I love how verses 32 and 33 show the voice of reason coming out of one of the religious leaders after he asks Jesus what the greatest command is; “32 Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” what is even better was Jesus’ response in verse 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” It was almost like Jesus says, “Finally, someone has a clue!” The key is to remember that to love God with all our hearts is the Greatest Command. This means loving Him above all else; above career, friends, even family! Sometimes that is a hard pill to swallow.
2012 Day 70 – Mark 12
10 Saturday Mar 2012
Posted in Daily Reading
Daily Devotion 
Tim Keller has an excellent message about this passage here http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sites/sermons2.redeemer.com/files/sermons/RPC-Arguing_about_Politics.mp3
This passage has nothing to do with paying or not paying taxes in the simplistic way we tend to read this passage.
This questioning happened right after he had cleaned out the temple. The questioners in this interchange were the Pharisees and the Herodians – political enemies. Herodians supported Roman rule, the Pharisees didn’t. So they took this opportunity to find out his politics.
This tax they were asking about was a head tax of 1 denarius, which is a very small sum of money. The tax wasn’t so much about the amount, but it was a symbol of the privilege of being a subject of Cesar. 25 years before, when this tax was instituted, a guy named Judas the Galilean led a revolt. He 1) told the Jews not to pay the tax, 2) took an armed band to cleanse the temple of all foreigners and 3) called upon the Kingdom of Heaven to come down – that God would be there king and get rid of poverty, oppression etc… He was crushed by the authorities.
Now it’s 25 years later and history is repeating itself. So they weren’t asking about paying taxes, they were asking about what his political affiliation. They were asking, are you a revolutionary? And here’s the trap. If he says “no, don’t pay” he’s calling for an armed revolt, and he’ll be crushed by the authorities. If he says “yes, pay” then everyone who’s heard him talking about the Kingdom of God will leave. Yes he loses the people, no he gets crushed.
So in his usual, masterful way, he answers.
Who’s image is on this? Cesars. Ok. Then give it to him. Does it mean taxes? No. Only give to Cesar what has his image. It literally was Cesar’s money. It was minted out of his wealth. And then he said to give to God what has God’s image on it. This was actually the first theory of limited government. Up to that point, all forms of government had claimed they were gods and deserved absolute allegiance and worship. In this one interchange, basically says, don’t give anyone that power. In fact, in this interchange, he really treats Cesar with complete ambivilence. See, when the questioners ask, the use a word for give that means “gift”. When Jesus answered, he used a word that meant “pay back what he deserves”. Basically, you can give Cesar his money back, but don’t give him your allegiance. That belongs to God alone.
It’s awesome! He doesn’t say no, which would lead to a revolt, but he also doesn’t just say yes, be a compliant, complacent, good little citizen. He’s refusing political simplicity and political complacency. It goes along with Luke 16 and what I commented regarding that passage. So if he refuses these things and we are his followers, then we must also refuse them as well.
I would HIGHLY suggest listening to this sermon. Tim Keller rocks it!