Mark 12:17 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 12:17

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It is by his final words that they are so caused to marvel. Literally it translates the Greek, which says they were astonished at him. They never expected this. They had brought this question because they believed that it was impossible for him to answer it without being entrapped. They themselves felt this was an impossible choice. Either you paid the tribute to Rome, to Caesar, and by doing so you repudiated Israel as the nation which God had chosen and blessed and which should look to him alone; either you did that, or else you refused to pay and you would bring down the wrath of the Romans on you. Surely there was no other solution. But Christ gives them a solution, and he does it in so few words; he does it so simply, and so effortlessly. ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.’ It is an answer to the question. The question is, Is the Christian (or the Israelite of old) for God, or for Caesar? For both, replies the Lord, as appropriate. And the answer is not just a tactic; it is a direct answer. Of course, behind the metaphor he uses is the truth that while our coins belong to the state, our hearts belong to God. They too have an image and inscription embossed upon them: we are made in the image of God. The coins in our pockets, through which economic activity takes place, have the imprint of the state on them, but our hearts have the imprint of the Lord, and we owe him our hearts. It is quite possible to pay our taxes and to obey God at the same time, indeed he tells us to honour the state. Honour the king; honour the government. Vote them out if you want to, if you have the opportunity. Vote another group in if you have the opportunity, and you are of a mind to do so, but whoever is in power, government, generally, is ordained of God. ‘And to God the things that are God's.’ Christ is Lord of the spiritual realm. So there were times when we obey God rather than men. It's easy to know what times – the moral law; the doctrines of the Bible; the faith and the preaching of the gospel. Obviously, if the civil government tells us to break God's moral law, we obey God rather than men. If the civil government says, you may not preach the gospel, we obey God rather than men. There's an example of that in the book of Acts chapter 5, and elsewhere also. The exceptions to the sway of civil government are all mentioned in the Scripture, and we can list them. There are seven exceptions in the New Testament, and we know when we have to obey God rather than men. But outside those seven revealed exceptions, we comply with civil government. What Christ said is a standard for all times, and it is taught elsewhere in Scriptures also. Even though they hated him, even though they were trying to bring him down, they were amazed at this reply. They realised that this was so obvious, so simple and yet so profound. ‘Why didn’t we see it that way, that we have a duty to the governing power and we have a duty to God’, and it all became crystal clear in their minds in a moment. But in due course, even though they did not trap him, they did not bring him to make statements against Caesar, yet they will still claim they did, and in Luke 23:2 we read: ‘And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.’ So whether they succeed in causing Christ to utter rash words or not, they are going to accuse him of this very thing.

Application

This answer prepares the way for the gospel age, when God’s people will no longer be living in a theocratic nation, but scattered throughout the world, and members of two kingdoms at the same time. We are all born into a kingdom of this world which asserts its law over us, and hopefully defends us and gives us certain rights. As such we recognise that God ordained government and submit to it. But if we become Christians by the new birth we are also members of the kingdom of heaven. That kingdom exists alongside earthly kingdoms and it too has laws and responsibilities, and it has a King. Israel saw itself as a nation which had had its sovereignty taken away. The only solution in their minds was for that sovereignty to be restored. But in the plan of God, the national covenant was about to come to an end. Already they were an occupied nation, and soon they were to lose their nation altogether. Could God no longer be worshipped under these circumstances? Not at all. The dawn of the church age would see local churches operating around the globe as the gospel was preached to all nations. Believers in Christ would have loyalties to their state, and to the kingdom of heaven, and most of the time there would be no conflict between these two loyalties. Christ’s answer shows that it possible to draw a clear line between our responsibilities to the state and our responsibilities to God.

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Mark 12:17 Commentary and Bible Study