Question
of Taxes Today's
Three-minute Bible Study
Passage:
Mark
12:13-17* 14. And they came and said to
Him, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful, and
defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but
teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a
poll-tax to Caesar, or not? 15. "Shall we pay, or shall we
not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to
them, "Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to
look at." 16. And they brought
[one.] And He *said to them, "Whose likeness
and inscription is this?" And they said to Him,
"Caesar's." 17. And Jesus said to them,
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's." And they were amazed
at Him. Questions 2. How much has it cost you
emotionally? 3. How much has it cost you
relationally? 4. How much would you pay for
release from porn’s grip? Practical
help Understand that normally the
Pharisees who considered themselves the most devote
and pure Jews to ever have lived hated the Herodians
whom they believed had sold the nation of Israel out
to Herod and the Romans. And of course the Herodians
normally did not have a warm spot in their hearts for
the Pharisees. So in this story we have an
interesting alliance of two enemies who have come
together to destroy Jesus. Don’t think for a
minute that they were actually complimenting Him when
they said, “Teacher, we know that You are
truthful, and defer to no one; for You are not partial
to any, but teach the way of God in truth.” If
they had really believed this they would not have
sought to kill Him. So here is the trap: If Jesus
says that He agrees with the Herodians that taxes are
a good thing, then the people will turn on Him. And
if He says that Jews should not pay taxes to a foreign
government, then He will be quickly arrested and
executed for treason. Looks like a no-win situation
for Christ, doesn’t it? But there is one glitch in the
plan. These clever men are not dealing with an
ordinary man. No sweat forms on Jesus’ brow. Not
for an instant is He worried that He is about to be
checkmated. Calmly He asks for a small coin and then
asks whose face is on it. If Jesus were a cowboy, He
might have said, “Well boys, this cow has
Caesar’s brand. I guess you better return it to
him…but don’t forget God. You owe Him a lot
more than you do Caesar!” How about you? In the midst of
your bills and your taxes, do you recognize that you
owe God something even more basic and precious? And
what does God want? He just wants our love. Don’t
ask me why. He doesn’t have to prove
His love again. After all He has already laid his
life down for us on a Roman cross.
---
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Title: Question of Taxes
Keywords: "taxes"
Welcome
to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand
strong in the face of sexual temptation.13. And they sent some of
the Pharisees and Herodians to Him, in order to trap
Him in a statement.
1. How much has
pornography cost you financially?
Do you remember King
Herod? Well, actually there were many Herods found in
the gospel stories as well as the book of Acts. They
were members of a Jewish ruling family that
essentially worked for the Romans in order to stay in
power. Jews who retained power under Herod were known
as Herodians.
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*Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation
1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995. Used by permission.