The Politics of Jesus
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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“In polite company, you should not talk about politics or religion.”
Or so people say. These topics are notoriously touchy, highly personal, and in discussing them, people are more sensitive than they would be discussing, perhaps, football.
Of course, Christians know that they cannot actually obey this maxim: part of who we are and what we’ve been called to includes talking about “religion.” But what about politics? Should Christians talk politics?
According to Pew Research Center’s analysis of 12,832 sermons from 2,143 different churches in America last year, the pulpit was more political than usual. The election, COVID, mandates, beliefs about purpose and necessity of law enforcement - all were reasons for this major uptick in political preaching.
Interestingly - and probably correlating - I don’t know if there’s been a more divisive time in recent American church history. Pastors are resigning by handfuls, unable to keep up with the demands and expectations of their members. Why did you talk about that? Why didn’t you talk about this? Elder boards have been divided, church members who, five years ago, felt close and connected suddenly felt out of place and disjointed.
I wonder if any of you have experienced this. By God’s grace, Grace Rancho has been united from the top down, not because we are robotically aligned to have the same opinions, like a cult, but because we know - and are learning - how to unite around God, the gospel, his word, and hold more openly areas where good Christians can disagree.
But there are families that have gone silent because of politics. It is sad to consider that there are some people becoming estranged from loved ones. There are churches that have split over politics. Friendships have been broken.
So maybe the old axiom is right: let’s just never talk politics. Well, for Christians, that’s not entirely possible. Particularly, for the expositional preacher. Why? Because Mark 12:13-17 is in the Bible. And when texts come up, we address them.
If you remember where we are in the gospel of Mark, you remember that it’s the last week of Jesus’ life. It’s a Tuesday; he’ll be crucified on Friday. He’s teaching in the temple and the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders - a delegation of the Jewish authorities, have been trying to discredit him. They ask about his credentials in 11:27-33, and Jesus embarasses them, and then tells a parable in 12:1-12 where he compares them to wicked tenants of a vineyard who greedily try to take the vineyard for themselves.
Now in our text this morning, the plot to entrap Jesus becomes even more sinister, more crafty. And if you think politics are divisive and polarizing now, you must understand that they were divisive and polarizing then as well. In our text, they will use the most politically touchy subject to get Jesus in trouble. Let’s read the text. Mark 12:13-17.
I’m going to divide the text into two sections: The Political Trap and the Profound Teaching.
First, the political trap. Verse 13: “And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.” There are a few things to notice here. First, the “they.” The “they” takes us back to 11:27 when the “chief priests and the scribes and the elders” came to him. That is who he had just told the parable to in 12:1-12. In verse 12 “they left him and went away.” But they were not done. They simply changed their strategy. Now, they’re getting others involved: they sent the Pharisees and some of the Herodians.
Luke includes another detail: “they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere.”
Now, these two groups couldn’t have been more different. The Pharisees were the most religious, the Herodians the least religious. The Pharisees were most concerned with the Law of God, the Herodians were most concerned with the Law of Rome. The Pharisees were most devoted to Israel, the Herodians were most devoted to Caesar. The Pharisees were intensely religious, the Herodians were intensely political. The Pharisees hated the Herodians, they had sold their soul to Rome. But, in this case, they were useful.
A common enemy can make strange friends. They were different on everything except their hatred of Jesus. And so they go hunting: the verb “to trap him” is a word that is used to describe what a hunter would do to a bird or some big game. They wanted to “trap him in his talk.”
Have you ever seen someone giving an interview and say something, and then realize what he said, and try to walk it back, but it’s too late? They want Jesus to do that.
But first, they want to butter him up, and butter up the crowd. Verse 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.” These opening statements are like holding out some seed to a bird before you try to grab it by the neck. They are intended to trick Jesus into thinking they like him; they’re for him; they're on his side, they’re interested in learning from him.
And remember, the crowds are all watching. The crowd, at this point, is amazed at Jesus, and if they appear to be entirely against Jesus, the crowd might turn on them. So they sweet talk him.
They pay him four compliments: 1) first, “we know that you are true.” You have a reputation for speaking the truth. 2) You do not care about anyone’s opinion. It’s not Jesus didn’t care about people, he did; but he didn’t let their opinions stop him from speaking the truth. 3) “For you are not swayed by appearances” - the Greek is literally, “you don’t look at anyone’s faces.” The idea is that some people change their opinions based on how people react. Jesus didn’t. He was committed to speaking the truth no matter what. And 4) “you truly teach the way of God.”
All of these are true. Jesus was all these things. But they’re not intending to compliment him. They don’t actually believe all these things. They are playacting, this is all an act. They are hypocrites. And Jesus knows it.
But now let’s come to their question. We must admit: this is a well-crafted question. The Pharisees and Herodians spent some time on this one, and they came up with a dandy: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”
This is a political firework. A question about taxes.
Disagreements about taxes have started more than one revolution. Disputes over taxes have led to bloodshed more than once.
In fact, to understand the significance of this question, we need a little history. In 6 AD, when Jesus was a little boy, Judea became a province under Roman rule, and they began to tax it.
There was a “ground tax,” which consisted of one-tenth of all the grain, and one-fifth of the wine and fruit produced. There was an income tax, which amounted to 1% of a man’s income, and there was a poll tax, which is the focus here. This is a tax levied for simply existing.
Reminds me of George Harrison’s song he wrote for the Beatles, “Taxman:” 'll tax the street, (If you try to sit, sit) I'll tax your seat, (If you get too cold, cold) I'll tax the heat, (If you take a walk, walk) I'll tax your feet.” It didn’t sit well with the Jews.
In fact, in AD 6 when this tax was rolled out, a man called Judas of Galilee led a revolt. He was a God-fearing Jew, and felt that to pay the tax was not only economically unjust, but theologically, he had a problem with it. He accused his fellow Jews of being cowards and making the Romans their gods instead of the one true God. For him, to pay the poll-tax was to grant allegiance to Rome and its paganism. It meant you were legitimizing Rome’s oppression. It meant you no longer cared about God’s promises to Israel. It meant you had given up on God.
The revolt was quickly stamped out by the massive Roman empire. But the sentiments of these Jews could not be stamped out. In fact, about thirty years after this event, in 66 AD, the Jews led another revolt against Rome for this. Those who revolted were often called “Zealots,” and if you remember, one of Jesus’ own disciples was a zealot. Jesus didn’t like it.The Pharisees didn’t like it but they tolerated it. The zealots refused to pay it, whatever the consequences.
So go back to the temple scene where this question is hanging in the air. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”
This is like someone walking into your family dinner with your left-wing aunt and uncle over here and your right-wing cousins over there and asking you, “So, what do you think about vaccinations?” Except worse.
One author put it: they wanted to “impale Jesus on the horns of a dilemma.” Here’s why. If he says “No you don’t need to pay your taxes. It’s an unjust tax that’s funding idolatrous pagan blasphemies. If you pay that tax, you’re siding with Rome against your own people.” If he says that, Rome can arrest him for insurrection. That will cost him his life.
If he says, “Yes, pay those taxes.” The Jews will think, “Hey, I thought you were a Jew? I thought you were one of us? Don’t you realize these taxes are oppressive? Don’t you realize you’re siding with the enemy? That will cost him his reputation.
Your reputation or your life. In the next few days, Jesus will lose both.
That is the Political Trap. Now we move to the Profound Teaching.
It’s been said that Jesus’ answer provides the basis for all western political philosophy. Verse 15 “But, knowing their hypocrisy.” Jesus sees through it. Matthew includes, “knowing their malice.” They were crafty, filled with malice, attempting to destroy him. Their loathing was masked with politeness and hollow pleasantries. Jesus was not tricked.
“He said to them, ‘Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” He doesn’t answer yes or no. He’s wiser than that, and once again he sidesteps their snare and moves to the offensive. A denarius was a common Roman coin that represented about a day’s wages. You work a day, you get a denarius.
His questioners are able to produce one. And Jesus asks, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” Whose face is printed on it, and what does he say? They respond, tersely, “Caesar’s.”
The denarius would have been minted with by the Emperor Tiberius (he was the emperor then), and on one side it would have an image of his face, and on the other side, there were the words: DIVI. AUG. FILIUS, which meant, “Son of the Divine Augustus.” These coins were problematic for the Jews for two reasons. First of all, because they did not believe in the divinity of Caesar, and secondly, each coin involved a graven image, and they were not supposed to make graven images.
What’s interesting is that though they were trying to trap Jesus, he set a trap for them. Apparently, he doesn’t have a denarius, but they do. They pull one out and bring it to them. The irony is that they hope to accuse him of betraying Israel, while they’re the ones who are holding and using pagan, blasphemous Roman currency - and by using this currency, you’re already recognizing the legitimacy of the Roman’s rule.
But that’s Jesus’ subversive trap. His explicit response is even more incredible. Volumes upon volumes have been written on this answer. Again, this says so much in so short a time. A child can understand it, but a year in political science class won’t unpack it. I mentioned earlier that western political philosophy is built upon these words:
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God’s.”
This is a shocking answer. It does so many things at once. I want to point out three implications of this statement.
First, Jesus recognizes that Caesar has legitimate authority. When Jesus says, “The things that are Caesar’s,” he is making the claim that there are some things that belong to Caesar. The word, “Render” holds the idea of meeting a kind of contractual obligation. Jesus is saying that Caesar has a legitimate, God-given sphere of authority which should be recognized by those under his rule - even the Jews.
Let’s just pause and think about a biblical theology of government. In Genesis 1:28, God created human government. Adam and Eve were to rule and subdue the whole world. They were the first king and queen. Government is God’s idea, and it is good.
God designed governments to protect their people. In 2 Samuel 23:3 says “When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.” Good rulers, good kings, good governments are good for their people. God’s design is good government. Government is a common grace; anarchy is from the devil.
Now, is all human authority used for good? No. Do all human governments honor the Lord? No way. But Scripture teaches us that all governments are instituted by God (Rom. 13:1). Pharaoh (Rom. 9:17), David (1 Chron. 28:4), Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 27:5-8), and all human kings (Dan. 2:21) are set up by the sovereign God who rules over them all. Jesus himself acknowledges that authority is given to people “from above” (Jn. 19:11). Human beings have authority because God gives it to them.
So when Jesus says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” he isn’t saying that he’s pro-caesar. He’s not taking sides. He is pointing to the biblical reality that every human government is appointed by God and therefore has legitimacy.
This was explosive for the Jews. Put yourself in a devout, 1st century Jew’s mindset. You know how God called Israel. You know the stories of the burning bush, the Exodus. You’ve been taught the law, the 10 Commandments from childhood. You know that God always intended to be Israel’s king, and he gave you a promised land that will one day be established as yours forever. You long for the day the Messiah comes and sets you free from the oppressive forces of Rome. And the one who seems to meet all the requirements to be the true Messiah says that Caesar’s rule is not only legitimate, but that you should fund it with your taxes?
A government does not need to be Christian to be legitimate. I remember when I first got here, we got a call from a young man who wanted to talk with me, and he came in, and he was visibly, almost tremblingly angry. He wanted to know my position on abortion, and what I was doing about it. I told him that we believe abortion is murder, and while we aren’t necessarily picketing abortion clinics, we do teach the transforming gospel, the sanctity of life, teach a biblical sexual ethic, and aim to build strong families - all of which oppose abortion. This was not enough for him; he asked if I was okay with paying taxes, knowing that my California tax dollars were going to fund murder.
Have you ever asked yourself that question? If your tax dollars are funding immorality, should you pay them? Your tax dollars are funding education that teaches boys can be girls? Your tax dollars are funding abortions, should you pay them?
I want you to see something here. In Matthew 17 some people come up and explicitly ask if Jesus paid his taxes. They say, “Yes.” Jesus paid taxes.
Consider this: Jesus’ taxes paid Pilate’s salary. Pontius Pilate, appointed by Caesar to govern Judea, was paid by the state, and Jesus’ taxes paid his salary. Jesus’ taxes were literally going to the government that would commit the most despicable crime in the history of humanity: the crucifixion of the perfect Son of God.
Now we have two options here: we either say Jesus was a fool, and should not have paid those unjust taxes. Or we say that Jesus was right, and we should follow his example, and we recognize that God put this government over us, and we render to the government that which belongs to the government.
According to Jesus, paying taxes to the government does not make one complicit in the government’s sins. Otherwise, Jesus himself would be a sinner.
Followers of Jesus pay their taxes. Now they don’t need to agree with the taxes. They most certainly can work within their governments to make just laws. We pray for that. Good governments are a blessing, and we are explicitly taught to pray for that in 1 Timothy 2. But we must not believe that we only submit to the government when we agree with it.
Jesus’ statement inspired the apostles to echo this. Paul, in Romans 13, now a controversial passage, says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God…” then in verse 6: “For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:13 “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good…” and then, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”
Now, what’s interesting here is that this implies that Recognize that Christians are not dependent on government support. “How do you get that from the text?” Simple: If Jesus is saying that it is okay for his people to live in Rome and pay taxes to Rome, then he’s implying that it is not necessary to have a Christianized government for the church to be fruitful.
In this statement, Jesus is legitimizing Christians who live under a pagan government. And if Christians can live under Rome, which was outrightly antagonistic to Christians, they can live in and support whatever nation God puts them in, even the the government is anti-Christian.
This, again, was earth-shattering for the Jews. It does indicate a genuine change. Up to this point, faithful Jews lived in Israel. They longed for their Messiah to retake Jerusalem and reestablish the throne of David. But here, Jesus indicates that they should not longer be expecting a political kingdom. They should settle in to the pagan nations of the world, and live as exiles, understanding that their true kingdom, and Jesus taught later, is not of this world.
They’re not called to overthrow the government, they’re called to pay taxes. They’re not called to revolt, they’re called to submit. They’re not called to gain and use political power. They’re called to die to self, take up their crosses, and follow Christ.
God will prove his might by showing he needs no political power to accomplish his will. He always does this. The Messiah comes as an infant, not a King. Salvation comes through crucifixion, not insurrection. The gospel advances through obscure service, not obvious dominance. The weakest are the strongest. The lowest are the noblest.
Some think that Christians need to have politics in their favor to survive. Or that the way to advance God’s purposes in the world is to win elections, secure votes, establish freedoms. Now, let me be clear: I am pro-winning elections, pro Christians working for change in the government, and I am for freedoms. Many freedoms are worth dying for.
But here, when Jesus legitimizes rendering to Caesar his due, he is making it clear that his purposes and his people will not be dependent upon government cooperation. Christians survived under Caesar. Under Nero, Caligula, Tacitus, Claudius, Domitian - Roman emperors who hated Christians and wanted to stamp them out.
Throughout the centuries, we Christians have infiltrated and survived just about every form of China. Read about Richard Wurmbrand’s evangelism in communist Russia, the underground church spreading like wildfire in communist China.
Christians have survived bad presidents, bad governors, tyrants, congresses, parliaments, and kings and emperors. All through the ages, through the centuries, they have been good citizens amidst such fallen regimes. When Christians tried to advance God’s purposes in the world through political force, they got in trouble. Take the crusades for instance. The Christian church has never advanced through political power. Leave political power to Caesar. Pay your taxes. Submit. And get to work for the kingdom of God, which, as Jesus said, is not of this world.
So being practical. Let’s be clear: good laws are good. It is good for Christians to work and vote and advocate for change. Policies, laws, ordinances - they all matter. But, Christians must be careful not to think that the key to the success of the Christian church is succeeding in all those areas. No. Usually, it is possible to be good Christians and good citizens.
Now, I say usually because that’s not all Jesus said. The third bombshell is this the second half of the statement, “And to God the things that are Gods.” What are the things that belong to God? Well, everything belongs to God. Recognize God has a total claim over your life.
What’s interesting is that the words Jesus uses to ask about the coin: “whose likeness is this?” Because the face on the coin indicated ownership. Whoever’s face was on the coin owned it.
That same word, “likeness” is eikon in Greek, and it’s the word that describes humanity being made in the “likeness” of God. In other words, Just as the coin had the likeness of Caesar, and needed to be given to Caesar, so every human being is stamped with the likeness of God, and needed to be given to God.
What God demands from us is our entire lives, our full devotion, our full love, trust, and obedience. That’s what belongs to God.
Caesar has a rightful claim over your life. But God has a greater, fuller, more complete claim over your life. You can render to Caesar what belongs to him. But you do not render to Caesar that which belongs to God.
What belongs to God that does not belong to Caesar? Your complete, unfettered, unquestioning faith and devotion. That does not belong to Caesar. There is always a limit to our submission to a human government. We do not give our allegiances entirely to any one government.
Look: Jesus’ statement cuts to the left and the right. There are those on the right and those on the left who have given their hearts to a certain form of government. Now, I have political beliefs. I am not a relativist here, as if everyone is right in their own way. I think some forms of government are worse, some are better, and it is good to pray for better governments.
However, people on the right or people on the left can be guilty of giving to Caesar that which belongs to God. They give their devotion to their ideal form of government. They set their hopes on their certain form of government. They think that political victory is the key to glory.
What about you? Have you set your hopes on the state of our nation? The form of our government? Here’s how you would know this: are you okay with spiritual lethargy, but annoyed by people who seem less engaged politically? Do you have relationships that are severed over political disagreements? Do political losses send you plummeting into depression or anxiety? Which are you more fervently pursuing: political activism or personal holiness?
Are you rendering to Caesar a devotion, trust and hope that only belongs to God?
You belong to God. Everyone here belongs to God. God stamped his image on you when he made you. You are an image bearer, and you reflect realities about the God who made you. And what Jesus is saying is that the most fundamental call on your life is to give yourself back to him. How?
By confessing that you’ve tried to live for yourself, and admitting that that’s sin. By understanding that since God is holy, your sin is offensive to him, and that he would be right and just to punish you for your sin. But also by recognizing that God sent his Son Jesus Christ to come and make the payment for your sin. That he willingly died on the cross, suffering for the sins you committed, and rose from the dead vindicating all his claims. You must trust him for salvation, and embrace him as your loving Lord.
Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. We render to Caesar that which is Caesar - we submit to governing authorities, we pay taxes, we’re good citizens. But more importantly, we render to God that which belongs to him. We love, adore, worship, and obey him. We set our hopes upon his mercy, our minds upon his word, our wills toward his purposes. We seek first his kingdom.