The Jewish leaders would not be put off. They were intent on killing Jesus. So, another delegation comes at Jesus - pretending to be honest, they flattered Jesus before asking him their trick question, hoping to catch him off guard.
They asked, “Is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?” The Jewish people hated to pay taxes to Rome because the money supported their oppressors and symbolized their subjection. This was a valid (and loaded) question, and the crowd around Jesus certainly waited expectantly for his answer. For Jesus, either a yes or a no could lead to trouble. If Jesus agreed that it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees would say he was opposed to God and the people would turn against him. If Jesus said the taxes should not be paid, the Herodians could hand him over to Herod on the charge of rebellion.
Jesus knew this was a trap. These leaders didn’t care about Jesus’ opinion; this was merely a trick question. But Jesus would answer. He asked someone to give him a Roman coin, probably a denarius, the usual day’s wage for a laborer. It was a silver coin with Caesar’s picture and title on it. The tax paid to Rome was paid in these coins.
Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to him”—that is, the coin bearing the emperor’s image should be given to the emperor. In their question, the religious leaders used the word didomi, meaning “to give.” Jesus responded with the word apodidomi, meaning “to pay a debt.” In other words, having a coin meant being part of that country, so citizens should acknowledge the authority of Caesar and pay for the benefits accorded to them by his empire.
However, paying the taxes did not have to mean submission to the divinity claimed by the emperor. The words on the coins were incorrect. Caesar had the right to claim their tax money, but he had no claim on their souls. The Jews had a responsibility to remember that everything that belongs to God must be given to God. While they lived in the Roman world, the Jews had to face the dual reality of subjection to Rome and responsibility to God. Jesus explained that they could do both if they kept their priorities straight. The tax would be paid as long as Rome held sway over Judea, but God has rights on people’s souls.
The bizarre, irrational questions continued. This time by the Sadducees. The hypocrites took their hypothetical situation to a rather ridiculous length as they tried to show the absurdity of believing in the resurrection. The book of Tobit (an apocryphal book not accepted by Protestants as part of the Old Testament canon but highly regarded by Jewish scholars at that time) includes the story of a woman who was married to seven men successively without ever having children. In Tobit the men are not brothers.
The woman in the situation they described had been married seven times to seven different men, all according to the law. The Sadducees reasoned that since this was in the law, there could not be a resurrection. When all eight of them were resurrected (the seven brothers and the woman), “Whose wife will she be?” The Sadducees erroneously assumed that if people were resurrected, it would be back to a continuation of life on earth—and that would be too confusing to be possible. They were incapable of understanding that God could both raise the dead and make new lives for his people, lives that would be different than what they had known on earth. The Sadducees had brought God down to their level. Because they could not conceive of a resurrection life, they decided that God couldn’t raise the dead. And Moses hadn’t written about it, so they considered the “case closed.”
Jesus wasted no time trying to deal with their hypothetical situation, but went directly to their underlying assumption that resurrection of the dead was impossible. Jesus clearly stated that they were wrong about the resurrection for two reasons: (1) They didn’t know the Scriptures (if they did, they would believe in the resurrection because it is taught in Scripture), and (2) they didn’t know the power of God (if they did, they would believe in the resurrection because God’s power makes it possible, even necessary). Ignorance on these two counts was inexcusable for these religious leaders.
More questions. Among all the Gospel writers, only Mark recorded Jesus’ quote from Deuteronomy 6:4, which is the first part of what the Jews know as the Shema (referring to the opening word of the sentence in Hebrew). The Shema is made up from Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41 and is the major creed of Judaism that was recited twice daily (morning and evening) by devout Jews. The teachers of the law could debate all they wanted, but Jesus brought them back to the basics by giving new life to the oft-repeated words, The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. What mattered were not laws and their relative importance; what mattered was a relationship with the one true God.
Jesus then answered the man’s question by explaining what those words should mean in the daily lives of the Jews. Because they believed that there was one God (as opposed to other religions, such as the Romans with their pantheon of gods), they ought to love the one true God with every part of their being: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” To love God in this way is to fulfill completely all the commandments regarding one’s “vertical” relationship.
In addition to the law quoted, there is a second and equally important law. This law focuses on “horizontal” relationships—our dealings with fellow human beings. A person cannot maintain a good vertical relationship with God (loving God) without also caring for his or her neighbor. For this second law, Jesus quoted Leviticus 19:18: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
The basics. Love God, Love people. The christian life is not rocket science. We try and make it so complicated though. We are always on the lookout for the pot of gold under the rainbow - a new gimmick, a new method of living this one and only life we have been given - for God. God is not looking for better methods, He's looking for better men and women.
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him..." 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV)
Lord, may I be that man. There are so many areas where I fall short. So many area where I let you down. Lord, I want to be a man like David - a man after Your own heart.
"After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' " Acts 13:22 (NIV)
Lord, speak through me this morning. As flawed as I am, may my words be Your words. Draw people to COV today. Speak to people at COV today. Build people at COV today. Encourage people at COV today.
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