"Then they [the leaders of the people] 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 is 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 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, NASB)
That last line stands out to me. "And they were amazed at Him".
Let's talk first about what the Pharisees and Herodians are trying to do here. Why would this question be a 'trap'? Don't miss the "is it lawful" part of the question. In asking it that way - the Pharisees are appealing to Torah law, not Roman law. So, ultimately, they are asking a question of morality. "Are we morally obligated, according to Torah, to pay the tax?" I read a fascinating commentary (seriously, check it out - what I am speaking of here is barely scratching the surface compared to the depth of this commentary) of this verse which suggested that by asking "is it lawful", the Pharisees and Herodians were forcing Jesus to answer the question because shortly before this, the people had hailed Jesus as "King" when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. If he doesn't answer the question, he isn't a rabbi, and also isn't King. That is part of the trap. It seems also that they are trying to get Jesus to identify, or align himself in some way, if even seemingly, with the Romans, against the Jews, or with the Jewish people as a revolutionary against the Roman state. If they could get Jesus to simply say, "yes, you should pay your tax", then they could incite the people against him as a Roman-sympathizer (the equivalent of a tax collector). If they could get him to simply say, "no, you should not pay your tax", then they could make the claim he was an anti-Roman revolutionary and could hand him over to be treated as such.
So, why were they amazed? Was it amazement at Jesus' ability to evade the trap? Maybe - there's no question that the answer Jesus gives is clever. But that doesn't seem plausible because His answer would have frustrated them, despite any amazement. Not only that but in his answer, he tells them that he understands what they are trying to do. "Why are you testing me?" Additionally - why would Jesus' questioners ask Him this question unless they already had some idea of how he felt? That same commentary I linked to earlier suggested that the Pharisees and Herodians must have had some prior reason to think that Jesus might have been inclined against Roman rule.
What is Caesar's?
An interesting element of Jesus' response is "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's". It begs the question - 'what is Caesar's?' It can't be true authority because Jesus himself goes on to later say, "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth."" (Matthew 28:18). We also read in Daniel, "It is He [God] who changes the times and the seasons; He removes Kings and appoints Kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to people of understanding. (Daniel 2:21). We also have the Shema, previously quoted. I suppose Caesar is not without authority altogether - he did have the ability to tax, make laws, execute/punish, etc. Saying that, however, reminds me of Jesus' words when He said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell." (Matt. 10:28)
What is God's?
At some level, Jesus is acknowledging that in this life, we will have Earthly authorities over us. We may even have unpleasant obligations as a result of living under those authorities. But that last part, "render unto God the things that are God's"...what doesn't belong to God? Colossians 1:16 reads, "For in him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him." The Pharisees and Herodians present would have been intimately familiar with the Shema, the holiest of Jewish prayers that says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you strength." (Deut 11:13) Interestingly, only a few verses later, when asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus quotes the Shema. What, in a man (human), is God after? What is Jesus constantly saying through parables and teachings? That God is after the heart of a man, the whole heart.
My own conclusion about this exchange is that Jesus is making no moral statement on paying taxes but is instead bringing it back to the heart of man, as He does time and time again throughout the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Paying taxes, voting, etc - these are all morally neutral things. They are also temporal things - they don't matter in the final analysis; they won't have any value beyond the here and now. They are, at best, distractions from what is good and true and at worst, they can consume us and fuel hatred and division, as we are seeing in technicolor now. Repent and believe in the one who can truly fix this world and whose Kingdom will eventually come here. This is the period of amnesty, the final opportunity to bend your knee to King Jesus. Render unto God the things that are God's...
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