LIFE SCRIPTS

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.
Mark 12:13‭-‬17 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.12.13-17.NIV.

It seemed as if the Pharisees had a ploy to entrap Christ as much as they could in their schemes. In this chapter, they brought in their tricks one after another. They tried to trap Christ on issues to do with taxation. They knew that they lived in a Roman dispensation and in their hearts wanted Christ to do either of the two things: pay homage to the Roman rule (in that case they would have termed Him a sellout) or call on all to abscond paying taxes altogether (in that case He would have been seen as a political rabblerouser). But He chose neither. Taxes are paid to governments. Tithe and offering is given to the house of God. In other words, our financial obligation to God is exclusive from our tax obligation to the state. But the lesson from this passage has less to do with paying taxes than it has to do with seeking godly wisdom in dealing with those who desire to entangle us in unending debates. Sometimes, though we might not be interested in the charged discussions, we may just be drawn into them by protagonists. Our calling as God’s people is not to choose sides but to choose the truth. Our responsibility is not to please our political associations but to be true to God because that’s what He desires us to be. Our responsibility is not to ask ‘What will I do?’…but ‘What Would Jesus Do?’…