Mark 12:1-17
Friday, 1 April 2022
Then Jesus said to them, "Give back …. to God what is God’s.” -Mark 12:17
Today’s reading takes us to a context where some of the Jews in His day tried to find fault with Jesus and His ministry. Their intention was to catch Him off-guard so that they could find enough ground to hand Him over to the Roman government ruling then. It was in such a context that they asked Jesus a question whether it was right to pay tax to Caesar. Though the question was asked to trap Him, Jesus paid them in the same coin using a coin to prove His point! He asked them whose inscription was seen on the coin— it was Caesar’s. Then came the lesson: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” What a brilliant answer! Yet it speaks to us powerfully today.
The question arising out of that statement is this: "What is God’s?” – because we need to give to God what God’s is! In Genesis 1:27 it is said: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Are you aware that God’s image is on you? We have been "fearfully and wonderfully made” by our Creator, carefully knit together in our mother’s womb! (Psalm 139:13,14). Since God made us, we belong to Him! We are His possession!
Do you realize that you (man) are the crown of God’s creation (Psalm 8:5)? The value God places on your life is much more than you could imagine. He sent His only Begotten Son to take on Himself the cruel death on the cross for your sin and mine because He loved us; He valued us! And in receiving Christ, we receive forgiveness and life eternal. Through Christ we are restored into a relationship with God! If only some of us could appreciate our worth in God, we wouldn’t treat our lives the way we do. When we understand how valuable and precious we are, we would give serious thought to our lives- live it in a way that is fitting to the One who created us! In 1 Cor.6:19 it says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that we are not our own. How careful we must be to take care of God’s temple and keep His standards!
The insight that every human being is created in the image of God makes us want to treat others with dignity and respect. See what James warns us of in chapter 3 verse 9: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.” This shouldn’t be so! –this is a sober warning for us to treat our fellow human beings with respect as they too are made in God’s image.
Caesar demanded his due in terms of taxes; how much more should we should *give God His due-ourselves— for Romans 6:13 tells us “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” On the other hand, if you have thought you own yourself and you can do whatever you like with your life- let today bring a change in the way you see yourself. You did not create the life within you, neither do you have the right to take it out! The gift of life that God gave you is precious and you owe your life to GOD! Give back to God what is rightfully His!- YOURSELF!
Think on what GOD says:
“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…” (Isaiah 49:16)
Listen: 'You’re my Creator King'
* Ref: https://www.gotquestions.org/render-to-Caesar.html