Whose image and inscription is this?

 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 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."

- Mark 12:13-27

Yesterday we read that, after spending the night near Bethany, east of the City, they came again to Jerusalem.  This is the day after He cleansed the temple.  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 supporters of the ruling house of Herod the Great (who built the lavish restoration of the temple as it was in Jesus' time; and father of Herod Antipas, who was at this time ruler of Galilee).  They were therefore willing servants of Rome.  Given the Pharisees' perspective on the necessary isolation of Jewish life from the influence of foreign culture and practice, it is likely that these two groups of men are on opposite sides of the question.  If Jesus answers Yes, He could be called a collaborator with the Roman occupiers; if He answers No, He could be charged with treason or inciting insurrection before the Roman authorities.  But again, His capacity with words and language, and the concepts He introduces are more profound than that.  The paradox of the worldly and the sacred which typifies the Incarnation itself makes Christ's faith one that opens us to deepening and expanding mysteries.  My study bible says that the distinction between the things that are Caesar's and the things that are God's doesn't imply that there is a division of a believer's life into the secular and the sacred.  Instead, God is Lord over all of life, including the secular.  But we do, however, fulfill governmental requirements that do not conflict with our first responsibility to God (Romans 13:1-7; contrast Acts 4:19, 5:29).  It adds that paying taxes and other similar civil duties are not detrimental to holiness. 

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."  My study bible tells us that the Sadducees represent landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem; they form a kind of aristocracy of the City.  They held high offices in Israel, and controlled the temple and the Sanhedrin.  They were different from the Pharisees, in that they were politically prudent and they adapted to the presence of the Romans.  The Sadducees, my study bible adds, interpreted the law more rigidly than the Pharisees.  Unlike the Pharisees, they also rejected belief in angels and in the resurrection from the dead at the end of the age.  The Sadducees, as a class, disappeared altogether after the destruction of Jerusalem.   When Jesus tells them, You are mistaken, it is a confirmation that there will indeed be a resurrection (as the Pharisees hold), but it won't be the sort of thing that the Sadducees imagine here.  They consider the resurrection to be a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), and thereby mock the doctrine with this absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus teaches them, they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, therefore their questions are irrelevant.  Moreover, my study bible adds, they fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  It's the clear teaching of Christ, a note adds, that the souls of the faithful who have departed life in this world are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.

The Gospels lay out the competing religious perspectives in the rulers of the temple and of the people at this time.  The Sadducees are wealthy landowners, closely linked to the priestly classes, an aristocratic party of Jerusalem.  Their religious understanding upheld in particular the first five books of the Old Testament, called Torah or Pentateuch.  The Pharisees and their closely linked associates the Scribes are experts in Scripture, who hold that both the written Law and the tradition built up around the Law are necessary to keep Jewish faith and identity pure, and free of external foreign influence.  In some cases, Jesus' positions seem to side more with the Pharisees, such as on divorce and also resurrection.  In other ways, Jesus openly opposes the Pharisees, telling them that they uphold the traditions of men and cast aside the Law of God (see Mark 7:1-13).  They become His most outspoken critics in the Gospels on a number of occasions, seeking with hostility to find fault with His disciples and Himself, as well as John the Baptist (see Luke 7:24-33, especially verse 30).  Indeed, their very hostility can be linked to the fact that Jesus is from Galilee, a place of mixed Jewish and Gentile populations.  (See John 7:47-52, in which they falsely claim that no prophet had arisen out of Galilee, seemingly "forgetting" about Jonah.)  Today's questions and Christ's answers call us toward His reconciliation of what seem to be paradoxical impossibilities in a worldly sense.   This same phenomenon happens when Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well in John's Gospel (John 4).  She questions Him about the proper location of the temple, remarking on the conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews, but He answers her with an unexpected new understanding:  "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).  This great revelation is the key to Christ's answers for us when we have a conflict regarding the sacred and the worldly, and we are not sure where to turn.  Because of the Incarnation, we now know God as Spirit, and that we worship in spirit and in truth.  Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, the time and the place, the issue or the conflict, we can turn in prayer to the presence of God and seek a way through that keeps us faithful.  Because of the Incarnation, we do not consider heaven and earth to be fully and perfectly linked; rather, what we understand is that Christ is with us, the kingdom of God is within us and among us (Luke 17:21).  The good news that comes to us is the very announcement that the kingdom of God is at hand, it has come near to us (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15).  In this world, we are always in the midst of spiritual struggle, and to this struggle we are all called as His followers.  But we are also given to understand that God's presence is with us, and through faith and prayer we not only have communion, but we also share in a far greater communion which is also always at hand to strengthen us and help us to find our way, His way.  Christ Himself is our Ladder, linking us to His kingdom at all times and places; moreover the saints with whom we pray do so as well.  Because of the work of the Spirit, we understand in the ancient tradition of the Church the sanctification of worldly things and places, just as we ourselves may be baptized and chrismated, receiving the Spirit.  During our services, we know that we worship even with the angels who continually praise God before God's face.  Let us remember our prayers reach the very hope of the hopeless; with faith we will always find the One who shows us the way through whatever conflicts and choices the world will hand to us, who trampled death through death and gave eternal life through the Cross.  This is the reality of our Lord's gift of paradox.  Through Christ, we know that we each bear Christ's image within, even as the coin bore the image and inscription of Caesar.  Let us remember God at all times.