Mark 12:13-17 —Trick Questions

Mark 12:13-17 

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.

Comments:

In v.13, there is some often overlooked information. “And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.” After the chief priests and elders (mainly Sadducees) withdrew to plot Jesus' arrest and death, they then sent the Pharisees and the Herodians to test Him, to catch Him in his words. I remember when I first noticed that it was talking about the "Pharisees and the Herodians" but the brain naturally supplies “Sadducees” instead, doesn’t it? What is interesting about these two groups coming to test Jesus together is that they were natural enemies that were now allied against Jesus of Nazareth.

Reubens' Render Unto Caesar

The question that was asked to "catch Jesus in his words" was one that would have been presented as a dispute between the two groups. Pharisees would have resisted the payment of taxes to Caesar while the Herodians collaborators would have been very pro-Roman government. They thought that they had Jesus trapped. No matter which way he ruled, his answer would be an offence to one of the groups and it could be used to still up trouble against him. They spoke kind words to disarm him, but Jesus saw through their hypocrisy. Jesus used this impossible situation to advance his program, not theirs. He was not in the trap, they were (one of their own making). They said, "You're a fair judge, settle this disagreement we have." Jesus was given a choice between the crowd on the right and the crowd on the left and he wisely chose neither. He chose to please the One in Heaven. Still pretty good advice today!

They sought to trap him in his words, but Jesus, always the fisher of men cast his verbal net about them. And they all marveled.

v. 17 "And Jesus answered and 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."

Lord Jesus, help me to never be so intimidated that I seek to please men to avoid trouble. May I always look to you and seek to please you and let the traps that are laid for my soul snap shut on nothing but air. Let me be a fisher of men in all circumstances like never before. Help me to see your plan and your sovereignty in all that I face. Thank you for this reminder that we never have to choose the lesser of two evils, but always walk in your righteousness and way of escape. May your Spirit give us words to speak, even when we are on trial!