And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.
-Mark 12:13-17 (KJV)
It's interesting, to me anyway, that many of my posts this week has come as a result of discussions I've taken part in, or have just read, in various Christian groups on Facebook. Christian groups on Facebook is truly a "melting pot" of denominational and religious viewpoints. Today's post comes from one such discussion this week. A question was posed to the group about churches and the tax exempt status. Should churches be tax exempt? Let's broaden the scope, should non profit organizations be tax exempt? Let's examine Scripture and see what God has to say.
Mark 12:13-17, we see where the religious leaders of Jesus' time are once again trying to trap Jesus into saying something wrong-something that would give them reason to kill Him. They ask Him, in verse 14, "And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" I'm certain, in their minds, they thought Jesus would tell them not to pay tribute (taxes) to Caesar. That would give them reason to kill Him. Not that they wanted to pay taxes, but because Jesus would be speaking against the ruling authorities of His time. Jesus responds in verse 17, "And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him." After asking for a coin (v. 15) and asking them whose inscription is on it (v. 16), Jesus tells them to pay their tribute, and also to pay their tithe. That is what He meant when he told them "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." What are we to give to Caesar? The tribute (tax) money. What are we to give to God? Our tithe.
Is this principle that Jesus taught them a command for us to follow, or something that was just for that one time and place? In the course of that discussion on Facebook, one responder said, "It was not a command but rather Jesus response to a trick question by the pharisees." So then, what constitutes a command, and what does not? Can we only follow the commands that we want to follow? Can we skip the hard ones. Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-37 " Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." What we have hear is what many of us consider a commandment of Jesus. The question was asked to Jesus by a lawyer. He wanted to know what the greatest commandment was. Jesus replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." We shall love God with all our parts. If you look to verse 35, "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying," So we see here that they were trying to trick Jesus once again. Does this mean that the response by Jesus was not a commandment, but rather an answer to a one time question? I don't think so. We have faith in Him that is a result of our love for Him. We are not going to follow Jesus if we don't love Him. We're not going to do the works that He has called us to do if we don't love Him. We bring honor to God, and show our love for Him, when we do what He's commanded us in the Bible. We can't pick and choose what we want to follow and what we don't. We can't skip the hard commands to follow (like paying taxes) and just do the easy ones.
Back to our original study in Mark 12. Jesus told them to pay their taxes. Paul wrote about this same topic in Romans 13:1-7, " Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. 3 For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. 4 The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. 5 So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.
6 Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. (NLT)" Paul says to pay our taxes. Why, because we must submit to the governing authorities. Even when we don't agree with the way they spend our money. Think About It.
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