Mark 12:13-27

Never was there a more one-sided battle of wits than the one we see in this passage. There are two, carefully set traps that were long used in the arguments of the day.  These verbal traps had befuddled and ruined all that had fallen into them until they attempted to use them on Jesus.

The politically motivated Herodians who sought to advance Israel’s cause or, more accurately, their own cause with support of the Romans set the first trap.  At their side were their rivals the sect of the Pharisees.  However Jesus answered this trap question one side or the other would have Him.  He would either be at odds with the Romans or with the people.

First, Jesus calls them out for their duplicitous motives. While they use flattery He simply responds with the truth. They may have hated Caesar, but they accepted benefits from him, as evidenced by their having one of his coins. If Caesar was so wicked why would they use his coins? So what does belong to God and what is legitimately Caesars? Those things that carry their images belong to those whose image they bear.  So long as the state does not demand what is God's the state is to be honored.

The second trap is a straw man fallacy. It demands that they cast the situation so ludicrous that it can never be taken seriously. The Sadducees wanted to create the picture of seven brothers fighting for all of eternity over a woman. Jesus explains that these learned men had two problems. They were doubly ignorant, not knowing the Scriptures they claim as their authority and secondly they were ignorant about the nature of God. The Books of Moses, which were the only ones they accepted, are what the Lord uses to teach them. God speaks in the present tense, as the God of the Patriarchs-He is the God of the living because He is the Living God.  God is not the God of the dead corpses, but He is the God of those still living because he animates them.  

This brings to mind two questions.  Whose image is marked on us?  Who is it that animates our lives?