Flattery, Human Government, and Our Duty | Mark 12:13-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Please, if you have a Bible with you, meet me in Mark chapter 12

Mark 12 · chapter mention

and let's go together to verse 13.

Mark 12/13 reads, and they sent to him some of the Pharisees and

some of the Herodians to trap him in his talk, and they came

and said to him, Teacher, we know that you are true and do

not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by

appearances, but truly teach the way of God.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

Should we pay them or should we not?

But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, why put me to the

test? Bring me a denarius, and let me

look at it. And they brought one.

And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is

this? They said to him, Caesar's.

Jesus said to them, Render to Caesar the things that are

Caesar's, and to God the things that are gods.

And they marveled at him. Lord, it's our prayer that we

too would marvel at your word. Bless the reading and the

proclamation of it, and bless our hearts in receiving it.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

I believe it's important that you and I view the opening verse

of this section of scripture with the preceding one, one that

we covered together a couple of weeks ago.

Look at Mark 12/12 with me once more.

It says here and they were seeking to arrest him, but fear

the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable

against them. So they left him and went away.

So they left him and went away. Here you have the religious

leaders retreating after sensing the piercing parable of Jesus

Christ that was targeted towards them.

But what we have here when they left him and went away, was not

a permanent retirement of their crafty ways.

All it really was is a withdrawal to return to the

drawing board. And here we find them again.

And this repeated sequence of onslaughts that came to Christ

reminds us of the relentless aggression of the ultimate

adversary of Christ, who is also your enemy and mine.

Revelation 12/9 calls him the great dragon, the ancient

serpent, the devil, and Satan. Do you remember how Luke

concludes the failed attempts of Satan in trying to tempt the

Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness?

Let me remind you of an important verse that really

indicates to us the reality of his ways and how he will relate

to us And Luke 413. You don't have to turn there,

just give your attention to it. It says there and when the devil

had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an

opportune time. The devil walked away from

Christ until an opportune time. Notice that his withdrawal was

not indefinite. His return would be certain.

This is your daily reminder that spiritual warfare is a guarantee

for the Christian. It is an unending cycle of the

believers experience to go to war.

Yes, with the flesh, but also to the one who tempts the flesh and

presents opportunities for the flesh.

And some days are more intense than others.

But the attempts and the plots of the evil one are to be

expected when throughout your whole life, throughout the span

of your existence and your journey here on earth.

And what's also important to remember is that the schemes of

Satan, though they are certain both him and those who do his

bidding, do not always bring the same weapons to the table.

And that is exactly what you and I see in our main text today.

And the benefit of the text that we just read and that we're

going to explore together is not just that you and I are going to

be enthralled by the infinite wisdom of Jesus Christ, but you

and I are also going to learn how we can avoid the traps of

Satan who seeks to undermine your testimony as a follower of

Christ. And so as we come here, we have

to see again that this is really the theme of this chapter or the

section of this chapter. Look again at Mark 12/13.

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees, of some of the

Herodians to trap him in his talk.

You know, that word trapped in the Greek is the only word in

all of the New Testament. No other word shares the same

word. And it really explains and

denotes the concept of pursuing, hunting, and apprehending an

animal. It's aggressive, it's vicious,

it's merciless. And it's supposed to indicate to

us that the invisible enemy through visible means, is a

pursuer. A pursuer of the truth, a

pursuer of those who hold and live the truth, not to receive

the truth, but to try to destroy and muddy and undermine it.

So let your faith arise as we come to this text and believe

that it promises us the necessary insights to further

equip and complete you as a man and woman of God.

So what do we have here? Well, this time around we have

this interesting alliance. Verse 13 tells us that it was

the Pharisees and the Herodians who partnered together to come

to Christ and try to trap him. Now it's not just going to be

them. For the rest of this chapter,

look at your Bibles once more. Look at verse 18 of chapter 12.

After the Herodians and the Pharisees.

It's going to be who and Sadducees came to him who say

that there is no resurrection and they asked him a question

saying. Then after the Sadducees, you

Scroll down to verse 28 and what do you see?

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with

one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him

which commandment is the most important of all.

So really it's this series of interrogation from different

parties that all have one thing in common.

They hate Jesus Christ. And in a few weeks, you and I

are going to consider the prophetic significance of how

even this series of questioning fulfills something about Jesus

from the Old Testament. But we'll do that when we get

there. But for now, you have this

unlikely coalition, the Pharisees and the Herodians.

You remember who the Pharisees were right?

They were the religious elite, but they believed something

about their current situation as a nation.

The Pharisees believed that Israel and the Jews deserve

their independence. They're under Roman occupation.

The Pharisees did not like that. They believe that the Jews

should receive their own land, their own government, a

government that was ruled by the law of God.

So they grudgingly went along with what the Romans demanded of

them. But if they can have their

freedom overnight, they would have it.

On the other hand, you have the Herodians, who are not a

religious group as much as they were a political group.

And the Herodians, according to their name, pledged their

allegiance to the Herodian dynasty.

And they ultimately submitted and praised and even defended

the Roman Empire. And there is no room in their

belief system for the law of God to be implemented.

So the two most unlikely groups, one was extremely religious and

the other one was extremely secular, are now working

together again. We see it back in Mark chapter

Mark 3:6

3, verse 6, But here they are once more.

Why? Because they found commonality

in Christ being their enemy. The feverish popularity of Jesus

was not just a threat to the counterfeit spiritual entity of

his time. Now you have even the political

powers who are a little worried, because recent news in town is

that the the streets were being filled with the praises of this

Jesus, this rabbi from Nazareth being a king, fulfilling

prophecy, being the expectant deliverer of the people.

And the last thing that Herod and the last thing that the

Herodians wanted was a revolution.

A revolution that would invite the higher leadership of Rome to

come into that land with disciplinary force.

And this is now a concern for the Herodians, not just for the

Pharisees. And so they conjure up a plan

and they work together and they have this fresh new strategy.

They want to trap him. And there's not just one trap.

I argue that there are two traps in one verse, and the same traps

that these enemies of Christ try to use to trip Christ with are

traps that you and I have to be mindful of.

And in this brief time, before we break bread together, I want

to present those two traps that you and I as Christians should

be careful of And, and they're not really touched on as much,

but they're traps nonetheless. The first trap that I want you

to pay attention to is the trap of flattery.

The trap of flattery. That's a trap.

That's a trap. Look at verse 14 again.

Look at the language that they praised Jesus with before they

asked him this question and they came and said to him.

Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about

anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances, but

truly teach the way of God. This is nothing short of a slimy

attempt to stroke someone's ego. And the idea behind this is that

by boosting Christ up so much, it would excite him.

It would excite him to live up to their praises and answer them

in the way that they desired. Because they're trying to fish

for something out of Christ. They want Christ to say

something bold, confrontational, more importantly, controversial.

And that's in the question that they're about to ask.

And so they think by priming up Jesus with these tributes, it

will disarm him, it will affect his judgment, and he will again

give in to the admiration and say what exactly they want him

to say to his own harm. Here's the thing, flattery

doesn't work with Jesus Christ. It doesn't.

You know who it does work with though?

People, including believers in Jesus Christ.

What is flattery? Flattery is the use of excessive

compliments as a means to accomplish a selfish goal.

Flattery is insincere praise. It is a manipulation tactic

under the guise of encouragement.

On the other hand, a genuine, heartfelt commendation is meant

to purely benefit the one who is receiving it.

But that's not what flattery does.

Flattery seeks to receive a benefit for yourself in giving

that commendation. So if you want to know the

difference between genuine encouragement and praise to

another and flattery, it is the motivation for the admiration

that is being shared. Why are you sharing that?

Why are you saying those things to such a person?

Why are you complimenting them? And this idea of flattery is

dangerous. It's dangerous because it preys

on the pride or the insecurities of another.

And the result of that is that it skews their perception.

It skews their perception of themselves, of another person,

or of a decision that they need to make.

And that's why in Proverbs 29 verse five, we are told a man

who flatters his neighbor sets up a net for his feet.

It's a trap. It's deception, It's a trick.

And it's something that you and I have to ask God.

Discernment for. Beware of the flatterer.

Beware of what you do with the praise of people, even if it's

genuine praise. You and I are warned about what

we should do with that, but especially words of endearment

that have a different motive behind it.

Because, you see, flattery is not just a potential weapon from

a sneaky neighbor. Here's what most people miss,

and this is where it relates to the body of Jesus Christ.

You ready? Flattery is also a

characteristic of a false teacher.

Flattery is a strong indication of someone who is dangerous even

in their teaching. You know, spiritual wolves are

are are rarely mean people. They often come off very kind,

very respectful, very charming, very winsome.

And what false teachers will often do is disarm undiscerning

individuals by using endearing and enticing words that are

personal oftentimes. And here's why they do it.

They reel you in with it, they keep you with it, and at some

point in the mix, they inject their poison into your belief

system. All it takes is for some people

to let their guard down is for another person to just be really

nice to them. Being nice is good, but being

nice is also a cloak for those who are not good.

And sometimes flattery manifests itself from the standpoint of a

false teacher in the form of prophecy, where somebody will

come with an apparent spiritual gift and will tell you things

about you or tell you things about your future that are good,

are good to hear. And it's really a way to have

access into your trust, access into your heart to win your

support. And that is the beginning of

many dangerous things. Here's a scriptural proof of the

correlation between flattery and a false teacher.

Turn with me to Romans 16 and verse 17, just in case you don't

believe me. Romans 16 and verse 17.

I don't ask for many things in life, but if I can ask for one

thing, is for you to continue to do what you do with those Bibles

every Sunday. Bring those Bibles to church.

It just flutters my heart every time I hear the Bible being

open. Romans 16, verse 17.

Romans 16:17

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause

divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that

you have been taught. Avoid them, for such persons do

not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites.

And by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the

naive. There it is.

Flattery is primarily a trap for the theological and emotionally

unstable, and it often is a bait that causes one to surrender

their discernment, their judgement, to the applause and

the adoration of others. I can tell you stories that I'll

spare you of, of people that I've come into contact with,

nobody that you know. So don't worry.

Many, many years ago when I first got saved and they were

flatters. And thank God for a good

spiritual leadership that discovered that these flatterers

that were infiltrating churches had a history of going to other

churches and stealing people's money and breaking up

relationships and introducing false teaching.

It is real. But the trap of flattery is not

just something that you and I must be mindful of as an outside

external thing. The trap of flattery is a

dangerous thing in another way. It is something that you and I

as Christians should be aware of, and something that you and I

should be mindful of not committing ourselves.

So it's both ways, receiving that flattery and giving it.

So turn your Bibles with me, the first Thessalonians, and look at

Chapter 2. The Apostle Paul is speaking to

this group of believers in what is believed to be his first

epistle, First Thessalonians, chapter 2, and look at verse 5.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

For we never we never came with words of flattery, as you know,

nor the pretext for greed. God is witness, Nor did we see

glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we

could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Here's what Paul's doing. He's making a defense of the

integrity of his preaching ministry.

And in that defense he declares with a clear conscience 3

things. Three things that as a minister

he did not do. And these are three things that

are true servant of God, especially in the place of

proclaiming the word and teaching the word.

These are three things that are true men of God will not do.

What's the first thing it says here in verse five?

We didn't use words of flattery. We didn't.

We we didn't flatter people. No, no, no, no, no.

Here's the second thing, he says.

Nor were the pretext for greed. We did not use preaching as a

cloak for us to covet and to satisfy our greed.

In other words, we didn't use ministry as an opportunity to

get rich, to be successful, to fill our pockets.

No way. And then lastly, this is

probably the most difficult one in verse six.

Nor did we seek glory from people.

We didn't use Ministry as an opportunity for us to feel

better about ourselves, to sense a purpose in our lives, a

meaning in our lives. We didn't fish for people to

love us and to get a following. No, no, no.

We didn't flatter people. We didn't use ministry to get

money from people and we didn't even use Ministry to get praises

from people. And the first thing, as you know

is the words of flattery. And note, this is more than just

him saying I didn't come to you showering you with compliments,

coming off in a nice way so that I can gain your appreciation or

your support. It's more than that.

There's a subtle form of flattery that ministers

especially may be committing and not even realizing it.

By modifying and shaping the truth to be less convicting and

more if not completely commending, you can flatter

people in your preaching if you're thinking, well, is that

really what he's saying? It is Because look what he says

right before verse five. Look at the context in verse

four, First Thessalonians. 24. But just as we've been approved

by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not to

please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts.

Then he says, we didn't come to you with words of flattery.

It is it possible for someone who preaches the Word of God to

flatter people while preaching? Yes, absolutely.

And here's how that looks, where there's an intentional effort to

avoid any possible offense, to try to not get people to be

convicted, to try to get people to be upset.

And why would a preacher do that?

Well, I can tell you at least one of many reasons.

They don't want to lose the supporters in the church.

They don't want to lose the money coming in.

They don't want to offend. Even if they might know of the

things that are being done in that place that offend God, they

rather flatter and tiptoe around these things that would cut the

heart, Paul says. You're not going to find that in

my ministry. I did not flatter I When I

preach, I primarily have one audience in mind and that's God.

I preach to please God first, and that's what he's getting at

here. I didn't tailor my message

because of any insecurity of mine, and that's what he wants

us to know for the true minister today.

And if you're not a preacher, this still applies because there

will be times where you and I with the truth have to avoid the

temptation of giving into flattery and instead giving it

the way Jesus did, though it would be laced with love.

May God, the Holy Spirit help us be like the Lord Jesus In what?

In discerning what people say to us, but also and never utilizing

flattery for whatever our motivation might be.

But to do everything with the constant sense that we want to

1st Honor God the trap of flattery.

But that's not the only trap. Let's come back to mark chapter

Mark 12 · chapter mention

12 together and let's look at verse 14 for the second trap in

verse 14 again. And they came and said to him,

Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about

anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances, but

truly teach the way of God. Here's the second trap.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?

What a timely word, huh? Or not.

Should we pay them or should we not?

The second trap, though it is very unique to Christ's

situation, universally applies if we dig deeper.

The second trap that you and I have to be mindful of as

Christians is the trap of a faulty view of human government.

The trap of a faulty view of human government.

What kind of quandary are they trying to place Christ in right

right here With this question, it's very easy to understand

because if Jesus here answers this in any way in the minds of

these men, it's a lose lose situation.

It's almost like the best equation that they came up with,

because no matter how Jesus answers, he's going to get in

trouble with one party. So if the Lord Jesus says yes,

we must pay our taxes to Caesar, then he might be assaulting what

is commonly held in the Jewish community as the sovereignty of

God being the right to rule over the people, not Rome.

And so the Pharisees would love for Jesus to say yes, so that

they can use that as ammunition to diminish his popularity among

the Jews. Look at this rabbi.

You guys think that he's this and that, but do you realize

that he actually supports the Roman Empire?

But if he says no, we shall not pay taxes to Caesar, and if he

might even follow it up with God is the one who truly rules and

reigns over this land, over this people, Then the Herodians are

right there, ready to take that confession and race to the

authorities, to have Jesus arrested and potentially put on

trial. This is inescapable, almost from

a human standpoint. This is something that might

actually work. And although you and I are on

the edge of our seats to discover how Christ's wisdom is

going to manifest at this moment, you and I also have to

pause and remember that what Jesus will answer is imperative

for you and I as well. It's absolutely vital what

Christ is about to say here, Because you see, the problem of

human government isn't just limited to this situation.

It is something. Listen.

It is something believers need to get right even today, or else

we will find ourselves in a different kind of trap.

Jesus trap here is different than you and I, but the theme

and the subject here is still a trap.

A trap that will create a wrong way of thinking which will

impact your testimony in mind before a watching world.

And a trap that, if we give in to, will grieve God, who longs

for every facet of our lives, every lane, to be dedicated to

reflecting and glorifying Him, even the way you operate in this

Pagan society with unbelieving rulers.

And I'll tell you why this is needed today, because for the

first time in America, the first time ever, we are seeing a

dramatic and blatant shift away from cultural Christianity.

For the longest time, Christianity has been tolerated

and even praised and even shared among those who don't really

believe it. It was esteemed and held as a

part of the fabric of the United States, and that is being

dramatically altered. And you have Christians now who

perceive that all of us can perceive that you don't have to

be a prophet to see it, But at the same time, more than just

perceiving it, you have genuine believers trying to navigate the

way that they should respond. And what is my responsibility

now? What should I do at this time,

with all these laws and all this blatant rebellion and wickedness

assaulting the very truth that you and I hold dear to?

It's a slippery slope at this time, and I'm afraid that the

growing temptation of Christians is to frame the perception of

how they should practically live this out.

Not from God's word, but out of anger, out of confusion, even in

the flesh, in the spirit of rebellion.

This is why you and I have to see this as a trap to avoid,

because there's something at stake here.

I'll tell you what's at stake about how you and I view human

government. It's in First Peter 2, and I

want you to read it with me. Beginning in verse 13, Peter by

the Spirit builds on what the Lord Jesus says and what we're

about to discover together in the closing part of this

message. But I want to just show you a

brief understanding of what's at stake if we don't take this

seriously. First, Peter 213.

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,

whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent

by him, to punish those who do evil and praise those who do

good. Why?

Why, Peter, Why should I do that?

For this is the will of God one that you should just stop right

there. It's the will of God.

These authorities have been delegated by God.

They've been placed by God. They they did not escape the

sovereign will of God, for this is the will of God.

Here it is that by doing good you should put to silence the

ignorance of foolish people. In other words, there is

constantly a people looking for reasons to criticize you as a

Christian, to give reason for why they should not give to your

gospel and obey it and submit to it.

Including how the believer lives under, speaks about, relates to,

and communicates about human government.

And so we come back to Jesus words and we see what his answer

was in verse 15 of Mark 12. But knowing their hypocrisy,

isn't that a scary part of that verse?

Jesus knows hypocrites. He knows when they're being

hypocrites. Like you can't hide.

You can. You can fool people.

You can't fool Jesus Christ Jesus, knowing their hypocrisy,

he said to them, Why put me to the test?

Bring me Denarius and let me look at it.

And they brought one. And he said to them, whose

likeness and inscription is this?

They said to him Caesar's. Jesus said to them, rendered to

Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

Let's stop there. Rendered to Caesar the things

that are Caesar's. And then he goes on to say to

God the things that are God's. Here's how Jesus is in that

first part, giving his instruction, pay the tax, give

the government what they're asking of you.

Now, it's true that the Lord Jesus answer does not provide a

full explanation of the obligation of a Christian

concerning government. But it does undeniably define

that there is an obligation that the Christian has.

The believer does have an obligation.

In this case, the obligation is to fulfill your duty to give

back to the government the services that they give to you,

no matter how you feel about the quality of their services.

But what if and what about and what about?

When I get it, I can feel it and most of those objections and

those concerns are answered in the second part of Jesus's

reply. And to God, the things that are

God's. There is a multi layered meaning

to Jesus. As simple as it is the

statement, it is absolutely profound.

So let's look at them 1 by 1 the immediate implication of Jesus

saying give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what

belongs to God. Is this that you and I must

submit to all governing authorities.

But ultimate loyalty belongs to a loftier authority.

He who receives all things and all things are subject to him.

God Almighty, your highest submission, your your highest

surrender is to a divine court. In other words, your submission

to earthly government stands as long as such demands do not

encourage you in any way to violate what God says in his

divine law. Here's how that would work in

this case. So historically speaking, most

believe that the coin that Jesus pointed to in his explanation

had this inscription on it. Tiberius Caesar, son of the

divine Augustus. That's what would be inscribed

on that coin. And so, as that coin is being

held up and Jesus says, render to Caesar the things that are

Caesar's, in other words, in a applicable way for us.

It's if you're asking me to pay my taxes to fund the services

that I benefit from, then I will do so peaceably.

I will comply. But remember that inscription

even at that time, Tiberiasis are the son of the divine

Augustus. That's a claim to divinity.

That is a ridiculous claim, and I know that our politicians have

made crazy claims lately, and I have a feeling they're going to

get worse. But nothing has reached this

category yet of claiming divinity.

You want me to pay my taxes? I'll pay my taxes.

I'll render to Caesar the things that belongs to Caesar's.

But if you're asking me to worship Caesar, that I will

reject with absolute resistance. Why?

Because my master told me to render unto God what belongs to

God, and that's worship. And that's something that these

believers would need to remember, because persecution is

going to rise in a few years. With that very temptation, that

very command from the government would be made, and they would

make the choice to render unto God what belongs to God.

So when the government interferes and meddles with the

clear commands of Scripture concerning you and I as

believers, you have every right to protest, resist, and at any

cost obey God over man, rend unto Caesar the things that

belongs to Caesar's, and as Peter said, do it for the Lord's

sake, for the Lord's sake. In other words, don't view

government as this one sphere here, and the church and God's

word here. No.

Understand that government is something again that God

established, and that you were to view it through the lens of

his word, and you were to seek the wisdom of God, to know how

to relate to that. And it's not very difficult

because you have everything you need to know about God and what

he asks of you here. But there's something else here.

There's a wider implication. Christ says render to seize the

things that belong to Caesar, but he said something right

before. Let's revisit it again in verse

16. And they brought one and said to

them, Whose likeness and inscription is this?

Whose likeness and inscription is this?

Does that language sound familiar?

It should. And I have a feeling that there

was a Hebrew scripture that flashed before the mind's eye of

these Jewish listeners the very moment Jesus shared it.

Genesis 126. You remember what saying what it

says there. Then God said, let us make man

in our image after our likeness. I'm sure I rung a bell.

Jesus being very strategic with how he is saying this, whose

likeness and inscription is this?

And then he follows it up with Render unto Caesar what belongs

to Caesar, and unto God what belongs to God.

Do you see the connection that Jesus Christ is making by

phrasing his question in this way?

If this coin should be returned to Caesar because his image is

on it, then the object that reflects God's image should also

be returned to him. And what is the object of

creation that bears the image of God?

You. You give this to Caesar.

His image is on it. But you forgot what image is on

you. God's image is on you.

So you have to understand how the Pharisees would have heard

this and how the Herodians would have heard this.

You see the Pharisees who were supposedly concerned about what

responsibility we have to the Roman Empire.

We're reserving something else of greater importance at this

time themselves. Here they are talking about what

should we give to Caesar? And here's God in Christ

reminding them, hey, I know we have to talk about this and make

this clear, but let's talk about something else that you're not

giving, that you need to give. Render unto Caesar what belongs

to Caesar, but render unto God what belongs to God what belongs

to God. Your image is God's image.

You must give yourself to God. And these Pharisees were

rejecting that principle because they were not giving themselves

to the Son of God. So he cuts through that.

Now what about the Herodians? You have the Herodians who were

completely caught up in politics.

They had this view of the Herodian dynasty, almost as

though they were a messianic kind of figure, and their whole

world view was wrapped up in the temporal, in the worldliness of

things. And here's Jesus reminding them,

even through that statement, you Herodians, you fell short of

giving unto God what belongs to him, which is your heart and

your ultimate obedience. Is it not true that we have

people today that view government, that view politics,

that view elections as though there is no other hope?

Have you met those kind of Christians?

They're experts in politics, but they're babes in Christ.

When it comes to the things of God, give unto Caesar what

belongs to Caesar. His image is on it.

Give it to him whose image is on you?

God. So give yourself to God.

Did you do that? Yet?

You're not a lone wolf. You're not an accident.

You didn't just appear. You're not the byproduct of the

love between your father and your mother.

You are created in the image of God, and as precious as that is,

and as wonderful as that is, that has implications of

ownership. You don't belong to yourself.

You belong to someone who made you and he is good and he is

perfect. And in the same way that a

person can refuse to pay taxes to Caesar, you have the ability

to refuse to give yourself to God.

And in the same way that a person who does so against a

human government risk facing consequences for such

resistance, there is a God in heaven who will call each of us

into account for failing to acknowledge him as our rightful

owner. Is it a mystery why?

At the end of verse 17, it says, And they marveled at him,

They're stunned. This is convicting.

Yeah, give it to him. I'm not here to encourage a

revolution. I'm not here being preoccupied

with human government. You think.

But brother, you don't understand.

No, I actually do understand, because the same Jesus said

render unto Caesar. What belongs to Caesar is saying

that about the government, who in a few days is going to nail

him on a cross. And so, for the Lord's sake,

when it's difficult, whatever your situation might be that

would encourage you to respond in the flesh instead of in the

spirit, do it for the Lord's sake.

Even with your taxes. I know who loves taxes, right?

Even your time. It your money doesn't belong to

you. Like, hey, you're traveling by

in this life and you're not bringing anything with you.

Nothing. Just pay your taxes.

Honor God, live on, and trust that he's going to take care of

you. OK, OK.

Very simple. Just travel lightly in this

world. Travel very lightly for the

Lord's sake. For the Lord's sake.

And when they begin to impose and infiltrate and attempt to

act as the head of the church, No, no, no, no, no, no.

We don't give in. We submit to Christ, and this is

what his word says, and we pay whatever price we have to pay to

honor God above man. They marveled at him.

I wonder what that marveling did to them.

I wonder for if a moment their icy hearts were thawed a little

bit. You know, it's possible to

marvel at Jesus, marvel at His word, be moved by what his word

says. Marvel like, really be amazed

and not be changed by Jesus. Can I show you how these men who

marveled did not change? Can I show you how it's

possible, even in a setting like this, to be moved but never

transformed? If you are being moved, that's

your opportunity to know transformation.

But it's possible to marvel and your heart remain the same.

Look at this and this is our final text before we end.

Look at Luke 23, Matthew Mark Luke 23.

Here's Jesus, precious Lord Jesus on trial verse one.

Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before

Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying We found this man

misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to

Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.

Did you see it? What were they saying?

This Jesus is misleading our nation by saying we shouldn't

pay taxes to Caesar. Is that what Jesus did?

Has anybody ever taken your words and twisted them?

Has anybody on your behalf said that you said something when you

didn't say them? Welcome to the club.

Club Jesus, the one in whom there was no deceit found in his

mouth. People had the liberty and the

venomous willingness to say Jesus, Jesus, me, OK, I make

mistakes. I can say some things.

I understand that I'm not the perfect communicator and that

things can be mistranslated. But Jesus, Jesus said that we

should not pay tribute to Caesar.

Do you see how you can fellowship with Christ in all

your afflictions? Even this if what?

What would it take for you and I in that kind of a setting where

in a trial where you would face horrific torture to not say

you're a liar? Jesus doesn't go there.

I'm just marveling at Jesus again.

I'm sorry, I can't help it. I wasn't supposed to end this

way. He's amazing.

He's amazing. I want to be like Jesus, but I

want to show this for this main purpose.

Marveling at Jesus is not the same as giving your heart to

Jesus. And I want you to give your

heart to Jesus because the image of God is on you.

And because of a fall, that image wasn't completely deleted.

It was marred that that mirror that was supposed to perfectly

reflect the glory of God through the mud of sin, was splashed all

over it. But Christ comes into this world

to rescue us, and with His blood to cleanse that and to restore

that, and one day, fully in total glorification, renew that

but you. In the same way you might be

tempted to give that coin when you have the option to keep it

to yourself. Give your heart to Him and let

him renew you, forgive you, restore you, rejuvenate you,

revive you, and bring you into a life that Jesus said is

abundant. And today, as we break bread

together, we are reminding ourselves that because of the

body and blood of Jesus, we are forgiven.

And no matter what we've done, even if we have cheated, even if

we have loved money more than God, even if we have, unlike

Jesus did things in the flesh and retaliated with vengeance,

we are forgiven because of Jesus.

And so in a moment here, we're going to sing as I invite the

praise team to come up, to do just that, to reflect, to

reflect on this truth of the cross.

And as you're sitting there, just prepare your heart.

Prepare your heart to partake of this wonderful ordinance.

Ask God to cleanse you of anything that would grieve the

Spirit. Ask God to instill in you a joy

to not do this mechanically, but to do this with the celebration

of your life. I've been forgiven by Christ.

I'm redeemed by the Lord. I have no concern about my

eternal standing before God because not because of me, but

because of this, this body and this blood.

I have total security that I'm saved.

Lord, we thank you for this message, for instructing us

about how we can be more like Christ, for reminding us, though

in a brief way, how to avoid these traps, these minds that we

might have not noticed before. Lord, in every area we want to

glorify you, and every way we we live.

We want to be able to reflect you and please you help us do

that. But Lord, for this moment we ask

that despite our poor performance or our weaknesses,

we come to reflect on the fact that because you're strong,

we're strong. Because you paid the price, our

debt is cancelled. And so Lord, may may the joy of

our hearts now be in the truth that you did everything and it

is finished because of your life.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

We're singing to remember that even on the night that Jesus was

betrayed, he sang a hymn with his disciples.

I don't care how you feel right now.

The truth is good enough to let your heart soar.

If Jesus could sing when he was about to be betrayed, you can

sing despite your tribulation today.

Can we do that to him? Yes.

Let's stand and worship the Lord.