During his ministry on earth, Jesus constantly faced opposition from those who opposed the will of God. Often this conflict was with religious leaders who had missed the marks of true righteousness. Jesus battled to uphold what was right in God’s sight against the wrong of misplaced allegiances, off-center priorities and outright hypocrisy of the people of his day.
Jesus calls on his followers today to take up battle against wrong and to support right. By his actions, Jesus demonstrated his proper allegiances, priorities and sincerity. Jesus showed the proper ways and corrected people’s errors and misunderstandings. Christians today must strive to live in ways that act positively on higher allegiances, practice faithfully in line with proper priorities and maintain absolute sincerity.
Determine and act on higher allegiances (Mark 12:13-17)
These lessons record events that consider the subjects of responsibility and allegiances. The Pharisees, religious leaders and Herodians, a group who supported Herod Antipas, usually were committed enemies. They united against the common enemy, Jesus.
They thought to “catch” Jesus, that is, to trap him or hook him. They asked about the hated census or poll tax imposed on all residents by Rome. The value was only a denarius (about one day’s work) but the Jews hated the tax because it was imposed by a foreign power and had to be paid with a coin that had the image of the emperor on it. These coins actually claimed some form of deity for the emperor.
The Jews thought they had Jesus in a dilemma. If he said to pay the tax, the people would lose confidence. If he said not to pay the tax, the Romans would deal harshly. Jesus perceived they devised the question to try or tempt him. He called for a coin and inquired whose image was on it. Caesar’s, they answered. Then render, that is, pay back for value received, to Caesar what Caesar has a right to require. But give to God, in whose image you are created, what God has a right to require. The teaching includes the idea of giving to Caesar what he has a right to demand but no more.
Christian allegiance includes obedience to the laws of the state unless these laws should conflict with those of God. Even if believers do not totally agree with the ways of the government, they should respect the fact that God ordains government among people. Even when believers have little respect for the people in office, they respect the position of the office.
Christians today follow Jesus’ example and determine their allegiances and act on these. We place our allegiance on Jesus, follow him and act on our allegiances.
Determine and act on proper priorities (Mark 12:28-31)
After Jesus dealt with a question of eternity based on the Jews’ question about marriage in heaven, he faced another question, this one from a teacher of the law. Which was the greatest of the commandments? The scribes had identified 613 commandments (365 negative and 248 positive) and divided them into heavy and light rules. They were seeking priorities in the rules.
Jesus answered from Scripture. Love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, your strength (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). By piling up these words, Jesus indicated his followers should love God with their entire beings. These words were part of the Shema, the confession quoted by pious Jews twice daily.
Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays
Jesus quickly added another part of the primary command. His followers should love their neighbor as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus indicated that love for God and love for others cannot be separated. The two together make up the highest of priorities for believers. When we love God, we experience his love in our lives and naturally express this love to others. Our priorities are not on rules but on relationships—a loving relationship with God allows for loving relationships with others.
Determine and act on sincere motives (Mark 12:38-40)
After dealing with some of the inadequacies of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus issued an important warning about the errors of hypocrisy and the value of sincerity. Jesus warned against the practices of the teachers of the law who walked around in flowing robes and demanded greetings in the market places. The robes were the tallith, a shawl worn during formal religious activities the scribes were wearing to attract attention. The greetings were expressions of deference to religious authorities the scribes demanded. These leaders demanded to sit in the important places in the synagogues, that is, the bench facing the congregation and places of honor at banquets, that is, the places immediately to the right and left of the host.
Jesus’ warning against hypocrisy pointed to the practices of these scribes taking property from widows, perhaps inappropriately, and making a show of long prayers. They were thinking religious service was a means of great financial gain (see 1 Timothy 6:5-6).
Jesus’ true followers understand sincerity and act on pure motives. Self seeking in religious service will be most severely punished. Abuses of religious service for personal gain have not been confined to Judaism but have been all too common in Christian ministry throughout history and still are common today.
Christians should join Jesus in battle to determine and act on higher allegiances, proper priorities and sincere motives. In this way we join Jesus’ mission.
We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.
Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.