Chapter 1: What does Jesus teach about paying taxes to Caesar?
This is Caesar's coin. This is Caesar's tax. You pay your tax to Caesar. But you have even a higher responsibility that even Caesar has. You render to God the things that are God.
Today on Renewing Your Mind, God and Caesar. Jesus said that we have obligations to both, but is it right to pay taxes to an unrighteous government?
Chapter 2: How did the Jews attempt to trap Jesus with their questions?
It was a question the Jews argued over in Jesus' day, and they used it to try and trap Him. We're starting a series today in the Gospel of Mark. And over the next few Sundays, R.C. Sproul will consider some of the questions that were posed to Jesus, some questions to try and trap him.
If you'd like to study more of Mark with Dr. Sproul, you can also request his hardcover commentary when you donate before midnight tonight at RenewingYourMind.org.
Chapter 3: What is the significance of the denarius in Jesus' teaching?
Well, here's R.C. Sproul in Mark chapter 12 to show us the futility of their attempt to trap Jesus and the great and higher calling you and I have as Christians.
The Gospel according to St. Mark, chapter 12. verses 13 through 17. Then they sent to him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to catch him in his words. When they had come, they said to him, "'Teacher, we know that you are true and care about no one, for you do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.'" is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
Shall we pay or shall we not pay? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius that I may see it. And so they brought it. And he said to them, Whose image and inscription is this And they said to Him, Caesars. And Jesus answered and said to them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at Him.
Chapter 4: What are the implications of rendering to God what is God's?
At this point in chapter 12, we have the beginning of three narratives that involve attempts by three distinct groups among the Jews to trap Jesus, to put Him on the horns of a dilemma that would bring Him either into conflict with the people or in conflict to the government. We read at the beginning of the text, and they sent to Him.
The they obviously refers to the ruling body of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. Now the Sanhedrin was composed of people drawn from three major groups of the Jews, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes.
So we know that this group was sent by the ruling body of the Jews, and the word that is translated by the English word sent here is the same word that is used for the term apostle in the New Testament. And an apostle is not simply a messenger, but it is a messenger empowered with the authority to speak for the One who sent Him.
That's why the apostles carry with their authority the authority of Jesus. In this case, the Sanhedrin is delegating this group that comes to Jesus to interrogate Him with their own authority. And so they sent to him some of the Pharisees and Herodians.
That should raise some eyebrows because in addition to the three groups I've already delineated, there was that party among the Jews called the Herodians. And the Herodian party was that party of Jews who supported the ruling authority of the Hasmonean dynasty of the Herods.
And if you know your biblical history, you know that the Herods were not pure Jews and that they were puppet kings under the authority of the Romans. And so in many corners among the Jews, they were completely despised. And there was no group that despised the Herodians more than the Pharisees.
This is a strange alliance that would exist between the Pharisees and the Herodians, and the only thing that would provoke them to come together in a common cause was their mutual hatred of Jesus. And so now we see this unholy alliance between the Pharisees and the Herodians who were sent and the purpose of that mission, quote, is to catch him in his words.
Now that word catch is really feeble and insipid by way of interpretation of the Greek. The Greek word that is used in the text here is what is known as a hapoxlegomena, and we all know what a hapoxlegomena is, don't we? A hapoxlegomena is a word that appears in the New Testament only once.
So it is a rare occurrence, makes it difficult to grasp the full measure of its meaning if it's found so rarely in the context of Scripture. But the force of the verb that is used here and only here in the New Testament is to be involved in an attempt to catch by way of violent pursuit It would be something like this if you were on a hunt for a man-eating tiger.
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Chapter 5: How does the concept of church and state separation apply today?
And so when they say that Jesus is a man who doesn't care for anybody, it doesn't mean that Jesus is hard in His heart and has no affection for people in this world. It means that Jesus will not be swayed from the truth because of His consideration of people with whom He may be unpopular. That public opinion will never cause Jesus to compromise. This is a tremendous tribute
that the Pharisees and the Herodians are heaping upon Jesus before they sneak in their trick question. Of course, as the text shows, their acclaim of Jesus is uttered with total and complete hypocrisy. But in spite of themselves, they are speaking the truth about the character of Jesus. Teacher, we know that you are true. Oh, that they would have known that.
If they would have known that He was true, they wouldn't have been bringing these trap questions to Him. You do not regard the person of men, but you teach the way of God in truth. So they set the stage for the big question. We know that you're not going to answer according to public opinion here, Jesus. You're not going to give us an exercise in political correctness.
You're going to speak the unveiled Word of God. So then, answer our question. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? By the way, this is one of the most controversial issues among the Jewish people of that day.
Remember how any nation hates to be placed in subjection to a foreign conqueror, and then to have to pay taxes and tribute to the occupying country is all the more loathsome to the local population. Almost every Jew in Israel hated the thought of paying any tax whatsoever to Caesar, and so they didn't want to pay him, and many of them in fact didn't pay him.
In fact, many from the Pharisees believed that there was a moral objection to paying taxes to Caesar, and that if Jesus were really a godly man, He would not pay taxes to an ungodly, conquering government. And so they put the question before him. You see why. If he says it's okay to pay taxes to Caesar, then the people are going to rise up against Jesus.
If he says publicly, you shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar, where's the first place they're going to go? They're going to go to the Roman government and say, this man is out there propagating sedition, rebellion, and advising people not to pay their taxes. So you see now the horns of the dilemma. Shall we pay or shall we not pay? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, Why do you test me?
Bring me a denarius, that I may see it. Now the denarius was probably the most common coin among the Jews. It was a small silver coin whose value was approximately the worth of an average person's day's pay in Israel. wouldn't you love to have taxation under your government to be paid on the basis of one day's work? That would be fantastic.
But in this case, obviously Jesus doesn't even have a denarius in His own pocket, and so He asks His interrogators to produce a denarius, and they do that. And when they did, He said to them, whose image… and inscription is this. And they said to him, Caesar's. Now what's Caesar?
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Chapter 6: What ethical responsibilities do Christians have when voting?
Well, since Caesar's image is on it and his name is on it, that indicates in Roman law his possession. He is the one who owns the coin. And so Jesus answers the trick question this way, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. So what is He saying? This is Caesar's coin. This is Caesar's tax. You pay your tax to Caesar.
but you have even a higher responsibility that even Caesar has. You render to God the things that are God's. Now this point of the paying of taxes to Caesar is a point that is expanded in the New Testament, particularly in the epistles. Look, for example, at the thirteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans where the word of the Lord to the people of God is this,
Chapter 7: How does Jesus' answer reflect on our ownership and responsibility?
pay taxes to whom taxes are due. In the middle of the second century, the great apologist Justin Martyr argued in his open letter to the emperor Antoninus Pius that the Christians were scrupulous in their civil obedience and that they always paid their taxes.
Paul also spells out in Romans 13 that the civil magistrate is a minister of God, and that God creates two institutions in this world, the church and the state. They have separate responsibilities. They have separate missions to fulfill. It is not the responsibility of the church to wage war.
The power of the sword is never given to the church, but it is given to the civil magistrate as Paul teaches us in Romans 13. It is not the state's responsibility to administer the sacraments.
Chapter 8: What are the practical applications of this teaching for Christians today?
It's the church's responsibility to administer the sacraments. So we have different functions to perform, but notice this, that both church and state are under God. and that God is sovereign in His rule over both. The Bible knows something of a separation of church and state insofar as there are two different missions assigned to these institutions.
But the Bible knows nothing of the separation of state from God. And what happens in our day and age is that the phrase separation of church and state, which you know was never in the Constitution, is parroted almost every day to indicate the independence of the state from God. Several years ago, I was in St. Louis.
I was riding in a taxi cab with Francis Schaeffer, and we were having a discussion about issues that the church faced at this time in American history. And I said to him, what is your greatest concern for the future of America? He didn't hesitate. He said, my greatest concern is statism, that ism on the end of the word.
is a suffix that indicates a worldview where the state becomes supreme, it owns everything, it rules everything, and is never answerable in any way to the church. That's what statism is. That was his greatest fear. I believe that that fear has been almost completely realized in the last couple of decades in such a degree that the people in America are almost completely blind to it.
They don't realize how much the church has surrendered to the state where the church is called to be the conscience of a nation. We have been prohibited from speaking in the public square. Also, I want you to notice that the concept of separation of state and church in America in our day is a one-way street. The state feels no hesitancy to intrude into the matters of the church.
If you want to argue for the free exercise of religion, do that the next time you go to a county meeting that determines whether your church can have a cross on it. because it violates the height of signs, and the cross is now considered a sign. And so in many places, the church is not allowed to display the central symbol of Christianity because the state won't permit it.
That's the kind of thing you have to watch out for, people, because it's not getting any better. It's getting worse and worse by the day. Now what I'd like to do is to raise an ethical question that I have never heard in my life preached from any Christian pulpit. When you go into the voting booth and you cast a ballot, think of the ethical implications you have when you cast your ballot.
Let me make it simple. If I go to your house and go into your garage and steal your lawnmower and the police catch me, I can be charged for committing a crime. On the other hand, if I hire somebody else to go into your garage and steal your lawnmower, I can still be charged with a crime because I've hired somebody to violate your personal property rights. However,
If I use my vote to get the government to go into your garage and take your lawnmower and give it to me, I've just exercised my right as a free American. And this happens every day with the politicization of our economic system. Anytime, beloved, that you can vote a tax on your neighbor, that is not a tax on you, you're stealing from your neighbor.
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