Taxes. Tithes. Deployments. Remotes. These are all things we dislike, but have to do in submitting to authority. Jesus’ enemies tried to trap Him with a question about submitting to earthly authority, but Jesus said: “Show me the money!” The coin had the inscription of Caesar. Therefore, Jesus instructed them to give the king all that properly belonged to him but not to leave God out.
“Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?’ But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, ‘Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.’ So they brought it. And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they marveled at Him” (Mark 12:13-17, NKJV).
God has stamped His image, not on a coin, but on each of us—we are all created in His image (Genesis 1:26). We have been bought with a high price: His Son’s blood. Can we ever give Him too much? With a thankful heart, are you willing to give the Lord the best you have—your heart, your time, your talents, and your money?
The content of this article comes from “The Warrior’s Bible” (2014) and is copyrighted by Life Publishers International. Used with permission.
