The
Herodians
were supporters and beneficiaries of the government and gained
benefit from the Roman taxes. On the other hand, the more religious
Pharisees had a militant political wing who had protested and
revolted against the tax – sometimes with violence. The Pharisees
and the Herodians, were sworn enemies but, against Jesus, they become
allies. Jesus was upsetting things, his actions were alarming and
threatened the plans of both political groups.
They
wanted Jesus to make a public statement that would make lose
popularity: “should we pay taxes to the Romans?” (Mark
12:15)
By
paying taxes to the Romans you were financially supporting the
occupation but refusing to pay taxes could bring the death penalty.
Religion and politics are always cultural hot buttons. Religious
persons use politics to further their agendas and the politically
motivated use religion to further theirs. Both groups were putting
culture and politics on a higher level than God
Clearly,
Jesus did not have a coin. He
asked the people who seemed to be concerned to produce one. They were
already making accommodations to their current reality.
Jesus
argued that, since the coin belonged to Caesar, it was right to give
it back to him. They complained about the taxes but not about the
benefits.
At
the same time, the Romans were neither the answer nor the primary
problem in regards to personal and community sin. The
Pharisees' and Herodians' allegiance was misplaced. One
group worshiped the state; the other worshiped their religious
system. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God
what is God's.” (Mark
12:17)
We
must set Jesus as our priority over government and religion. You have
heard it said, the two surest things in life are death and taxes but
Jesus
tells us that the surest thing in life is the power of the kingdom of
God. It renders political rulers irrelevant in its wake. The empires
of this world rise and fall but God’s kingdom wins in the end. It
is to that Kingdom and its King that we belong.
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