God. On the horizontal plane, we are responsible to human government. In the vertical dimension, we are responsible to divine government. We belong to the Kingdom of God.
In our text today, Christ challenged the people to pay what they owe, both to man and to God. The Scripture teaches us that there are debts that cannot be left unpaid. As believer, Christians, those who bear the name of Christ, we have a duty to pay what we owe.
What do you owe? What do you consider to be your debts? These are important questions. You see, we live in an age where words like duty, responsibility, commitment, and the like, are negative in connotation. Today, we have a great emphasis on freedom, on doing your own thing. Comfort and convenience are considered to be indispensable for a happy and fulfilled life. We live in an age in which we have pampered ourselves to death. And unfortunately, we are losing the very things which make a real difference in life. We have more leisure than ever before. Yet, we are really no happier. In fact, an argument can be made that we are less well off, in terms of our satisfaction with life, than were are parents and grandparents. The quality of our work has diminished. The quality of our relationships has degenerated. You cannot take out the concepts of duty, responsibility, commitment and obligation without suffering the consequences. The best things in life are not easy. They must be worked for. They are not free. They must be paid for.
Whether we like to hear it or not, we do have obligations to fulfill. Some things must be done because it is our duty. The primary obligation is to God. We owe Him a debt which must be paid. And we must understand that we have a duty to pay what we owe - not only to man, but especially to God. This is the essence of what Jesus is saying in our text today.
Jesus issues one of the most significant statements in all of Scripture in this passage. The statement Jesus makes has impacted western society and shaped the very course of history. It is a powerful statement concerning our responsibility to the state and to God. Our text today will reveal the debts we owe. Let's look together at the debts we owe which are illustrated in Jesus' statement.
Before we get to Jesus' statement, which is the focus of this passage, let's look at the background of it. Verse 13 records that the religious leaders who were set against Jesus' ministry sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. If you understand who these two groups of people were, you will understand that this was an amazing alliance. The Pharisees were highly religious people who were dedicated to keeping the law in every point. They resented the rule of Rome. Indeed, they resented any secular rule over them. The Herodians were Jews sympathetic to Herod. They were political sell-outs. The made accommodations to Rome and accepted freely the Roman rule. Normally, the Pharisees and Herodians would themselves be fighting like cats and dogs. For them to band together in a common cause would require the cause to be an extremely high priority for them both. Such was the case in Jesus. The Pharisees wanted Him out of the way because He threatened their religious ambitions. The Herodians wanted Him out of the way because He threatened their political ambitions. So they pulled together in an amazing alliance.
But their amazing alliance was filled with ulterior motives. The Scripture says that they came together in order to trap Him in a statement. They were leaders in Israel, stewards of God's vineyard; those who should have been pointing the way to the truth, yet they were trying to tear down the truth because of their petty interests. Their motives were not to serve God, but to serve themselves. They didn't want to hear God in what Jesus had to say. They wanted to prove that God was not in what Jesus had to say.
When they came to Him, they came with deceitful flattery. Listen to what they said in verse 14. "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." What a bunch of hypocrites! They no more believed that Jesus taught the way of God in truth than they believed the moon was made of green cheese. When they flattered Jesus, they were simply lying through their teeth. Their deceitful flattery was simply an attempt to set Jesus up. They wanted to set Him up in order to knock Him down. They wanted to set Him up to throw Him off guard. They thought it would enable them to more quickly gain the upper hand. Beware of those who come with flowing words of flattery. They may have something more sinister in mind.
These Pharisees and Herodians thought that they had set a flawless trap for Jesus. They thought they would put Him in a true dilemma. They were going to give Him two options which were both no win options. They said to Him, "Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?" Two options - to pay, or not to pay. That was the question. They thought they had Him. If He said they ought to pay their taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees could have accused Him of a lack of nationalistic concern, of yielding to the rule of Rome. What kind of Messiah would do that? On the other hand, if He said not to pay tax to Caesar, the Herodians could have accused Him of being subversive. I'm sure after they asked this question, they rocked back on their heels with a great deal of satisfied contentment. They thought they had Him.
But their flawless trap was not flawless. Their dilemma was about to turn into a trilemma. Jesus, in a brilliant defense, asked them to bring to Him a coin. They brought Him a denarius. Now, this was a small, silver coin, which was imprinted on both sides. Caesar's image was on one side, along with an abbreviated inscription which, roughly translated, read "Tiberius Caesar, the Divine Augustus, Son of Augustus." On the other side, was the inscription "Pontifix Maximus," which means "chief priest." He asked them whose image the coin bore. They said, "Caesar's." And so, Jesus replied, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." Suddenly, the tables were turned. Those who thought they had Jesus suddenly were had themselves. How could they argue with that logic? Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. They used his coinage. By doing so, they tacitly accepted his rule. Was it not only right that they should pay back to him in tribute from his own money? Those who had spread a net for Jesus had been ensnared in their own net.
Then Jesus goes on to issue a pointed challenge. Not only did He say, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," but He also said, "And to God the things that are God's." This is the challenge He issued to these religious leaders. And it is the same challenge which has echoed down the corridors of history to all who would follow God. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Here, the basic horizontal and vertical relationships are unfolded. Here, the duties and obligations and debts, both to society and to God, are expounded.
What do we owe to Caesar? Caesar was the emperor of Jesus' time - the head of the state of Rome. The word "Caesar" was the surname of the Julian family originally. Julius Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. His successors merely retained the name as a title. We find a derivative of Caesar in the Russian language as Czar. It also appears in the German language as Kaiser. For us, Caesar is simply representative of human government.
What do we owe to human government? Is there an obligation there? Jesus says there is. Simply put, we owe to human government our share of taxes. Now please don't misunderstand me here. I'm not an agent of the IRS. And the IRS did not hire me to preach this sermon around tax time. You must remember that this is the thirty-eighth message on the book of Mark. I did not plan its arrival at this point in the calendar year. What I share with you is simply what the Scripture says. We must render to human government the things that are due human government. One of those things is our fair share of taxes.
God calls us to be good citizens. The Scripture calls us to submit to the governing authorities. Read Romans chapter 13, and you will see that God has ordained human government for our good and for His purpose. And after all, we do receive services from human government. If our house were to catch afire, we would expect the fire department to come and put it out. If we needed the service of the police, we would expect them to be there to aid us. We do receive services, and so, we must pay our fair share for the privilege of those services.
But apart from that, because of our testimony as honest and righteous citizens who represent the Lord Jesus Christ, we must pay taxes and obey the government. What we do in this regard reflects on our Lord. Unless the government calls upon us to do something immoral or against the plain teaching of Scripture, we must submit willingly and pay what we owe.
I heard of someone who wrote the IRS an anonymous letter which said something like this: "My conscience has been bothering me. Enclosed you will find $175 which I owe in taxes. If my conscience continues to bother me, I will send you the rest." That is not the standard. Whether you feel like it is the "Infernal Revenue Service," or the "Eternal Revenue Service," God commands you to pay every penny you rightfully owe. We are to be law-abiding, tax-paying citizens because God has commanded us to be so. It's what we owe.
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" What do we owe to Caesar? Our share of taxes. What do we owe to Christ? Ourselves totally. We owe God everything. As a matter of fact, we have a debt to our Lord that can never be paid in full. But while that debt cannot be paid in full, it must always be paid to date. We must keep our account current with the Lord. He deserves it. We owe it to Him.
Just as the coin bore the image of Caesar, so our lives bear the image of our Creator. We are made in the image of God. We bear the stamp of His likeness on our being. He created us in His image. And even though the image of God has been perverted, it has never been fully lost. We are all unique personalities. And in our personhood, we bear the distinctive mark of our Creator. We can feel and think and love. We have a will and a personality. We are free, moral beings, with the power to make decisions. We bear His image. And so, we are His - totally.
But not only did God create us, but He bought us as well. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body." We have been bought with a price. What is that price? 1 Peter 1:18 and 19 tells us the answer to that question. It says, "Knowing that you were not redeemed [bought] with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." So the Bible teaches that we were bought with a price, the price of the precious blood of Christ. Therefore, we are not our own. We are His. He created us and He bought us.
Years ago, I heard a story of a young boy who had spent many hours carving for himself a little sailboat to play with in a stream near his home. One day as he was playing with the boat, the current caught it and pulled it downstream. He was not quick or agile enough to make his way through the thick underbrush down the riverbank to catch it, and it went out of sight. It was lost. He mourned for the boat, but finally gave up looking. And it was some time later when he was passing a store which sold models that he spied the boat in the window. He thought it was his, and upon closer examination, found it was. He went into the store and told the owner his story. The store owner replied that he had purchased the boat from someone who had found it. And although he wanted this young boy to have it back, he could not just give it back. The boy would have to buy it for what he paid for it. The boy returned home and came back with the money. And after paying for the boat, he said to it as he walked down the street, "Little boat, you're twice mine. I made you, and I bought you. You're twice mine." And so it is with us. God can well say to us, "You're twice Mine. I made you, and I bought you with nothing less than the precious blood of My Son. You're twice mine." What do we owe to God? We owe Him ourselves totally.
Let's put it in practical terms. When we say we owe God ourselves, we mean that among other things, we owe Him our time. In order to give God ourselves, we must give God our time. In order to come to know Him intimately and personally, we must spend time with Him. God desires your fellowship. I'm not simply talking about time spent in services of worship at church. I'm talking about daily time in prayer, in Bible reading and meditation on the word. What I'm talking about is time spent seeking the face of God. Corporate worship is important, but personal worship is no less important. To give God ourselves, to give God what we owe Him, we must give Him our time.
In order to give God ourselves, we must also give God our tithe. Actually, when we give God our tithe, we are really only giving Him His tithe. The Bible says, "The tithe is the Lord's." All the monetary blessings we have are from God. Because of the gift of life He has given us, because He has purchased us by His blood, because we are His, 100% of what we have is His. In His word, He has commanded us to bring ALL the tithe into the storehouse. He has told us, "The tithe is the Lord's." He has also told us, "The tithe is holy unto the Lord." The tithe belongs to Him, not to us. When we do not return to God His tithe, the Scripture teaches that we are literally robbing God. You are stealing from God, picking His pocket, when you do not give God what is due Him - the tithe. The tithe is a symbol. It is one tenth of all your income. It symbolizes the whole of your income. God asks you to return at least one tenth of your income in order to symbolize that all of it belongs to Him. We owe the Lord ourselves totally. And in order to give God what we owe Him, we must give Him our time and our tithe.
In order to give God ourselves totally, we must also give Him our talents. We must serve Him. God has called each of us to service. He has called all of us to be actively involved in building His Kingdom. We must have a Kingdom priority if we are to pay God what we owe Him. That means we cannot be satisfied to sit passively back and be a spectator. Christianity is not a spectator sport. God expects each of us to get involved in the life of the local church, involved in the ministry of His grace. He has called us. He has gifted us. He has given us abilities to be used in His service. We must not be like the unjust steward, who took what God had given him and dug a hole and hid it in the ground for fear that He would fail. He lost his reward because he never tried. No, we must give our talents if we are to practically give Him ourselves. We must step forward and report for duty. It is our duty to do so.
In order to give God ourselves, we must give Him our time in personal devotion. We must give Him our tithe in obedience to support His work. And we must give Him our talents in service for ministry. God wants us personally. He wants us to support His work monetarily. And He wants us involved in His work actively. What do we owe to God? What do we owe to Christ? We owe Him ourselves - totally. And we must pay what we owe.
But let me say another word about what we owe. We owe those for whom Christ died the Gospel of Christ. Actually, this is not so much a debt to those for whom Christ died, as it is a debt to Christ Himself. He who loved us, and gave Himself for us, has given us the good news that will set others free. He gave His life for them just as He gave it for us. We who have received much are required to give much. We owe it to our Lord who gave His all.
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." What do you have today that belongs to God? Are you holding on to your time? Do you really think it's yours? Perhaps God is saying to you today, "I want time with you. I want to know you personally, intimately." Perhaps God is calling you to make a commitment this day to faithfully block out time for Him daily. Are you holding on to God's tithe, mistakenly thinking that it's not really His, but yours? Are you robbing God, picking His pocket? God cannot bless those who are stealing from Him. Perhaps He is speaking to your heart today, calling you to give up what doesn't belong to you, but belongs to Him. He only does so in order to bless you. God has promised to pour out an abundant blessing upon those who obey Him in the matter of the tithe. Obey Him today. Begin to tithe today. Perhaps you're holding on to the talents and abilities God has given you. Perhaps you're sitting back, unwilling to really get involved, unwilling to really commit to participate fully in the life of the church. Perhaps the Lord is speaking to you today to get involved, to get committed, to report for duty. If God is speaking to you about what you owe Him, be obedient today. Bring your account up to date. It is our duty to do so.
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