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 12:17
The Pharisees and Herodians had a win/win test for Jesus of Nazareth, or so they thought. If Jesus said to not pay taxes, they could turn him over to Rome. If he said to pay the taxes, they could call him out to the people as not loyal to Israel. Either way, they wanted him to get them out of paying the Roman taxes. Oh wait, no, they wanted to prove that Jesus was a false prophet. They really thought this was the winning question and a great trap for Jesus! But then he answered them.
We stand in awe of our Lord's ability to answer sudden questions and meet tough tests set by the religious authorities. Have you ever experienced that defensive reaction where you tell a lie in response to a challenging question? Yeah, me too. Jesus never did that and his answers were always perfect.
I'm so glad He came to save us,
Bucky
