Paying Taxes to Caesar

 

Mark 12: 13-17

 

Paying Taxes to Caesar

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.   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?”   But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”   And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.”   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.

 

I’m sure most of my readers know what Herodians and Pharisees were but in this crazy world we are living in with people everywhere trying to rewrite history or do away with it, history is important to define who they were.  The dictionary defines Herodians in the Easton’s Bible Dictionary as a Jewish political party who sympathized with ( Mark 3:6;  12:13; Matt, 22:16;  Luke 20:20 ) the Herodian rulers in their general policy of the government, and in the social customs which they introduced from Rome. They were at one with the Sadducees in holding the duty of submission to Rome, and of supporting the Herods on the throne. (Compare  Mark 8:15 ; Matthew 16:6 .)

 

The Pharisees defined it in this way;  “From whom did the Pharisees separate? From those, especially priests or clerics, who interpreted the Law differently than they? From the common people of the land? From Gentiles or Jews who embraced the Hellenistic culture? From certain political groups? All these groups of people the Pharisees would have been determined to avoid in their resolution to separate themselves from any type of impurity proscribed by the Levitical law — or, more specifically, their strict interpretation of it.” (Christianity.com)

 

This is very interesting in that Sadducees and the Pharisees were a lot like the Republicans and the Democrats of today in not agreeing on much.  They also had this in common they desired power and authority over the people, with little or no regard for them.  In today's political parties it is clear that the Democrat party as a whole has a hate for the things of God, but then all the Herodians and Pharisees were doing was following after religion and its customs and rule, but had no desires for the things of God.  Could it be that many today that goes by the title of Christian also find themselves in that same boat?

 

From the Back Poarch,

Bob Rice