July 29, 2024: Monday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 12:13-17
Dear Bible Study Community,
May the joy of God's provision of summer rain fill your life, and hopefully it will not mean the growth of unwanted greenery in your yard, or at your place of work. After such good rainstorms this past week, we must also know that some folks have suffered damage to their homes. We prayed for some folks yesterday who lost their roof off their home this past week. I think that we can offer prayers for everyone whose lives were complicated by the summer monsoon. Please also keep Teri in your prayers, as her rescue dog nears death from cancer. Thank the LORD for people like Teri who are able to give a rescue a loving home toward the end of their life and pray for peace and comfort for this much-loved dog. I, like Martin Luther, believe that we will once again meet and get to know these pets. Is there any doubt about the soul in such a pet who loves us with such devotion?
Today we are moving on in chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark, and we will look at a very familiar passage about the challenges and questions of the authorities who hoped to entrap Jesus, causing Him to lose his following, or to cause the Roman authorities to arrest Him for seditious words against them. This familiar question about paying taxes to the government should certainly strike a chord in our lives. In Lutheran Christianity we believe that government is one of the orders of God's creation for the good of His people in the world. I know that that would seem to be a simplistic statement, but Luther goes on to talk about unjust governments and the responsibility of the believer to advocate for change, even if it means incarceration. Enough of the thought of Martin Luther for now. However, here in Mark 12 Jesus makes it clear too, that citizens of a nation should pay what the government requires of them yet should also know that thanksgiving to God means meeting the guidance of the Word, which itself indicates that a good starting place would be to give 10%. I know from our own family's giving what it means to grow beyond that, and sometimes it is really tough to write that check, even when we know that it is our thanksgiving to God for His gift of Jesus for us.
So, let's look at the taxes that a person in Israel would have to pay under the reign of their own King, and under the presence of the Roman empire in their nation.
A ground tax. This tax consisted of one tenth of all of the produce of the land or sea. It was paid both in kind, and then also in the money it produced.
Income tax. If one's work was not to produce from land or sea, there was still a tax on income from work. 1%
A Poll Tax. Basically, this was a tax for just existing, hence the census in which Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem so they could be counted, and subsequent decisions about what kind of money the government could expect to receive.
We also know the story about the disciple tax collector. Often if a person was going to do business in a community they would also get hit with a tax or taxes just to get into the city to earn money. These tax collectors padded their own wealth by charging much more than the law required. Remember in our study of Nehemiah that there was a series of gates in the wall of Jerusalem that created a short cut to get through the city. Imagine the taxes collected at that spot every day!!
I have often felt used when having to pay a toll to use a section of a U.S.A. highway, that taxes have already paid for, and then finding out that the road is in really bad condition, so that the tolls must be going to some other expense.
You and I need to know why the Herodians, and religious leaders felt that speaking about coinage would be a good way to entrap Jesus, thinking that there was no answer which He would be willing to give because it would get Him into trouble either with the people, or with the Roman Government.
Coinage was a sign of power. After all it was the picture of the Roman Emperor on the denarius. Rome was the supreme authority of that time. It was the habit of any powerful rebel or leader to mint their own coinage, thereby laying claim to authority and power in a particular region.
If a minted coin had power in a certain area, and was considered valid for trade and payment, then that was an acknowledgement of that leader's authority in that region.
Coins with images on them were considered to actually belong to the person whose image appeared on the coin.
So, when Jesus says to render to Caesar what is Caesar's, He is acknowledging that the emperor is the owner in one kind of world view, while there is another where God is the power to be acknowledged. In the real world they exist side by side.
It is in response of Jesus to this question, which is meant to entrap Him, that Jesus gives the reader three great principles.
We have already said this one, the just state is ordained by God. It is meant to provide for the health and well-being of its citizens.
No person can accept the benefits of the state, and then choose to opt out of their responsibilities.
There is a limit. The coin, the denarius, had Caesar's image on it, but every person is created in the image of God! If there is a conflict between the two, we must always remember that the state belongs to God too. Then it becomes the responsibility of the Christian person to bring change about in a peaceful manner, and for those who do this, they must have a willingness to pay the civil price for standing against the state, trusting that God will bring about the restoration of the just state, through peaceful actions. When this happens it is often the case that those who support the unjust state will respond with hostility, anger, and violence.
I am certain that we could have a very long conversation about this reality, but this is enough for today.
With love in Christ, Pastor Kim
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