Cole Community Church Growth Groups Leader s Guide for Mark 12:13-17 Week of February 14-20, 2016 God or Caesar A Conflict of Our Minds Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Romans 13:7 NIV Introduction: We are now in the Passion Week when Jesus is entering Jerusalem triumphantly. There He reveals His identity as Israel s Messiah and enters the city in peoples adulations, riding on a colt of a donkey, in fulfillment of Zechariah s prophecy. Next, Jesus is judging the Temple and the fig tree for their fruitlessness, and is driving out the merchants who transformed the Temple into a bazaar. Jesus also is interrogated here by the religious leaders, who are questioning the authority with which He was doing such things (i.e. cleansing of the Temple). Jesus, knowing their intentions, serves them back another question, followed by a parable the parable of the Greedy Tenant Farmers, making sure they understand who s who. The Pharisees understand the parable aims at them, so they plan to arrest Jesus, but they fear the crowds. In this passage, the Pharisees are back to question Jesus once more. Their question is well crafted to bring Jesus into a dead end, and finally justify His arrest, but Jesus perceives their motives, and exposes publicly their trickery and hypocrisy. Read Mark 12:13-17 (parallel passages: Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26) Q.1. What groups of people have been sent to Jesus? Who are they, and what do we know about them? See also Matthew 22:16 The first group to try to trap Jesus is a tag-team of Pharisees and Herodians. Under normal circumstances, these two groups were enemies to each other, and for them to unite in a common cause was quite unusual. However, in extraordinary situations (as the one presented) they worked together, to fight a common enemy or threat. The Pharisees represent the religious right wing, and they were strongly resentful of the Roman occupation of Palestine (particularly of Judea where the poll-tax was required). The Pharisees would be concerned about Jewish legal requirements, to have witnesses for a charge, and - in this case - to investigate charges concerning Jesus disloyalty to the law. The Herodians (on the other hand) were also Jews, but they were prominent, influential and supporters of the Herodian Dynasty. They occupied various governmental positions, and they strongly supported the Roman
presence in the land. This collaboration with the Roman government made them extremely unpopular with the rest of the Jewish nation. The Herodians would be easily disturbed by messianic figures who may challenge their idea of ruling, therefore provoking Rome to tighten its grip over the land even harder. Q.2. What motivation brings them to Jesus and what is Jesus reaction? They come to Jesus with their plan well made; their purpose is somehow to find in Jesus speech words against the authority of the Roman Empire or against His own people the Jews, both incriminating Him, therefore, giving them the legality to arrest Him. Through their flattery, they act like they are sincerely seeking an answer, so approaching Jesus with sweet lips, polite and formal form of speech: Teacher, [or Rabbi] we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn t we? No one is fooled by their phony flattery; much less Jesus. It is clear! The question is about paying or not taxes to Caesar, and the question is designed to bring Jesus on a blind alley. Now, Rabbis dealt with questions concerning legal, moral and exegetical issues as well as mocking questions posed by opponents, and Jesus was recognized by the crowds as being somehow a Rabbi (though He was seen as one without education by the religious leaders). Jesus, knowing their hearts, is ready to answer them, but it would be almost impossible to avoid giving offence. If He would say that it is unlawful to pay taxes to Caesar, the Roman governor, informed by the Herodians, would charge Him with sedition. If He would say that it is lawful, He would offend the masses and many would think Him unpatriotic and they would stop following Him. After all, a Messiah who cannot throw off the shackles of Roman domination (primarily the taxation) is not worthy of support. They all think that they trapped Jesus, but He asks them for a coin a silver denarius used to pay the Roman taxation. After all, the Roman taxes have to be paid in Roman currency. As Jesus is holding the received coin He asks them whose portrait and whose name is imprinted on it. Of course, Caesar s they respond and Jesus tells them to give Caesar s what belongs to him. The Greek word for render has the meaning of giving back something to someone that belongs to him. So the sense here is give back to Caesar what s his. The Pharisees are deeply displeased; they (and the crowds) hate taxation. More than one third of their income goes to pay Roman taxes. There were many kinds of taxes: a ground tax on land (consisting of a tenth of all grain, and a fifth of wine and fruit); an
income tax, (which was one per cent of a man's earnings); and a poll tax of one denarius (the daily wage of a working man) on all men between the ages of 14-65, and on all women from 12-65. These taxes were collected by the so-called "publicans" - unscrupulous tax-collectors, who were considered by all Jews to be conspirators to the Romans, betraying their country, the lowest of the low, corrupt and ruthless men. As this is not enough, the silver coin itself has offensive inscriptions: The front has Tiberius Caesar with the inscription TIberius CAESAR DIVIni AUGusti Filius AUGUSTUS ( Tiberius, Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus, Augustus ), and the back has Livia (Tiberius mother) with the inscription, PONTIFex MAXIMus (high priest). Since the father of Tiberius (Octavian, Augustus Caesar) had been declared a god by the Roman Senate, Tiberius claimed to be the Son of God. While the crowds would like Jesus to ban taxation, the Herodians would have immediately arrange for His arrest and execution. It s worth mentioning the fact that in the Jewish Palestine of that time, copper coins were put in circulation, coins which were not defiled by the image of the deified emperor. Although King Agrippa later used both the image of the emperor and his own, Herod Antipas, the current ruler of Galilee, avoided any images on his coins, and so did the local Jewish coinage. The irony is that at Jesus request they provide to Him the very coin they think would defile them the silver denarius. They are therefore hardly in a position to challenge Jesus lack of nationalistic zeal, because they are guilty of this in the first place by having the defiling coin in their pockets. Q.3. By asking the question, Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? and doing so in the presence of the Herodians, what dilemma did the Pharisees hope to create for Jesus? In whatever way Jesus answers their question, they assume He would violate the tenants of one of the two groups. He would be therefore proven guilty in the eyes of either the people (Luke 20:26) if He would disagree with the Pharisees, or the governor (Luke 20:20) if He would disagree with the Herodians. If Jesus affirms Roman taxation, He would offend his followers. If He rejects it, He would face charges of treason.
Q.4. What is Jesus trying to convey when He says give to Caesar what is Caesar s and to God what is God s? So we are called upon to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," to pay our taxes, and to peaceably express our disagreements within the rights of its citizens, aiming for the wellbeing of our nation. However, when Jesus set forth this command, the typical Jew had only limited freedoms. Of course they benefited by the Pax Romana, - the Roman Peace which was guaranteed by its strong military presence, the road infrastructure, and commerce. So Jesus was telling the Pharisees: its okay to be a good citizen of Rome. There is no conflict between following the Lord and being a good citizen. After all, the government is designed by God to be an extension of His rule, but sinful men have often looked to government as a replacement, a substitute for it. Such is the case here. However, there are two extremes to be avoided in our outlook on government: a) First, to see the government as the enemy of God, and to be always opposing ourselves to it. b) Second, to view government too highly, as man's salvation and security. It is all too easy to look to government for those things which only God can give. Some have tried to interpret our passage in Mark as Jesus saying give Caesar back his money and have nothing to do with pagan rulers. But Paul spells out the Christian's obligation to submit to earthly rulers: Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1 NIV) Q.5. In the light of this passage, what attitude and/or response should we have toward the government of our country? Give to Caesar what is Caesar s, and to God what is God s has sometimes been interpreted as separating the material from the spiritual, the political from the religious, and the earthly from the heavenly. Jesus is not sanctioning a separation of the material from the spiritual. The premise that Caesar s world and God s world do not overlap makes no sense in light of what Jesus has been saying throughout the Gospel. What is God s? Everything! Jesus coming into the world as king is God s claim that the entire world is God s. Whatever may belong to Caesar also belongs to God. The world of taxes, government, production, distribution, and every other kind
of work is the world that God s kingdom is breaking into. Christians are called to engage that world, not to drop out of it. And the Kingdom of Heaven is breaking into or taking over this world not through our dominance but through service. Jesus himself came to serve not to be served, and He is the King of the Kingdom we say to follow. Joseph, a prototype of Jesus reached the peak of the pyramid s power through service to pagan empire; same with Daniel and the examples go on. This passage is the opposite of a justification of separating the work world from the Christian world. Give to Caesar what is Caesar s (taxes) and to God what is God s (everything, taxes included). And if there is a prospect to change things in this country for better, the Church has that duty and the power to achieve it through displaying the Kingdom in words and deeds. If this wouldn t be true then Jesus didn t have to teach us how to pray Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10 NIV), but He did because He saw it achieved over the ages. Do we? Q.6. As Christians in America, we may have privileges from the government (i.e. tax exemptions for religious institutions); what may be our response if the government decides to take them away?
Facts ROMAN DENARIUS: TIBERIUS AS SON OF GOD Roman Denarius (14-37 CE). -The front has Tiberius Caesar with the inscription TIberius CAESAR DIVIni AUGusti Filius AUGUSTUS (= Tiberius, Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus, Augustus ). -The back has Livia with the inscription, PONTIFex MAXIMus (high priest). Since the father of Tiberius (Octavian, Augustus Caesar) had been declared a god by the Roman Senate, Tiberius claimed to be the Son of God. -Who is Livia? great- Livia was Tiberius mother; Claudius was her grandson; Gaius (Caligula) her grandson; and Nero, her great-great-grandson. Word Studies - Catch (α γρευ σωσιν) (Mark 12:13) From α γρα, hunting, the chase. Hence the picture in the word is that of hunting, while that in Matthew 22:15 the word, παγιδευ σωσιν, is that of catching in a trap - Person (προ σωπον) (Mark 12:14) Lit., face. - They marveled (ε ξεθαυ μαζον) (Mark 12:17) The preposition ε ξ, out of, indicates great astonishment. They marveled out of measure. The imperfect denotes continuance: they stood wondering. ss