Giving God What Is His

Verse 13, and they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians to trap him in his talk.

Now, there are many causes and circumstances that unite people who otherwise would totally avoid one another.

But it seems like as we read through the Gospels, really even as we get into the epistles of the New Testament as well,

it seems that no one brings diverse people together quite like Jesus does, right?

That's why in studying Jesus and his 12 disciples, that's why we can understand how Matthew, Levi, a Roman tax collector,

could then become friends and united with Simon, who we are told in the Gospels was Simon the Zealot.

What he was known for was being a part of this zealot organization that was completely anti-Rome.

Out of their love for Christ, they were able to set aside their social and political positions and convictions.

Not that they changed those things about themselves, at least not immediately,

but they're able to set those things aside, come together in unity out of love for Jesus.

Willing to set aside firmly held political beliefs to unite together with Christ.

And we see no greater picture of this than what we see in the composition of the church.

Because for a Christian, the Gospel of Jesus takes priority over every other personal value, right?

We can even see this even in our own church today, right?

The diversity that God brings together, not only in an ethnic diversity,

not only in a generational diversity, in some cases in our church, even a political diversity,

God brings people from all kinds of different places, all kinds of different mindsets,

all kinds of different backgrounds, and he unites them,

not for any other reason than the Gospel of Jesus and our love for him.

In our church, we have vaxxers and anti-vaxxers.

Yet they can come together on a Sunday morning, and they can worship the Lord,

and they can love one another, and they can be united in the Gospel and in the truth of God's Word.

In our church, we have people with heritages from all over the world.

We have many of us who our heritage is found right here in the United States.

We have Mr. and Mrs. Kuo, whose heritage is found in Taiwan.

We have Mark and Allah, whose heritage is found in Russia.

We have Bob, whose heritage is found in the motherland in England.

We have all kinds of different heritage, right?

Yet, for the Gospel's sake, the Lord has united us together.

We probably even have some people in our church who pull for the Tar Heels,

and other people in our church who pull for the Blue Devils.

It's amazing, the diversity that gets.

And then there's the state people we just mentioned.

We'll throw in there to be kind to you, right, Andy?

And the North Carolina state.

Jesus has a way of uniting people that's different than any other thing.

Now, there's all kinds of causes and circumstances that we can get united around.

But what's the foundation of our unity, typically?

The foundation of our unity with another person is based on priority of values.

Some people can look at what's happening with Russia and Ukraine,

and you can say, okay, that has a particular priority in my value system.

And so for other people who may differ than me on these other things that are lesser priority,

I can unite with them in the fight against the evils that are taking place there, right?

That's how unity works.

In the church, we set aside everything because the number one priority

is the gospel of Christ, our love for Jesus.

Everything else takes second place.

And churches begin to disintegrate, and they begin to split,

and they begin to become a huge problem in tarnishing the name of Christ

when they get that priority out of whack,

when their unity is no longer based on Christ and the gospel,

but their unity is based on their political preference,

or their heritage, or their generation,

or their way that they like their music,

or whatever it is that they would do, right?

That's when churches begin to really disintegrate.

But it's not just the people who love Jesus who are united by him.

What we actually find unfolding in this text is Jesus being the polarizing figure that he is

and that he was unites not only those who love him,

but he unites those who loathe him, who hate him.

That's precisely what's happening as this short set of verses unfolds.

The delegation from the Sanhedrin had failed to catch Jesus in his words

as they had endeavored to do in the previous text.

Israel's religious and political leaders regrouped,

and they began to send wave after wave of representatives,

each with a different strategy to try to trap the Lord.

And that's where this chapter is going.

It's first, we see it here in the Pharisees and the Herodians,

and the very next one is the Sadducees,

because that doesn't work, so they regroup and they send the Sadducees the next time.

And then that doesn't work, so they regroup and there's a scribe that comes.

Wave after wave, they're sending to Jesus,

really with the same objective each time.

Trap him in his words so that they might destroy him,

discredit him publicly, and ultimately execute him.

But their first attempt here in verses 13 to 17

bring together the unlikeliest of friends.

The Pharisees and the Herodians in Jesus' day

were religious and political enemies.

The Pharisees were religiously conservative.

They were mostly concerned with religious law,

not just the law of God, but as we've studied many times in Mark's gospel,

their own traditions and their own rabbinical law

that they enforced upon the people.

They were very morally conservative in that sense.

The Herodians were the exact opposite.

They were morally liberal, and they were most concerned

not with religious law, but most concerned with Roman law.

Pharisees despised the Roman occupation.

The Herodians, loyal to the Herodian family, hence their name,

capitulated to the Roman occupation.

These groups hated everything about one another.

But the one thing that they had in common

was that Jesus of Nazareth had become a threat

to their power, their authority, and their political agenda.

And so just as Jesus united Matthew and Simon,

and Matthew and Simon saw Jesus as priority number one,

therefore will set aside all the other things

in order to unite in our love for Christ in the gospel.

Just as it happened in that sense with Matthew and Simon,

so it happens with the Pharisees and the Herodians.

Jesus becomes priority number one,

except they're not setting aside all their other disagreements

to love and follow Jesus.

They're setting aside all of their disagreements

to go and destroy him,

to diminish his influence,

and ultimately to execute him in their hatred.

And their objective in approaching the Lord

was once again to trap him in his words

so that they could specifically

turn him over to the Roman governor.

We find that told plainly in Luke chapter 20,

Luke 20 · chapter mention

and of course we will find out eventually

that Roman governor is a man named Pontius Pilate.

That's what they're moving toward at this point.

They feigned admiration for Jesus,

and then they presented him with a dilemma

that would put him on the outs with someone,

either the common people of Israel

or the Roman authorities.

And their challenge was concerned here

with what the people owed to Caesar.

Jesus responds and counters

by emphasizing what every person owes to God.

So not only were the Pharisees and Herodians unsuccessful,

but Jesus gives us this short, masterful lesson

on wholehearted devotion to the Lord.

And I don't want you to be confused.

This story, this lesson is not about money.

It's not about money.

This is about loyalty.

When the Pharisees and the Herodians

asked Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar,

they're not concerned about their money.

They're concerned about Jesus's public statement of loyalty,

either to or against Rome.

And when Jesus responds,

he's not concerned with their money.

He's not concerned with them giving in the temple tax.

That's not what this is about.

What he is responding with

is a challenge to their loyalty with God.

And so let's look at it.

It's a very simple passage.

First, let's look at the challenge in verse 14.

Luke wrote that Jesus was under the watchful eyes

of the scribes and the chief priests.

He is in the temple courtyards.

He's interacting with people.

He's teaching people.

We see this over and over in this final week of Jesus's life.

And as he is interacting with those people,

the scribes and the chief priests are around

and they're watching him closely.

They're listening to him intently,

not so that they can learn,

but so that they can confront him

in just the right way to accuse him.

And the public nature of these confrontations

was essential to their plot.

It wouldn't do to trap Jesus in a private conversation.

That wouldn't help them.

They needed to trap Jesus in a public conversation.

They needed to turn the people against Jesus.

But they had already tried approaching him

with a combative spirit.

That's what we saw at the end of chapter 11.

So they regroup and with wisdom on their part,

they decide, okay,

we're not gonna go in guns a blazing this time.

This time we're gonna be a little more thoughtful

about the way we approach him.

And their strategy here

was to disarm Jesus first with flattery

before catching him with a clever dilemma

that they have contrived to present.

So let's look first at their laughable flattery.

Verse 14,

Now, the problem here is not what they said.

All their statements about Jesus in this moment

are absolutely true.

And ironically,

all of the things that they say about Jesus here

represented the antithesis of their own behavior

and their own spirit.

They were the typical politicians.

They were opportunist at heart.

They led on the basis of consensus,

not conviction.

They used guile and deception to deceive the people.

And they taught their own traditions

as being equal to,

and in some cases,

even greater than God's law.

We saw that in chapter seven.

But Jesus was the opposite of that.

He indeed was honest.

He was honestly transparent

with everybody he dealt with.

His yes was yes,

and his no was no.

He wasn't trying to trick people.

He wasn't trying to deceive people.

He was plain and honest.

That was true of Jesus.

He was totally impartial.

When they come to him and they say in verse 14,

we know that you don't care about anyone's opinion.

They're not saying that Jesus is a dismissive person,

that he's got his mindset

and he just doesn't even listen

to what anybody else has to say.

That's not what they're saying about him.

They're saying he's impartial.

That he doesn't have a group of people

and see the rich people over here

and decide that he's gonna capitulate

to the things that they want

while ignoring the poor people over there.

That's what the Pharisees and Herodians did.

Jesus didn't do that.

That was true of him.

He's totally impartial.

He spoke only the truth of God.

That's true.

He could speak nothing but the truth of God.

How do we know that?

Because he himself is God.

Everything he said was true.

He taught the way of God.

That was absolutely true.

Nothing wrong with what they said.

The problem is they didn't actually believe

what they were saying about Jesus.

They didn't believe those things.

This is nothing more than hypocritical flattering.

And it's laughable when you consider

what we've already been told

about these men in Mark's gospel.

They'd been working together against Jesus

to destroy him since the first time

they encountered him in Galilee.

Remember back in Mark chapter three,

Jesus goes into the synagogue,

probably near Capernaum.

There's a man there probably planted by these men

who had a withered hand

and Jesus heals him on the Sabbath.

And how do they leave that synagogue worship service?

Verse six in chapter three,

the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel

with the Herodians against him,

how to destroy them.

They'd been doing this for years at this point.

They weren't being honest.

Despite their words, they hated Jesus,

which was no secret to anyone.

That's why it's laughable.

But there's a helpful warning in this for us, isn't there?

The enemies of Jesus and his church

will not always come across as adversaries.

You understand that, right?

Not everyone who will try to influence you

under the banner of Christianity

is your friend.

Not every person

who would claim to be an enemy

and an adversary of the gospel

is gonna present themselves to you

as if that's true.

And as the Pharisees and the Herodians approach Jesus,

that's the route they take.

And they take this as a nod

from the one who they were most likely mimicking

in this moment,

which was Satan himself.

Was that not part of Satan's deception

of Adam and Eve in the garden?

As Eve approaches the tree that God says,

don't eat of this tree,

the serpent doesn't present himself

as an enemy of Eve's.

He presents himself as a friend of Eve.

He says, now that's just not true.

You will be better off.

You will become a God.

This deception, he pretends to be a friend.

There's flattery.

There's smooth talk that's involved

with what's happening.

And that happens to us.

Jesus in his perfection did not fall for that.

We often do fall for that.

And it's for this reason that the Bible warns so often

against flattering lips

and deceitful guile.

Beware the people that think much more of you

than they should ever think.

I think it was,

was it Spurgeon that said,

not to be concerned with those

who speak evil of you,

for you are far worse than they think you are?

Well, then there's another part to that, right?

There are those who will make you think

that you are far better

than you should ever think that you are.

And you should beware.

Proverbs 26, 28,

a lying tongue hates its victims.

A flattering mouth works ruin.

That's its goal, to ruin you.

Romans 16, I appeal to you brothers,

watch out for those who cause divisions in the church.

Watch out for those who create obstacles

that are contrary to the doctrine

that you've been taught.

Avoid them, Paul says.

For such persons don't serve the Lord,

they serve their own appetites.

And by smooth talk and flattery,

they deceive the hearts of the naive.

What's Paul saying to believers?

Wise up.

Not everybody who says they're a Christian is a Christian.

Not everyone who claims to speak on behalf of the Lord

and of the gospel

is truly speaking on behalf of the Lord and the gospel.

There will be people in your life

that approach with smooth talk and flattery.

And if you're not careful,

you'll fall into the trap.

Don't fall into the trap.

So we see laughable flattery.

Then we see the clever trap that they actually said here.

Verse 14, here's what they ask.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

Should we pay them or should we not?

Now, it wouldn't have been hard for most people

to see through their flattery,

but this was very, very clever.

Question was whether or not it's right,

according to the law of God,

should we be loyal to Rome?

Is essentially what they're asking.

It's not about money again.

This is about loyalty.

Rome levied many taxes on the people,

income taxes,

taxes on their buying and selling,

taxes on their travel,

all the taxes that we pay ourselves here.

The specific tax in question here in Mark 12

was the annual poll tax.

It was equal to one denarius for each person.

And it was essentially a tax for existing.

If you had life and you existed,

you had to give Rome one denarius every year.

And the implication of this from Rome's perspective

is that you belong to Rome.

You belong to Caesar.

Therefore, it is your responsibility every year

to give something to Caesar

just to thank him for allowing you to stay alive

and to be in his kingdom.

Sinclair Ferguson said the tax served

as a constant reminder to the Jews

that they were a broken and subjugated people,

which was why the zealots' refusal to pay them

was regarded as an essential element

in nationalistic loyalty.

So this poll tax is hugely controversial for the Jews.

It was in response to this very tax in 86

when Jesus is just a boy in Galilee.

It was in response to this tax

that Judas the Galilean raises up a revolt against Rome.

And in response, of course, they had no chance.

It was their hatred for this particular thing.

And they go up against Rome,

and Rome absolutely decimates the people

that were a part of the revolt.

3,000 people were crucified in Galilee.

They lined their crosses down the main thoroughfare in Galilee,

cross after cross after cross.

Anyone who had actually joined Judas the Galilean

to go against Rome,

they hated insurrection.

They hated it.

And the Jews hated this tax and their subjugation to Rome

as much as the Romans hated insurrection against their rule.

It would be this very issue

that in AD 66,

the zealot movement would finally grow to a point

where they launch an assault against Rome.

And you know how that one ends.

For four years, they tried to revolt against Rome.

What does Rome do?

They besieged the city of Jerusalem.

They decimate, utterly decimate Jewish life in Israel.

And eventually, they make their way to the temple.

And just as Jesus predicted would happen,

they removed it stone by stone

till it was nothing left,

and they burned it to the ground.

And what was the revolt all over?

Remember, this tax.

Do you see the cleverness

in what these men are doing as they approach Jesus?

It's a combination of these two elements

between Rome and Israel that makes this so clever.

If Jesus said that they should pay the tax,

he would be public enemy number one.

But if he publicly opposed the tax,

the Pharisees and the Herodians

would immediately turn him over to the Roman governor.

They would claim that he's an insurrectionist.

And that's precisely what they did

about two or three days after this.

Listen to this from Luke chapter 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

Then the whole company of them arose

and brought Jesus before Pilate,

who was the Roman governor.

And they began to accuse him.

And here's what they said.

We found this man misleading our nation

and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar

and saying that he himself is king and Christ.

That was an utter lie.

Jesus actually tells them to pay their taxes

in this passage.

And yet they lie blatantly.

Why?

Because it's the only way they could destroy him.

They had to lie.

It goes to show you the hatred

of Israel's leaders for Jesus at this point.

Well, that's the challenge that Jesus is faced with.

What's he gonna say?

How's he gonna get out of this one?

This is very smart on his enemy's sake.

Well, that brings us to our last point.

You'll be thankful for that.

The counter.

Let's look at the counter.

Verse 15.

Knowing their hypocrisy,

he said to them,

why put me to the test?

Why put me to the test?

Of course, Jesus sees right through the flattery

and the deception.

They were hypocrites

pretending to admire Jesus

when they actually wanted to destroy him.

And he knew that.

But acknowledging that

wasn't enough to get out of the situation.

He couldn't just say,

you're a bunch of hypocrites.

Why are you doing this?

And walk away.

Because there's a lot of people around.

And now,

those hypocrites have caught

the attention of the crowd.

And they're awaiting for Jesus

to give an answer to this.

They wanna hear what he has to say.

And of course,

he provides this lesson,

this profound truth

that they would not soon forget.

And I can just imagine,

I don't picture Jesus.

Maybe this is me.

There's only so much that we have

when we have the written word.

We try to picture exactly how this unfolds.

We can't see Jesus' expression

to see exactly what was on his face.

It doesn't read to me as if he was angry.

It's almost like,

really?

Really?

Are you gonna keep trying this?

You know?

Are you gonna keep trying this?

And of course,

he's a master teacher, isn't he?

Let's look at two things about this.

Number one,

he just gives a simple object lesson.

Simple object lesson.

Verse 15.

Bring me a denarius,

Jesus says,

and let me look at it.

And they brought one,

and he said to them,

whose likeness

and inscription is this?

And they said to him,

Caesar's.

A denarius was a small silver coin.

It's equal to a day's wage

for a common laborer

or sometimes even for a Roman soldier,

a common Roman soldier.

Caesar,

and it represented this required pull tax.

I actually have a picture of it.

I think,

Missy,

if you wanna,

it may be a couple slides over.

This is the exact coin,

not the exact one,

but this is the type of coin

that Jesus had asked for.

This is a Roman denarius

in the time of Tiberius Caesar.

And I want you to notice,

this is the front of it.

This is the image of Tiberius Caesar

in this moment.

There's an abbreviated inscription

around the outside.

It says,

Tiberius Caesar,

son of the divine Augustus.

So Caesar Augustus

was considered to be a god.

They had deified him.

They continued to deify their Caesars.

So whenever he puts his face

on this sign,

he's saying,

I'm a god,

this silver belongs to me.

That was the point of the image

in the inscription.

And on the back of it

is a image of what they think

was Tiberius' mother.

And this inscription says,

high priest

or chief priest

in this moment.

This is the coin

that Jesus asked for,

a Roman denarius,

a silver coin.

Romans, again,

considered these Caesars

to be gods.

But the Jews considered

these coins

to be miniature idols

because of that.

That most of them

refused to carry them.

They weren't allowed

to use these

for their temple tax.

They couldn't use

any kind of coin

that actually had

the image of another person

on it when they brought

their temple tax

to Jerusalem.

That was the purpose

of the money changers

in chapter 11.

Remember that?

Jesus is turning over

the money changer stations

and their tables.

That was the purpose

of those men.

They were trading out

denariuses

for something that was

actually able to be used

in the temple.

But the annual pull tax

could only be paid

with a denarius.

That's what they had to use.

So Jesus asked for someone

to bring him one.

And masterfully,

he doesn't ask the crowd.

I think he asked the Pharisees

and Herodians to answer

whose imprint and inscription

was on the face of the coin.

I know this is simple,

but hang with me.

The inscription on this coin

is what Jesus uses

to set the context

for his lesson.

Okay?

It's not just about

the coin itself.

It's about the image on it.

It's about the inscription on it.

That's the point

of the object lesson.

Look at this coin.

Whose face is on this?

Whose image is on this?

Whose inscription is this?

That's setting the context

for the application to come,

which we move to now.

The spiritual application

in verse 17.

Jesus said to them,

render to Caesar

the things that are Caesar's

and to God

the things that are God's.

So first,

Jesus affirmed

our responsibility

to submit

to civil authority.

It's the first part

of the answer.

As the crowd awaits

to listen

and hear

what Jesus has to say,

he says,

give Caesar

what belongs

to Caesar.

Pay your taxes,

he says.

Pay your taxes.

But he says it in a way

that has so much wisdom

that it communicates

a perspective,

a godly perspective

of civil obedience.

Kent Hughes

said this,

his answer

could not be denied.

Ancient coins

were actually understood

to be the property

of the person

whose picture

and inscription

were on them.

who could object

then to Jesus

saying,

give to Caesar

the things

that are Caesar's.

It's an amazing lesson,

isn't it?

Submit to authority

because God

has given

that authority.

Give to Caesar

what belongs

to him,

but then he immediately

moves on

to another portion.

He prioritizes

that submission,

that loyalty.

unless we're asked

to violate

God's commands,

it is our responsibility

to submit

to the authorities

that God

ordains in our lives.

I think that's clear

here in Jesus' teaching.

to submit

to the poll tax

neither violated

God's word

nor did it violate

a believer's conscience.

They just didn't like it.

They just didn't want

to do it.

God never gives us

the option

to disobey

because we just

don't like the rule,

which is typically

how I respond.

I just don't like that.

In fact,

despite the incredibly

oppressive culture

in which they lived,

the apostles

continually taught

the necessity

of civil obedience.

Romans 13,

Paul,

with the same

Roman government

that will eventually

incarcerate him

for four years

and cut off his head,

says,

let every person

be subject

to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority

except from God,

and those that exist

have been instituted

by God.

Therefore,

whoever resists

the authorities

resists what God

has appointed,

and those who resist

will incur judgment.

Pay to all

what is owed to them.

Taxes,

to whom taxes are owed.

Revenue,

to whom revenue is owed.

Respect,

to whom respect is owed.

Honor,

to whom honor is owed.

Peter says the same thing

in the midst of a letter

when he's writing

to a people

that are being abused

and persecuted

for their faith.

He says,

be subject

for the Lord's sake

to every human institution,

whether it be

to the emperors

as supreme

or to governors

as sent by him

to punish those

who do evil

and to praise

those who do good.

For this is the will

of God,

that by doing good

you should put

to silence

the ignorance

of foolish people.

The apostles

are just expounding

on Jesus'

own teaching

of civil obedience,

which all of us

probably at one place

or another

in the last two years

have willingly bucked.

Not because it violated

our conscience.

Not because we were asked

to do something

that the Bible says

we shouldn't do,

but we just didn't

like it

so we didn't do it.

I think there's

an affirmation here

that Jesus gives

but that's not

the main point.

In fact,

his point is

that that's not

the main point.

He continues on

to a more vital element

though he doesn't

deny our responsibility

to submit

to civil authority,

he put it

in its proper place

behind obedience

to God.

And so Jesus

is arguing here

from lesser

to greater.

Yes,

give to Caesar

what belongs to him

but don't forget

the more critical issue

of giving to God

what is rightfully

his.

Jesus isn't,

he's not referring

to tithing here.

This wasn't really

at the end of the day

about taxes

and tithing.

That's not what

Jesus is saying.

He's not saying

make sure that

while you pay

your taxes to Caesar

that you also

give tithes

and offerings

to the church.

That's not what

Jesus is teaching here.

He's talking about

giving wholehearted

worship.

And remember

the context

of the lesson.

his statement

uses an object lesson

that is focused

on the image

and imprint

of this silver

silver coin.

You see that?

The image of Caesar

is on the coin

give it to Caesar

and then Jesus

sees another coin

that has another image

on it

except it's not a coin

it's a life.

It's you

and it's me

and imprinted

on our lives

is the image

of the almighty

God

the image

of our creator

and he says

look

do the civil

obedience thing

but there's a much

bigger picture here.

Each of you

have the stamp

the image of God

on your life

give to God

what is his

namely

your wholehearted

worship

your wholehearted

surrender

all of your obedience

all of your affection

all of your love

with your mind

and your soul

and your strength

that's the point

that Jesus

is getting across.

These men had

had in almost

a syncretistic way

had had married

the religious things

with the political things

which we see happen

all the time now.

Everybody has to marry

their religious position

to their political position

across the board

no matter what it is.

These men were doing

the same thing.

Jesus says

look you've got things

out of order here.

You've got things

out of order.

Give to God

what is his

first

and then obey God

by obeying

the civil authorities

that he's put

in your life.

The kids are learning

this right now.

This image principle.

Kiddos

question number four

how and why

did God create us?

What's the answer?

God created us

now and

now

and

now

and

now

now

Genesis

1

27

so God

created man

in his own image

in the image

of God

created he him

male and female

he created

them

don't you

realize

God has

placed his

very image

on your life

and by

placing his

very image

on your life

as an individual

he has given

you a purpose

and that purpose

kids is what?

to glorify

him

to glorify

him

when we taught

this lesson

in the kids

class

we used these

big mirrors

over here

you can look

at them

right now

when you look

in that mirror

Tom

what do you

see?

you see Tom

right?

you see Tom

looking back

that's Tom's

image

in that mirror

and God

creates us

in such a way

so that when

he looks

at us

he wants

to see

a reflection

of himself

something

that brings

him glory

something

that fulfills

the purpose

for which

it was created

and Jesus

says in this

moment

give God

what belongs

to him

which is

yourself

kids

question six

how can

we glorify

God?

Deuteronomy

6 4

and 5

the Jews

recited this

daily

hear O Israel

the Lord

our God

is one

you shall

love the

Lord your

God

with all

your heart

and with

all your

soul

and with

all your

might

Jesus

is going

to give

the same

answer

later

in this

passage

when the

scribe

comes

and asks

about the

greatest

commandment

and Jesus

responds

here is the

greatest

commandment

love the

Lord your

God

with all

your heart

and your

soul

and your

mind

and your

strength

what's

Jesus getting

at when

he says

give God

what is

God's

he's not

talking about

your tithe

he's talking

about your

life

give him

your life

give him

your love

give him

your worship

give him

your affection

give him

your obedience

give to

God

what's

rightfully

his

and don't

give it

to anyone

or anything

else

don't

give to

your spouse

what belongs

to God

your spouse's

image is not

imprinted on

your life

God's

is

save your

supreme

affection

save your

supreme

obedience

save your

supreme

love

and worship

for him

love him

more than

you love

your kids

and teach

your kids

to love

him more

than they

love you

love him

more than

you love

your job

love him

more than

you love

your country

love him

more than

you love

your church

don't let

anything in

this life

have your

affection

and your

worship

only God

deserves

that

his

images

on your

life

give to

God

what's

rightfully

his

love

your wife

pay your

taxes

do the

speed limit

if you

have to

love

God

verse 17

in conclusion

and they

marveled

Jesus is

in a

corner

that

if you

didn't know

this passage

and you

waited

and just

thought about

it

before you

read his

answer

you'd think

I don't

know how

he's going

to get

out of

this

I don't

know how

I would

have gotten

out of

this

I certainly

wouldn't

have said

what Jesus

said

I don't

know what

I would

have done

but he's

perfect

isn't he

he's the

master

teacher

he answers

and all

they can

do

is marvel

at his

wisdom

walk away

and try

again

later

that's

all

they

can

do

and I

want you

to notice

something as we move into communion here in just a moment

no matter how hard they tried

they couldn't find a way to actually trap him no matter how hard they tried

this I think was the best attempt they had I mean it was clever it was good

and it still wouldn't work no matter how hard they try they can't accuse him

they can't arrest him they can't execute him no matter what they did and his eventual

crucifixion

it happens a few days later

was not the result of the cunning ability of these enemies it was the result of his own authority

to lay down his life

John chapter 10

John 10 · chapter mention

Jesus says for this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again

no one takes it from me because no one can take it from him do you see they'll fail every time

no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down

excusia I have an excusia to lay it down

I have excusia to take it up again

this charge I've received from my father

you see

you see

they can't defeat Jesus unless he lets them

which is no defeat at all

eventually when it's time on the Passover

huge imagery there

Jesus lays down his life

not because the Pharisees and the Herodians and the Sadducees and the chief priests and the scribes

finally came up with a good way to do it

because they didn't

because he willingly laid down his life

and according to Isaiah 53

he stood before Pilate and he stood before Caiaphas and he stood before the Sanhedrin

and like a sheep who before his shearers is dumb he opened not his mouth

why

because the only way they could take his life is if he gave it

that was the whole purpose

he gave it

he gave it

why

love

love

for God so loved

that he

gave

that he