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Mark- Render Unto Caesar
Manage episode 273706507 series 2682562
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Mark- Render Unto Caesar Read Mark 12:13-17
There were four political parties in Jesus’s day. The Pharisees, the Herodians, the Essenes, and the Zealots. The Pharisees were religious law keepers and enforcers who believed if they were pure and righteous enough God would overthrow their oppressors (Rome). The Herodians thought it prudent and wise to make the best of the situation and try and get along with Rome and not upset them. The Essenes moved out the the far regions and desert areas so they could do their own thing but didn’t participate in society. Last were the Zealots who carried daggers under their cloaks and looked for an opportunity to kill a Roman as they worked toward the violent overthrow of Rome.
In this passage Jesus is approached by two groups who didn’t typically get along. The Pharisees and Herodians came to him to trap him in a question. Jesus saw through it and stunned them with his wisdom. In a world where everyone only saw two sides and two options Jesus always finds “secret Jesus option #3.” He shows how we don’t have to take sides and live in the false dichotomy presented to us. Over and over he shows there is more going on here, there are more options, and therefore more freedom. This is how he can be in the system but not of it. Jesus demonstrates here how to be in the world but not of it.
Of the four groups mentioned above, do you know which you would have most likely been a part of had you been around in Jesus day?
Imagine you would have been there with Jesus in this moment. His disciples have come from at least three of these different groups. They want him to take a side but they are also nervous as the story is getting more intense with them in Jerusalem. How would you have felt in this moment? That feeling is still with us. What would you have been hoping for in this situation?
“Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar. Render unto God what belongs to God.” One mystic put it this way, “When you give to God what belongs to God... what is left for Caesar?” How would you answer?
How does this verse speak and the situation Jesus was facing speak to you now? What does this mean for us today? Are there more options that we are seeing? What is secret Jesus option #3 today?
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