Caesar’s

They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. (Mark 12:16)

 

Caesar is the name of the emperor of Roman Empire, and that in the text may be interpreted as the representative name of the authority of secular state. In the history, people have generally regarded Caesar as a feared object. Their service for Caesar or a king would had originated from a certain being powerful. The crowd at that time of Jesus was suffering from an excessive burden of tax payments under the rule of the Roman Empire. Also, as Jews, they had to pay the temple’s tax as well as various offerings. And the forces that try to plot to do harm to Jesus, who was preaching the gospel of Heaven, were not only among the Pharisees of Judaism, but also in Herodians.

 

The reigning forces like kings began with a family or the clan and tribal societies of the past and have been continued to modern times. At first, a powerful being took possession of territory by force and ruled over the people who lived there. People usually like to live individually and freely, but they couldn’t ignore the power of the rulers because they had a necessity to live with others in society. And the rulers created laws and institutions to maintain their own power and imposed taxes on the inhabitants. To be sad, there seemed had been in history many selfish and unjust rulers than the righteous.

Every power that exists in the world started with God’s creation and command. Because God created all things in the world including man, and He ordered to rule over all nature to man created by Himself. This is not saying referred to God as the maker of the unjust world power. God did never give orders to do injustice and rule over by evil force. It is true God commanded and man followed the order, nevertheless it belongs to man’s arbitrary responsibility to act something wrong, because man can use one’s own free will. Evil spirits, intruding into such the matter, try to mislead people into evil doings and cause troubles in the middle of God and man at any rate.

As we see in Biblical teaching, the reality of human lives, either in the past or now, lies around total crisis. And the forces against Christ always exist as before. Satan entered into the mind of the Pharisees and Herodians, so they tried to find fault with Jesus. The Pharisees are thoroughly Jewish law-abiding people, and the party of Herodians are anti-nationalists with pro-Roman tendencies following Herod. The topic they talked about was whether it was right or wrong to pay taxes to Caesar. Satan prefers indirect and covert maneuvers rather than open defense. Hiding anything and trying to hurt others in a cowardly way is never be a right way. However not a little people are busy learning that wrong way from an early age directly or indirectly. Conspiracy, trickery, treachery and revenge, these things are undesirable behavior that Satan’s servants do. Those who wanted to speak ill of Jesus asked him about the tax issue to Caesar, in guise with words of praise for Jesus. Though Jesus perceived their bad intention but gave them clearly a right answer.

Jesus, who took a coin and made it visible, asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” And they replied, “Caesar’s.” Denarius was a Roman silver coin that was about the same value as Drachma the Greek money at that time. One Denarius was made with 3.8 grams of silver, equivalent to a worker’s daily wage. The saints of Christ belong to two countries respectively. But the two countries have not same nature with each other. The kingdom of Heaven is the eternal kingdom of God as a country of spiritual dimension. And a country on the land belongs to this world that will disappear someday. Therefore we have to pay taxes to this country of world, and give a tax to God’s country too, of course.

 

Those who wanted to censure Jesus only had asked silly questions after all. Because in the matter of taxes between the God’s and the Caesar’s, there cannot be a conflict. The given to Caesar is a tax according to the laws and regulations set by the Roman state. But among all we have is nothing not given from God. Thus we have to offer God everything we have; the body and mind, the property, the children, the workplace, the talent, the technology, and etc. Remember Judas Iscariot stole God’s and was dead miserably as the result. And some people may think a tithe as if a donation to be laudable, but we should know, in fact, it is nothing more than an expression of offering a so little among all the things God gave man.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Jan 24th 2021)