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Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it." So they brought it. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." And Jesus answered and 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.
Then some Sadduccees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leave his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be For all seven had her as wife." Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken."
- Mark 12:13-27
Yesterday, we read that the day after Jesus cleansed the temple, He and the disciples came again to Jerusalem. It is Passover week, and they have come to Jerusalem for the feast, having made His Triumphal Entry into the city. They stay on the Mount of Olives with the other pilgrims. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?" But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'" -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those vinedressers said among themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it." So they brought it. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." And Jesus answered and 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. The Herodians were Jewish political supports of Herod, and therefore willing servants of Rome. Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, also rules Galilee, where Jesus is from and the site of most of His ministry. So both the powerful Pharisees and Herodians form a kind of elite of ruling parties. This question is meant to trap Jesus either way He answers. A "yes" answer would give Him trouble with the Jewish people, who deeply resent and are offended by Roman rule -- and who await a Messiah who will cast off the Romans and restore a kingdom of Israel. A "no" answer could bring a charge of treason that they can take to the Roman governor (Pontius Pilate). My study bible says that "His answer defeats their cunning and shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7). As the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to Him. Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God."
Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife." Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken." Here is another powerful ruling party questioning Jesus. The Sadducees consisted of landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem. They held high offices in Israel, and controlled both the temple and the Sanhedrin. They were different from the Pharisees -- the Sadducees were politically prudent and also adapted to the presence of the Romans rather than antagonizing them. My study bible tells us that the Sadducees interpreted the law even more rigidly than did the Pharisees, and unlike them, rejected belief in angels and in the resurrection from the dead at the end of the age. The Sadducees disappeared are the destruction of Jerusalem. Here the question reflects a kind of consideration of woman as party, with particular interest in prolonging heritage -- a childless widow being given to the next brother. But their outlook, as described by Christ here, is completely wrong. And it's wrong because spiritually they are wrong: they know nothing of the kingdom of heaven, nor do they care for it. The spiritual life is absent to them, and thereby their understanding of Scripture is deficient. They are highly "materialistic" in their outlook, fastened upon the literalness of the Law but also ruling out any consideration outside of it. The power of God is absent from their outlook. In the resurrection, none are given in marriage, each is like an angel, and all live in the power of God. There is no time, no generations, no need to produce offspring. For God is the God of the living and not of the dead.
What's interesting is the material focus in all of these questions in Jerusalem. It all comes after the cleansing of the temple, in which Jesus drove out the money changers, those selling live animals for sacrifice, and anybody carrying wares for sale. He said then that His Father's house was to be "a house of prayer for all nations," but that they had made it a "den of thieves." We can see the material focus: Is it legal to pay taxes to Caesar? Ironically, Jesus points to the face on the coin, the image for which the leadership uses money changers so that people will use temple money to purchase in the temple. There is hypocrisy here; the challenge about taxes begs the question of why there are money changers who make profits off those who have need to sacrifice in the temple as pilgrims to Jerusalem. The Sadducees, on the other hand, fail to understand anything of spiritual life. They mock the resurrection but on terms that are misapplied, because they really don't know what they are talking about -- and thereby nor do they understand the Scripture or are capable of its interpretation. Jesus, by His skillful answers, evades their traps. But He's also doing something else, He's teaching about the Kingdom, about the reality of spiritual life and the life of God. We don't live separately from this Kingdom; we may at the same time render unto God what is God's and unto Caesar what is Caesar's. We don't really understand the nature of ourselves as persons created by God if we don't understand the reality of resurrection and the spiritual life, life in the kingdom of heaven. We don't understand the nature of the soul and what it does mean to be a child of God if we don't understand the spiritual reality of God nor the power of God, which is life itself. Interestingly enough, Jesus' much broader and greater perspective in His answers tie the two questions together: we are persons made in the image and likeness of God. Until we begin to really understand that, then we have no idea what it is to be children of God, nor how to properly worship, nor to understand Scripture. We have no clue what the proper relationship to God must be, and this would include the purpose of this holy temple, not to be defiled with anything that takes away from the relationship with God in true prayer and worship. And that is really where Jesus comes in, the power and purpose of His Incarnation, as not just mediator but as Incarnate revealer of God to the people, as Son. This is where His ministry confronts what is going on in the temple with the leadership, those who are to have been good stewards of Israel, the people of God. Jesus stands in the midst as both cleanser and healer -- like a surgeon, cutting away that which defiles and corrupts, and as healer and redeemer restoring to wholeness what has been lost. We see His work here in the temple, cutting out what is extraneous, and responding skillfully to those who have no faith in Him. He is the living judgment, teaching that they don't understand the power of God nor the Scriptures, that the Pharisees aren't separating the material from the spiritual but rather claiming their own place of power over against Caesar in a purely political sense. This is where He stands in the midst for us, too, as issues like this pervade our world today just as they did in this temple 2,000 years ago. We go to Him for the clarity of our prayer and the purity of our worship, to restore relationship to Creator, to cleanse away from us and cut out what is extraneous and interfering with that relationship, and to set us in right relationship to neighbor and to the world. He stands in the midst, clarifying and redeeming, cutting away and making whole. We turn to Him with our own questions, and turn away from the "leaven of the Pharisees" -- the demand for proofs, the focus purely on the worldly in this sense, a lack of discernment and faith in the love of God in the heart. That's where we stand with Him and listen to His answers for us as well, and wonder how it is we are to be good disciples in this place of crossroads today. The temple is His Father's house, as we, too, are a temple of God. We can live in the world without being merely "of it" -- the Incarnation shows us how the world can be glorified by God, and God's power present in us and among us. How do we walk in the way of good discipleship?
