Mark 12 Render Unto God

Mar 12:14  And when they were come, they say unto him, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one; for thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
15)  Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why make ye trial of me? bring me a denarius, that I may see it.
16)  And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
17)  And Jesus said unto them, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. And they marvelled greatly at him.

I'm sure many of you have read or heard this passage before; probably in the context of paying taxes. That is a valid lesson from the passage, but, as is usual with God's word, there is more. I want to point out something relating to "image and superscription" in verse 16.


Jesus asks whose image and superscription are on the coin He has been given, and He is told that they are Caesar's. Then in verse 17 He says, in effect, that the image and the writing on the coin indicate that it belongs to Caesar. (Did you ever think that the money in your pocket belongs to the ruler or government of your country? I suppose not, most people think it belongs to them...)

Going back to our passage, we read that Jesus also says that there are things which belong to God. What could that possibly mean?

The Bible will interpret itself, and the Holy Spirit will teach us correct understanding, so let's find out who or what carries God's image and writing, since that is what shows ownership here.

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27)  And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Ah-ha! MAN (male and female) was created in God's image! But what about writing? The coin had Caesar's image and writing...

In the Old Testament, God's words were written on stone, and there is no OT verse in which God says He has written anything on man. But in the New Testament we learn that the Gentiles, who were not given the written law, had something written on them:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15)  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;

This is sometimes called natural law. What it means is that everyone, in every culture, has a knowledge of right and wrong: God's law written on their hearts.

So, going back to the passage in Mark, what are we to give to God? That which is made in His image and bears His writing. Our bodies are made in His image, and our hearts have His law written on them. We are His, and we are to give ourselves to Him.

Romans 8:28 All for Good

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Gen 50:19  And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

As I have shared before, I am a member of After God's Heart, a community Bible Study for women. We are currently making our way through Romans. In studying Romans 8:28, we were asked how God used something bad to produce something good in the Genesis passage. My answer was that God used Joseph's brothers' evil intent to provide for the salvation of their whole family.

As I was writing my answer the parallel in Jesus' life struck me: God used the evil intent of the rulers of the Jews, to whom He was related, to provide for the salvation of everyone in the nation. Further, God used the evil political system of the time to provide the same thing for everyone in the world.
There is only one condition placed upon receiving this provision: believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and say that you do. God will take it from there. What could be easier?

Genesis 3:15 Seed of the Woman

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

It is Advent, when people all over the world anticipate the day we remember Jesus' birth. No one knows exactly which day He was born, and probably it was not in mid winter. But the day of His birth is not as important as the fact of His birth and the reason He was born. God knew from the beginning that a remedy for man's imperfection would be needed, and He planned for that remedy to be provided at what He knew would be the right time and the right place.

Genesis 3:15 is generally accepted as being the first prophecy in Scripture about the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. It says that He would be born of a woman, so He would be human. But He would be "her seed." This is an odd phrase because the seed is what is planted, and in the Bible refers to men, not women. The man inseminates the woman. Except here. This person would be born of a woman, but, since He was "her seed," he would NOT be the child of a man! Now think for a minute: if the Christ, who will bruise the enemy's head, is NOT the child of a man, but IS the child of a woman, how would that be known? The woman would have to be a virgin--if she was not, then her child could not be proved to be anyone other than a normally born human being.

So we see that here, right after imperfection, sin and death entered the creation, God's remedy was predicted: He would be human, but born of a virgin, and He would be the one to defeat the enemy.

Genesis 28:12 Jacob's Ladder

Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

John 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. 

When Jacob dreamed of the ladder to heaven, he dreamed of Jesus, whose sacrifice opened the way to heaven, and who controls everything the angels do.

Genesis 22:6 The Cross

Gen 22:6  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Abraham laid the wood on Isaac his son, so (as a type of Christ)
Isaac carried his cross.

Genesis 12:3 Blessing

"And I will bless them [plural] that bless thee, and curse him [singular] that curseth thee:."

Everyone is able to receive this blessing, the only condition is to bless the descendants of Abraham. He who curses is the adversary.

Genesis 4:1-7 Why ?

Why did God reject Cain's offering?
Verse 7 says, "Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." So God was saying that Cain had not done well. Although the timing or the content of Cain's offering (I have heard both given as explanations for its rejection) may be clues, the ultimate problem was in Cain's heart. God's rejection of the offering served to expose Cain's problem: he did not love his brother, Abel, but was jealous of him.