Doug Van Pelt

Trying to fool God

IN Mark 12 we read of a group refered to as "they," who were the religious leaders of His day (The chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders). They flattered Him and told Him, "We know You are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because You pay no attention to who they are, but You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth..." These slick guys are trying to get away with tricking Jesus into telling them that they shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar; or that they should disobey God and give the government a portion that is reserved for God.

It points out that "Jesus knew their hypocrisy." I bet He felt kinda sick to His stomach to hear their flattery and know it was just cheap talk. His answer, about "rendering unto Caesar (whose face was on the coin) what is Caesar's and to God what is God's) was so spot on and wise that it blew these tricksters away. These were learned gentlemen, so Jesus was playing hardball with some significant competition. As a man, He was to be respected. I think it's easy to think, 'Oh, He was God, so that sort of thing was easy for Him,' but I don't think that's true. I think part of His role as the "Son of Man" and the "Son of God" was to limit Himself willingly to only operate in the realm of humanity as a Spirit-filled lover of God. This should give us hope to acheive some great things, as He left His Spirit to us, and He actually promised His followers that it was indeed a "good thing" that He was leaving Earth to send the Holy Spirit to be with us.

Another trick that is played on Him unsuccessfully is a hypothetical story about marriage and the afterlife, with a woman who marries a man's seven brothers one after another as they die off on her. Besides being a bad luck bride, Jesus puts the Sadducees down as not knowing the Scriptures very well. He references the conversation between God and Moses, where God declares that He is "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." These guys were dead by that time, but Jesus makes it clear that they were actually "alive" by saying, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

It's neat to see Jesus treat people differently depending upon their situation and the context. He is always fair, but not always "nice."