Render to God…Worship Him Alone
Truth Taught: We are called to pay what we owe our government but worship belongs only to God alone.
It is still Wednesday of Passion Week and we remember Jesus was in the Temple preaching and teaching when the Sanhedrin come up to Him with the question of authority. Where do You get the authority to do the things You’re doing and say the things You’re saying? If He answered God or I have my own authority then they would have arrested Him then and there for blasphemy. So, He answered with another question. Was John’s baptism from man or from heaven? They refused to answer knowing that they would fall into His trap rather than Jesus falling into theirs. They answered, we don’t know.
Then Jesus tells a parable about the vineyard, the tenant farmers and the Son. When the Landowner sent His servants for His share of the fruit, they were either beaten or killed by the tenant farmers. Then He said I will send My Son, they will respect Him but the wicked tenants killed Him too. Now the Sanhedrin discerned the parable was about them, they were the tenant farmers that God had left in charge of His vineyard. They were the ones who mistreated and killed the prophets and they were the ones who would kill His Son.
Jesus indicts Jerusalem later on that week by saying, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that stone the prophets.” That’s a characterization. Also later this same day, He says they’re guilty – the leaders of Israel are guilty of the blood of all the prophets, from the beginning to the end of the Old testament era, and they will be guilty of the blood of the son as well. They are in that parable then indicted as murderers. The parable ends with the question, “What will the owner of the vineyard do with the vine-growers that murdered and maimed the slaves?” And the answer is, “He will destroy them.” And so the parable not only speaks of the murder of the Son of God, but the destruction of His killers. Then the parable closes by saying, “And He will give the vineyard to others.”
As we saw “the others” are the apostles who become the new stewards of divine truth and the new stewards of the people of God. That’s why when the church is born on the day of Pentecost, they studied the apostles’ doctrine. And all from that day on who preached the apostles’ doctrine, now recorded in the New Testament, are also in the long line of the true stewards of the people of God. They were false shepherds, they were stewards who were failing to fulfill their duty, they were removed and they were replaced. And all who are faithful now to the doctrine of the apostles are the stewards and caretakers of the people of God, Jew and Gentile together in the church.—John MacArthur
Then, there is another wave of those who were seeking to entrap Jesus. Bring out the Pharisees and the Herodians. We’ve seen these guys before; this strange partnership, way back in Chapter 3.
Mark 3:1–6 (ESV)
3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
This is a very strange coalition. Normally these guys are enemies, however, they both hate Jesus so they team up for that. That is the one thing they can agree on…Jesus must go. This entire time, for three years now, they have been seeking to kill Jesus.
This section of Mark takes us through various traps the Jewish leadership set for Jesus. One by one He disarms them and we must see that for Jesus, that is so easy. He will continue until the time is right for Him to give His life. Until that day, there is nothing Satan and his workers can do. Jesus will always allude them.
Father, we thank You for Your Word today. We ask that we could hear it clearly and understand it correctly and be changed by it. All this for our eternal good and Your eternal glory…Amen.
Mark 12:13–17 (ESV)
13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 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. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 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.
1. Jesus’ Enemies Know He is True and Not Swayed by Opinion (12:13-14)
13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 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. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”
The idea here is that they would set a word snare and lead Jesus into it. Usually, flattery will cause people to let down their defenses and be easily led into the trap. Here, these Pharisees were telling the truth. Jesus is all the things they say and more. He is true. He does not care about other’s opinions. He’s not swayed by appearances. He teaches truth concerning God.
Think of it, Jesus is all these things. Why would they not embrace Him and make Him in charge of the Temple? Why would a religious person not want to follow One who teaches God accurately? They were religious but did not worship God.
Hypocrites make awkward alliances and hypocrites use any devious means they can. This is the interesting thing about hypocrites, they will speak the truth for devious ends if they need to. Be careful. We always say false religions are like the clock that doesn’t run; it’s right twice a day. If it was never right, there wouldn’t be any deception. So they will say what they need to say to gain the ground they need to gain.—John MacArthur
This encounter with Jesus is going to require teamwork. They recruited the Herodians because if Jesus said His anti-Roman things, they needed to have some pro-Roman witnesses who then having access to the governor and his people could run in there and say, and be accepted in saying, because they were known as pro-Roman, “This man is an insurrectionist. This man is leading an anti-Roman rebellion,” and so forth and so on.
Now, if the Pharisees ran in and said that, they’d sort of look at them funny and wonder what they were plotting, because they knew they wouldn’t come to warn Rome about an insurrection. So, they had to have the Herodians.
The empty flattery is not effective with our Lord.
You speak the truth
You teach the Truth
You are not swayed by men
You teach the way of God…yet they would not follow.
You are not swayed by people. Literally, You are not swayed by their facial expressions. So, if they really believe Jesus is from God and teaches rightly and is not swayed by the people, should they not be concerned that they are swayed by the people?
These Jewish leaders are the picture of hypocrisy.
Remember that the Pharisees and the Herodians are not of the truth. They don’t speak or teach truth. The truth is not even an issue for them. So, error and hypocrisy have no trouble aligning with each other against Jesus who is the truth.
It’s important for us to see this. Error and lies can side with each other against the truth. When the truth is attacked, you will often find strange alliances forming. The Pharisees and the Herodians have nothing in common. Pharisees are those who believe they can follow God’s Law closely and achieve works righteousness. The Herodians care not about Judaism but they care about Rome. Judaism and Romanism are opposites except when it comes to siding against the truth, then they can be friends for a while.
The Pharisees are there in case Jesus says anything against the Law of God. The Herodians are there in case Jesus says anything bad about Rome.
We can clearly see our Lord’s parable coming to pass. These are the wicked tenants who kill the Son.
These hypocrites claim to be on God’s side. They claim to be servants of God and seek to show everyone just how hard they do work. They seek to look impressive in others eyes however, the reality is they are not who they portray themselves to be. They are not what they claim to be.
They loved their way of life and their power over the people more than they loved the God they claimed to be serving.
We must consider how our behavior shows the condition of our hearts. A person can claim to be a Christian all day long. One could perhaps even point back to a day they had an emotional experience in a worship service. They may have been baptized and even a member of a local church. However, if their actions are not glorifying the Lord, if their deeds are worldly then they have no assurance that their salvation is genuine.
What do your actions say about your heart? These people claimed to be servants of God while at the same time planning the death of God’s beloved Son. Their actions showed who they really were. They were deceivers and liars, sons of Satan.
Listen to what Jesus said to these deceivers on another occasion:
John 8:39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father–even God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Jesus speaks the truth and He is from God the Father of truth, the Jewish leaders speak lies and they are from their father the devil because he speaks lies.
Hypocrites make unlikely alliances. Hypocrites may say and do things that make you think they are genuine believers but their lives and their fruit display the truth. Hypocrites also accuse others of the very thing they’re guilty of. They were the blasphemers not Jesus.
2. Jesus Knew Their Hypocrisy (12:15-16)
15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
It’s very clear that Jesus knew that they were spies and He also knew what they were doing.
These Jews are so wicked that they don’t even realize what Jesus is doing when He asks them for a Denarius. If they really cared about the things of God as they claimed, they too would have to ask someone else for this Roman coin. They were hired by Rome to collect the Tribute Tax.
What made the Tribute Tax especially hated by the Jewish people was that only peoples who had been conquered by Rome had to pay this tax. Only Jewish citizens had to pay.
It was the Jewish leadership who collected the Tribute Tax paid to Caesar. Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. It was the elders, chief priests and scribes who made up the Sanhedrin. It was the Sanhedrin who collected this tax from the people for Rome. This Tribute Tax had to be paid for with the silver denarius, with the image and inscription of Caesar. So, here’s the context…the Pharisees either have a denarius or they simply turn to the Jewish rulers of the Temple and get one because their pockets are full of them.
Here’s where things get really bad. The image was of Tiberius and the inscription read…
Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus
Only God is divine. The Roman empire worshipped Caesar as divine. So, when these Jews who were working for the Roman Empire were fine with saying God is divine and so is Caesar.
When Jesus asks them for a denarius, He was exposing the hypocrisy of their question. It stands to reason, those who possess the denarius also possess the answer to the question. They were, in fact, saying it is lawful to pay the Tribute Tax to Caesar because they’re the ones with pockets full of the tribute coins. Rome views Augustus Caesar as divine and Tiberius, his son also as divine. Because the Jewish leaders collect the Tribute Tax, which was a tax paid in honor of the divine Caesar, they were money collectors for a false deity and they were not caring for the things of God.
What is more, in the discourse that immediately follows, Jesus in essence charges them, together with the Sanhedrin, with being about the business of Rome rather than about the business of God.[1]
Now we understand why the Pharisees and the Roman Herodians could work together so well. Everyone was making money and their hatred of Jesus had to do with Him getting in the way. It was all about money.
The Jewish leadership had pockets that jingled with the sound of Roman silver and they didn’t care.
The early Church was persecuted for their obedience to God in worshipping Him alone. They would not say Caesar is Lord and for that they were martyred for their faith. These Jews had no problem riding the fence. Depending on their current company they could worship God or Caesar or whoever paid the most.
3. Render to Caesar and to God (12:17)
17 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.
Literally, give to Caesar the things that are his and give to God the things that are His.
Jesus shows that there are two kingdoms. There is the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God. These leaders, by their actions, show that they have sided with Rome. Their pockets are full of money and they’re out to kill the Son of God.
They have become proof of what Jesus taught…
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Rendering to Caesar the things that are his. Their view of taxation was that it was optional or even a gift. Their view was that these were somehow optional. They spoke of paying taxes almost as if it were a gift given to the government. Here Jesus tells them that they owe Rome for the benefits Rome gives to them. That’s what render means. Render is a debt to be paid because of a service provided.
Pay Rome what you owe them. Pay Caesar what you owe Caesar.
Here’s my question…What was Rome trying to take that belonged only to God? Worship.
Render to God what is God’s. We must never worship the state. We must never worship the government. We are to pay our taxes because we do receive benefits from the government but we must never allow the government to claim what only God should have. We cannot worship, trust in, or find security in the government. God alone should be worshipped.
When the government moves in to try to usurp what God alone should have then we must defy such a government.
Conclusion
For us, we must always be watchful that our government does not try to require our worship. We pay them taxes because we receive benefits from them. However, worship belongs only to God.
Jesus also tells us to render to God. What do we owe God for? We owe Him for all the wonderful benefits He has given us. So, worship God because He is Almighty Creator Savior. Worship Him because He has done great things for us.
Never trust the government. Never depend on them. Never find security there. Only Christ provides those things to His people. Worship Him only.
Pay your taxes and worship God only.
Resources Used:
Luke by Joel Green
Mark by William Lane
Mark by James Edwards
Words of grace
Colossians 3:16-17 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
[1] Joel Green, The Gospel of Luke pg. 715
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