Render To God What Belongs To God
BUT JESUS’ RESCUE PRECEDES OUR RENDERING
This week, we resumed our sermon series in the Gospel of Mark. We're back in the Temple with Jesus during Holy Week & the Sanhedrin have sent a new group of challengers to trap him. The Pharisees and the Herodians come to him with a question about taxes - "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?" (12:14). Jesus’ ingenious reply states, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (12:17). Caesar minted coins, so give those back to him. But God has made us in his image, so give yourselves wholly to him. But what Jesus knows about every person in His audience, including us, is that nobody has perfectly rendered their lives to God - we’re all in debt. He knows He’ll render His life for us. The cross looms large over this passage and any attempt on our part to render to God what belongs to God.