Authority, Image, and Obligation

AUTHORITY, IMAGE, AND OBLIGATION

An Exposition of Mark 12:13-17

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: July 11, 2021

Series: Mark: Knowing and Following God’s Son

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.                      

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, again. I invite you to turn to Mark 12. In just a moment, I'll read verses 13-17.

But first, just a very brief word of introduction. Today's message is in many ways a reality check. It is the basics. Are you truly surrendered to God's claim on your life? Are you continually yielding your heart to God's authority, God's will, God's purpose for you and for your life?

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Now let's go ahead and read Mark 12, beginning in verse 13. Holy Scripture says:

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 marveled at him. (Mark 12:13-17)

This is God's holy word, and it is for our good. Let's pray.

Father, we pray that this Word would have its way in our hearts and in our lives. Even this very morning, we pray that your Holy Spirit would shed light on the truth and how it ought to be lived out in our lives. Father, we pray that you would guard us from distractions and enable us to focus our eyes and our hearts upon you. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

WALKING THROUGH THE PASSAGE

Let's walk through the passage and then we'll get to the punch of verse 17.

Verse 13

As verse 13 begins, “they” is almost certainly referring to the religious leaders that we have been learning about in the past few passages. In Mark 11:18, “the chief priests and the scribes… were seeking a way to destroy [Jesus]”. And then later on, in Mark 11:27, “the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to [Jesus]” with a question. And of course, you'll remember that he didn't answer their question because they were not dealing truthfully and honestly with him. And then in Mark 12:1, Jesus “began to speak to them” – to the same group of people, the religious leaders. And in the parable that we looked at last week, those unfaithful and unfruitful and wicked tenant farmers represented the religious leaders (Mark 12:1-9).

As we left off at verse 12 last week, it says that “they were seeking to arrest him”, but they weren't able to do it at that particular time because they were afraid of the crowds who were standing in awe of Jesus. “So they left him and went away.” (Mark 12:12)

Now in verse 13, these religious leaders have gotten some other people – the Pharisees and the Herodians – to go on their behalf in order to catch Jesus in his words. The Pharisees – we've encountered the Pharisees before – they were deeply pious Jews who care deeply about their Jewish identity, who care deeply about the law, who care deeply about keeping the law down to the very letter. And yet, they had forgotten the spirit of the law and their hearts were actually far from God. The Herodians – we don't know exactly who the Herodians were – but they were identified by their political support for Herod who was a Roman official up in Galilee.

We actually met the Pharisees and the Herodians back in Chapter 3. You should look there for just a moment. Jesus went into the synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath day, and of course from the Pharisees’ perspective that was a ‘no no’ – you can't do any work, such as healing a man, you can't bring relief and restoration to a disabled man, on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees had already gotten upset with Jesus, because he was not living and teaching according to their customs. And after Jesus healed the man, Mark 3:6 says: “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” So there were Pharisees and Herodians, up north in Galilee, seeking to destroy Jesus. Now here in Chapters 11 and 12 we are in Jerusalem, and the chief priests and the scribes and the elders are seeking to destroy Jesus. So all these various groups are allies, at least in their desire to bring ruin upon Jesus.

Their motivation, it says in verse 13, is “to trap [Jesus] in his talk.” They're on the hunt, so to speak, and they want Jesus to say something that can be interpreted as an inflammatory statement that they can use as ammunition against him. That is their motive.

Verse 14

Then verse 14 says: “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.”” Now that is extreme flattery! Of course, it actually is true, that Jesus is true. Jesus is faithful. Jesus doesn't teach in such a way that he's influenced by public opinion. He is not just taking a poll and seeing what will fly. Jesus is faithfully representing God no matter what the consequences are from the people who listen to him. They describe Jesus accurately, but they aren't praising him in their hearts. They aren't really adoring and admiring the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament talks about the man whose “speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.” (Psalm 55:21) That is what is going on here. Their speech is smooth and they are flattering him, but they've come with swords to ruin him.

And so they asked him a question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” (v. 14) They are trying to put Jesus into a dilemma. Because in their thinking, if Jesus says that it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar – to the Roman Emperor, to the Roman Empire – then that is not going to go over very well with the Jewish people. That would look like a pro-Roman, anti-Jewish sentiment. And so, they could use Jesus’ statement to discredit him in the eyes of the ordinary Jewish people. On the other hand, if Jesus says it is not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, then they can use that to discredit him with the Roman authorities. And in either case, they see this as an opportunity to gain ground and to get rid of Jesus.

Verses 15-17

The passage continues in verse 15: “But, knowing their hypocrisy, he [Jesus] said to them” – let’s pause right there. Jesus is not fooled. He knows what these men are up to. He knows that they are insincere and that they are really just coming with ill motive. And he says to them, “Why put me to the test?” (v. 15) This question never gets answered. Of course, we shouldn't come to Jesus in order to test him, prove him, tempt him, try to trip him up. We should come to him as humble learners, because he truly is the Teacher and the Lord.

Then Jesus says, “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” (v. 15) A denarius was a Roman coin. And the tax that is referenced in the question (in v. 14) actually had to be paid in the form of a denarius. A denarius is understood to be a typical day's wage for a laborer. And Jesus asked them to bring a denarius and to let him look at it. “And they brought one.” (v. 16)

Then he asks a question. Now I have some good old American currency in my hand, which I'll refer to momentarily. I actually saw an image of a Roman denarius in one of one of my commentaries. Jesus asks them: “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” (v. 16)

Now the Caesar – the ruler, the emperor of the Roman Empire – at this time was a man named Tiberius Caesar, who ruled from about 14 AD to 37 AD. Prior to Tiberius, the Caesar was Caesar Augustus, who was the emperor at the time of Jesus’ birth. And this particular denarius that they showed to Jesus could have been one that was issued by Caesar Augustus or it could have been one that was issued by the current Caesar, Tiberius Caesar. And if you look at the denarius that was issued by Tiberius Caesar, on the front of it there was an image of Tiberius. Around that picture there was an inscription. And the inscription said, in abbreviated form, Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus. So, whose image and inscription is this on the coinage? “They said to him, “Caesar’s.”” (v. 16)

Now I have an American quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a penny. And what we see in verses 15-16 is very common. They have been making coins for a very long time. We are not an empire the way that Rome was – we are a republic – but the basic principles are the same. You know, on all of these coins you have an image of one of our past presidents: Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Lincoln. And on all of these coins you have a number of different statements, but the most important for our purposes is United States of America. So then and now, who has issued the currency? Who has issued the coinage? Who is claiming to have sovereignty over the coinage? Well, the answer is obvious: Caesar in the first century Roman Empire, and the United States government in terms of the currency that we have in our country today.

And Jesus makes a very simple point from this. Since Caesar’s image and inscription is on the coin, there is a very real sense in which it belongs to him. So therefore, what does Jesus say verse 17? This is where we really get into

Jesus' answer. “Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”” (v. 17)

This is a brilliant answer to their question. It is also a very general answer. One author described it as an “ambiguous” answer[1] – and it is. It is both brilliant and ambiguous. I was reminded of a quote from George MacDonald, who said, “To give truth to him who loves it not, is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation.” Or we could add: for misrepresentation or for malicious misuse. Don't be naive.

Jesus was very careful in how he answered questioners who had malicious intent toward him. He answered truly and honestly, but he didn't give the answer with the kind of edge or the kind of bite that they wanted, because he was dealing with people who hated him. This is one very common tactic that persecutors will use against Christians. They will try to trap us in our talk. They will play nice. They will flatter us. They will appear to be on our side. But behold, drawn swords! Answer wisely!

So Jesus’ answer is very general. He doesn't actually spell out what precisely belongs to Caesar and the extent and limit of that, and he doesn't spell out what precisely belongs to God. He just gives this general principle: the things that belong to Caesar – render those things to him; the things that belong to God – render those things to him.

And yet, with our Bibles open, Jesus is giving us a window into rich theology and instruction. So let’s take time to ponder the instruction of verse 17.

RESPECTING CAESAR’S LIMITED CLAIM

We need to understand that the primary reason that we should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's is because Jesus tells us to. The Pharisees and the Herodians were not disciples of Jesus, but we are. We are his disciples and followers. We regard him as our Teacher and our Lord. He tells us to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. We understand that Scripture teaches that God has given a very real measure of authority to the government – whether it is a Caesar, or a Parliament and Prime Minister, or a Congress and President. God has given genuine, real authority to the civil government. And in fact, Caesar’s authority actually derives from God. Paul taught us this in Romans 13, that every authority is from God (Romans 13:1). And God is the One who has established the authorities for our good (Romans 13:3-4). And so, when it comes to things like tax and tribute, and obedience to just laws, and a disposition of honoring those who hold office (Romans 13:5-7), we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

HONORING GOD’S UNLIMITED CLAIM

But when we understand – and this is where the Mark 12:13-17 passage gets so rich – when you understand the breadth and depth of God's claim on you and of what belongs to God, then you will realize how small Caesar’s claim actually is. I have a number of thoughts about how we can understand what belongs to God.

What I want you to understand is the wide scope of what belongs to God and what we, therefore, owe him. As we sang in the song “Victory in Jesus”: “all my love is due Him.”[2] That is the idea that we are going to understand here as we go along.

Everything Belongs to God

For starters, we can simply understand what belongs to God in the sense that everything belongs to God. “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). God created everything, and he holds everything together, and he works all things according to the counsel of his will. Everything, including Caesar, including the government, everything belongs to God. And therefore, we owe him everything and ought to honor him in every nook and cranny of our lives.

Marriage Belongs to God

But we can get more specific. I was thinking about this instruction to render to God the things that are God’s just in terms of what we've learned in Mark Chapters 10 through 12. What did we learn in Mark chapter 10:9? “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Who does marriage belong to? Your marriage belongs to God. Render to God the things that are God’s.

God’s Kingdom Belongs to God

In Mark 10:14, Jesus said to his wayward disciples, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Who does the kingdom of God belong to? Well, the point that Jesus is making in verse 14 is that God’s kingdom is for the little ones, and not for the rich big-wigs who are impressed with themselves. But my point is simply to draw attention to the fact that the kingdom of God ultimately belongs to God: it is God’s kingdom. Therefore, God sets the terms of what ministry looks like. The disciples shouldn't be running around trying to exclude people (Mark 10:13) or throw cold water on people (Mark 9:38) whom God has welcomed and empowered to be part of his kingdom. God's kingdom belongs to God.

The Temple Belongs to God

Then in Mark 11:15, Jesus goes into the temple, and “he overturned the tables” (Mark 11:15) and drove out the sellers. And then in Mark 11:17, he says, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” So who does the temple belong to? Who does God's house belong to? To God.

The Previous Parable

And then in the parable last week (Mark 12:1-9), there was a man who planted a vineyard. Who did the vineyard belong to? The vineyard owner. But how did the tenant farmers act? They acted as if it belonged to them. They did not render to the vineyard owner the fruit and the profit and the produce that rightly belonged to the vineyard owner. They kept it for themselves. What they ought to have done, and what we ought to do, is render to God the things that are God’s.

God’s Image and Name

But this concept of understanding what things belong to God can also be understood through the window that Jesus gives us in verse 16. He asked, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And so we begin thinking, ‘Okay, Caesar has a legitimate realm of authority, and he has placed his image and inscription in certain places, such as on the coinage, and that is an indicator of his authority and claim on us.’ Therefore, pay your taxes. But here's a question: Where has God placed his likeness and inscription? Where has God placed his image and his name? Where has God put the symbols of his authority? That yields up several other additional insights to this passage. So just consider these.

You Belong to God

First, God has put his image on you. You see, when you look at a coin, you are reminded of the authority and claim of the official government that issued the currency. You're reminded of their claim and their authority. When people look at you, they are supposed to be reminded of the authority and claim that God has on you. In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” You belong to God. You are not your own. You are not a self-creation project. The living God made you, and he made you to know him, and to reflect his character, and to represent him – so that when others would look at you, they would get a window into the very likeness of God.

Your Maleness or Femaleness Belongs to God

Second, God has made you either a male image-bearer or a female image-bearer. This is evident right in Genesis chapter 1:28 which says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God has made you either a male image-bearer or a female image-bearer, and your maleness or your femaleness belongs to God. Render to God the things that are God’s. There is instruction in the Bible that pertains to all human beings. But there is some instruction that is particular to men, and there is other instruction that is particular to women. We need to be faithful to offer up to God what is rightfully his.

Your Marriage Belongs to God

Third, and this just unfolds right out of Genesis 1, God intends – generally speaking – for most human beings to enter into marriage. God intends for a male image bearer and a female image bearer to come together in marriage, and to display his character and his likeness in a very unique and special way. God has put his gospel and his message on marriage. Your marriage is designed to carry and shine forth his name, his gospel, his message. Ephesians 5 says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Husbands, you are supposed to show a little miniature picture of what it looked like for Jesus to lay down his life for his bride. And wives, you have a solemn calling to show the world what it looks like to respond to such self-giving love (Ephesians 5:22-24).

Your Children Belong to God

Fourth, consider another thing that also unfolds out of Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 – although actually I am borrowing this thought from Douglas Wilson. I've been listening to a book by him on fatherhood, and he made a really good application of what Jesus says in Mark 12:17. I've already told you that God has put his image on you. Of course, the implication of that is that God has put his image on every human being. Therefore we ought to show profound respect and love and honor towards all people. But the particular implication that Douglas Wilson brought to my attention is this: God has put his image on your children.[3] Your children do not belong to Caesar. Your children do not belong to the state. Your children do not ultimately even belong to you. They are a gift from the Lord, and they are for the Lord. Parents have a sacred obligation to do their very best – through prayer and by trusting God and His grace – to present their children as offerings to the Lord.

If You Are Redeemed, Your Redeemed Heart Belongs to God

Fifth – and I'm borrowing this one from another guy named James Voelz – consider this question: Where has God inscribed his law? Remember, we are dealing with the concept of inscription, of God's writing. Where has God inscribed his law? God has inscribed his law not only in the pages of Holy Scripture, but also – according to Jeremiah 31 and other passages – on the hearts of his believing people.[4] In Jeremiah 31, God says, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33) And this reality is experienced through the gospel. We read in Ephesians 4 that when the gospel gets ahold of us, it causes us “to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24) You were created after the likeness of God originally, but we are all distorted and corrupted because of sin. And now God is recreating human beings after his likeness “in true righteousness and holiness.” Your redeemed heart answers to God alone. Your redeemed heart, and all the obedience and sanctification that flow from it, belong to God. You know the truth, and you cannot pretend otherwise.

The Church Belongs to God

Sixth, God has put his name on the church. In the Book of Numbers, we learn that the priests were to stand before the people and bless them: “The LORD bless you and keep you, the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26) About this priestly blessing, the very next verse says: “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:27) And when we turn to the pages of the New Testament, when people believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are baptized into “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). As believers and as a believing community, as the church of the living God, we bear the name of the Triune God. God has placed his name, his authority, his ownership upon us. The church belongs to God, and we will not render to Caesar the things that belong to God.

ALWAYS LIVE AS A FAITHFUL WORSHIPER OF THE SOVEREIGN GOD

Colossians 3:17 tells us to do everything that we do in the name of Jesus. This means that everything we do is meant to reflect well on Jesus, and to reveal his glorious and holy reputation to the world.

Government, as important as it is, has a very small claim on your life. Government doesn't create people, doesn't save people, doesn't transform people's hearts, doesn't establish people in the truth, and doesn't build loving communities. Government is not the Creator, is not the Redeemer, is not the Lord of the conscience, is not the Bread of Life, is not the Hope of glory. At its best, government protects the nation from foreign aggressors; preserves law, order, and peace within its borders; and allows families and churches and small communities and small businesses to grow and flourish with minimal regulation. At its worst, government authorizes the killing of God's image-bearers before they are born; rejects God's claim on marriage; teaches God's young image-bearers that they bear the image of naturalistic evolution and that therefore they should live with all the confusion and cynicism and meaninglessness that befits their evolutionary origins; asserts itself as the answer to all of our problems; persecutes the people who seek to remain faithful as image-bearers of God; and claims to have God-like authority as the ultimate provider, ultimate protector, and ultimate deliverer. Caesar has grand illusions. But every pagan government is destined to crumble, and its leaders are destined to perish. Caesar Augustus, Tiberius Caesar, and Presidents Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Lincoln, all have this in common – they are all dead. But we worship the living God, the true and eternal Father. We worship the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who lives forevermore. We worship the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life.

A Personal Word

Now I'm going to conclude this message in the form of personal testimony, a personal confession of faith. So I'm going to speak a lot in the first person. I want to encourage you to lay hold of this personally and to let your heart and soul feel the weight of what Jesus is teaching us here.

The personal God of heaven and earth created me in his image and likeness. And though I was corrupted through Adam's sin and through my own sin, in love he sent his dear Son to die for me, to shed his holy blood to cleanse me, to release me from the power of sin and death, and to reclaim me for his own. In Christ and in Christ's church, I have a destiny that Caesar did not give me and cannot take away from me. This destiny is to live in his hand as his handiwork, in fellowship with him and his people, to do the things that he planned for me to do before I ever took my first breath. As Scripture says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) “[For] the Lord’s sake” (1 Peter 2:13) I will give Caesar his small due – I will give government its small due – because the Lord tells me to. But make no mistake about it: I am not Caesar’s. I am not my own, for I was bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I belong to the living God. My heart is his. My life is in his hand. My marriage and children belong to him. This church, this pulpit, and this ministry belong to the living God. The depth of my surrender is far from perfect, but Jesus has shown me the way and I will not turn away from it.

Though Caesar’s claim is ever so small, “[render] to Caesar the things that are Caesar's”. But the far greater call is, with all diligence, to render “to God the things that are God’s.” Everything belongs to God, and all your love is due him.

Let us pray.

Father, we covered a lot of ground, but the basic message is simple: We owe you everything. I pray that you would shine the light of your Word upon our hearts and our lives, so that we would be diligent to offer all that we are and all that we have up to you, that we would lose our life for Jesus’ sake and for the gospel’s sake, and thereby find that in losing it for your sake we discover true life and fullness of joy forevermore. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

ENDNOTES

[1] R. B. Edwards, “Rome.” In Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Editors: Joel B. Green and Scot McKnight. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992: p. 714.

[2] Eugene M. Bartlett, Sr., “Victory in Jesus.”

[3] Douglas Wilson, Father Hunger: Why God Calls Men to Love and Lead Their Families. Audio Version via Audible.

[4] James W. Voelz, Mark 8:27-16:20 (Concordia Commentary). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019: p. 911-912.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark (The Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Mark (The New International Greek Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Mark (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Vol. 2). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

James W. Voelz, Mark 8:27–16:20 (Concordia Commentary). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019.

Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.