Mark 12:13-17, Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹³ And they sent to him some of the Pharisees [those who tolerated Roman rule for their own advantages but would prefer them gone] and some of the Herodians [those whose political leanings were to Rome], to trap him in his talk. [They devised a clever trap because rejecting the tax would show Jesus to be treasonous while accepting it might cause the nationalistic crowd to turn against him.] 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. [There seems to be elements of flattery, insincerity, and reality all intertwined in this statement.] Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” [The tax is the Roman poll tax paid by those subjected to Roman rule. The question of being lawful refers to the Law of God, not the laws of Rome because not paying was clearly unlawful to Rome. The real question is: Is it lawful to express an allegiance to a pagan emperor?] ¹⁵ But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius [a Roman coin with the picture of the emperor] and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. [Because the Jews were so averse to this “ungodly” currency, they were allowed to mint their own copper coins for use. The only time they had to use the Roman denarius was in paying this tax. Why would these people be able to produce such a coin that should not be in their possession? Where would they get this coin?] And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Render [“give back”—the word used for settling a debt] to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him. [There is more to this story than Jesus’ cleverness. He is laying down the principle of not dividing life into sacred and profane that must be kept apart. He recognizes that the two will live together. When his disciples move out into other nations, they will have to live under secular authorities and abide by their governance.]