Turn with me in your scriptures to the gospel according to Mark. We have before us this morning, verses 13 through 17 of chapter 12. Mark 12, verses 13 through 17. If you are able, I invite you to stand for the reading of God's holy word. This is indeed God breathed holy, infallible, and inerrant in all its parts. Let us hear accordingly with great reverence the very word of Almighty God. Mark 12 at verse 13. Then they sent to him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to catch him in his words. When they had come, they said to him, Teacher, we know that you are true and care about no one for you do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay? But he, knowing their hypocrisy said to them, why do you test me? Bring me a denarius that I may see it. So they brought it, and he said to them, whose image and inscription is this? They said to him, Caesar's. And Jesus answered and said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him." That ends the reading of God's holy word. Let us ask his blessing on the preaching of it. Let's pray. Great God and merciful Father, this, the God-breathed word, we pray that it should be blessed in the preaching of it, that it should be vivifying, that we should have life wrought in the soul as you work in us according to your purposes by this sacred word preached. Blessed in every way, for Christ's glory we ask, amen. You may be seated. When Christ returned earlier with his disciples to the temple, after that cleansing of it, recall that he was confronted by representatives of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, scribes, and elders. These demanded to know what authority Christ was exercising in his disrupting the marketplace they had set up in the court of the Gentiles. They considered this to be an encroachment on their authority, and they demanded an accounting from Jesus. Jesus responded with a question for them to answer first, a question concerning the prophetic ministry of John the forerunner, but they were unwilling to answer honestly. Of course, The correct answer would have made it obvious. John's ministry was from God and was intended to promote the coming of the kingdom of God, revealed in Jesus, the Messiah. By this divine and messianic authority, Christ brought a cleansing and a judgment to the temple, to its leadership, and by extension to Old Covenant Israel. This judgment was set out by Christ to these questioners in the parable of the wicked vine dressers. They got the message. And just as the parable portrayed, they were moved to lay hands on Christ. They knew he was speaking that parable against them, and it angered them. But they were afraid of the people, so they left him. But they weren't done. As Mark continues his gospel record, we find that those leaders send representatives trying to ensnare Christ with his own words. As Mark continues the gospel record, we'll find that the religious leaders that bring these tests and attempts to trap Jesus are not only the ones mentioned as scribes from the representatives of the Sanhedrin, but also a couple of factions amongst that Sanhedrin group, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These representatives will come with ways trying to test and even trap Christ with his own words. Mark records each of these groups coming one after the other to challenge the Lord. First, the Pharisees with some familiar but unusual companions, the Herodians. Next will be the Sadducees, and then finally the scribes. Here in the passage before us, the challenge comes from the Pharisees and the Herodians. We'll consider this passage in two main points, the snare set and the trap. turned. First the snare set, and then the trap turned. As we consider the snare set, consider verse 13. Then they sent to him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to catch him in his words. Here we have the hunting party sent out to ensnare Jesus, and we've met these two groups collaborating before. The Pharisees and the Herodians came in chapter three, verse six. Their collaboration was an uncomfortable one as they made common cause against the Savior, the Herodians, hoped for Roman authority to prop up the dynasty of Herod, which was not truly a Jewish monarchy, but had exerted rule and dominion in the region of Judea. They wanted that to continue and be promoted, even though it was not indeed a purely Jewish rule of the kingdom of David. That was what the Pharisees were hoping for, was a purely Jewish rule, removing any dominion of Rome and any puppet dominion. Say, oh, by the Herodians, they wanted to see that go away, that there'd be room for a pure and Jewish rule in Judea and in Jerusalem, preferably a dominion that represented the kingdom of David. So these two were not really on the same side, but what they had in common was seeing Jesus as a threat to what they both wanted separately. They could make common cause because they had a common enemy. And sadly, we see this kind of collaboration happening still in our day. Recently, there was a controversial book published, maybe you've heard of it, it's very recent, a book by Megan Basham titled, Shepherds for Sale, How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda. We suspected this kind of thing. We saw things during the turmoil of the past several years that looked completely out of place in any context that's supposed to be evangelical. There were agenda items rising that made no sense in that kind of a context. And this book sets forward a claim to expose a kind of collaboration like we see here revealed in Mark. Those who have no concern for a biblical agenda, but have an agenda in opposing Jesus. And others who have a pretense of a biblical agenda, but are really opposed to Jesus. And these make common cause. This is exactly what's happened. Now, there have been all sorts of complaints. I don't have the book. I haven't read it. I've listened to the interviews. I've heard a summary. I've heard the opposition. I've heard the complaints. Apparently, she stepped on a lot of toes. She may have painted with too broad a brush. But clearly, there's something here that looks a lot like this, smells just as bad. Organizations that are deeply hostile to Christianity have used a variety of means to join forces with pastors in the broad evangelical world to push unbiblical political policies within the church. Again, surely some of what the book describes may be those who were unwitting in adopting agenda items. Maybe they did it in ignorance. Sometimes, those who oppose Christ's agenda within the church are demonstrating their ignorance of His agenda. Other times, there are those who, just like this, join forces with those outside the church, making common cause against Jesus, precisely because they are wolves in sheep's clothing. They are opposed to Jesus and have their own agenda in view. As we see that happening here, in the pages of the record from Mark, we should be equipped in examining that failing, that hostility, that rebellion there to avoid it in any era, in our era. And yet, how has this happened? How has the church succumbed to a godless agenda in her very midst? Well, the measure, Christ's revealed agenda, the love for Him, for His Word, to be saturated with His agenda, that's been missing And so his people are easy prey for wolves. The measure of the agenda of the church must be Christ alone. As he's revealed in his word, so may we be warned. Consider as it continues, as the hunting party has been sent forth to lay the snare, verse 14, When they had come, they said to him, teacher, we know that you are true and care about no one, for you do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Here we have some bait set by the hunters in their snare. It's the bait of false flattery. They don't mean a word of what they're saying. but they intend it as a wicked ploy to appeal to personal pride. How profane. This reveals their own wicked mindset. Surely they do this because it makes perfect sense to them. This is precisely the kind of thing that would work on them. What would tug on my heart, they think. Oh, I know. I need to butter him up. I need to let him know, I need to appeal to his pride. That works on me, that'll work on him. What a wicked heart is exposed by their lying and hypocritical words. And it's deeply and painfully ironic what they say. While they speak these things through lying lips and from deceitful hearts, the things they are saying are in fact absolutely true about Jesus. Christ is the true teacher, the teacher of truth. He is not a respecter of persons. That phrase could be misunderstood, care about no one. It's literally not someone who tries to curry favor with people, with just the right people, no, no. They say, you're not that kind of person. They mean it lying, but it happens to be absolutely true about Jesus and they speak it through filthy, profane, lying lips. Christ is indeed the epitome of truth, the one teacher of the purest integrity, speaking the truth of God unflinchingly. We should ask as we shudder at their profanity, would this technique work on us? in our place and in our station? Would we be snared? Do we have an open wound of pride ready to be exploited by wicked, hypocritical lips? Oh, may we see this. May we loathe what it exhibits, sin, and may we root out anything that could get traction by this technique. Pride is a root of sin that springs up in every manifest way. Continuing in verse 14 into the first part of verse 15. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, they ask, or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay? Now, As these hunters come and try to bait their trap, here they set the trigger for the snare, the issue of Roman taxes. And it's a perfect collaboration for these two groups, the Pharisees and the Herodians. This was a sensitive matter among the serious observant Jews. of which Jesus was obviously a part. Some Jews, indeed, had revolted over Roman taxes a few decades earlier. It was argued that paying these taxes to pagan overlords was being unfaithful to God as the true ruler of the Jews. And so, they were trying to impale him upon the horns of Adelaide if he answers their question. No, it's not lawful. It's not pleasing to God to pay taxes to Caesar. Then the Herodians could turn him in to the Romans as seditious. Look what he's doing, he's undermining Roman rule. If instead Jesus says, yes, you should pay taxes, to Caesar, then the Pharisees can turn to the people and say, see, you know how awful these taxes are and how ungodly they are, and he's promoting them. What kind of leader is he? Filthy, not to be followed. We should despise him for what he's holding forth. He's an advocate for Rome. So the snare is fully set. Surely these wicked hunters must have been very proud of themselves. This is brilliant. He's got no way out, they think. But Christ skillfully undoes their schemes. And so we turn to our second main point, the trap turned. the last part of verse 15 into the first part of verse 16. But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, why do you test me? Bring me a denarius that I may see it. So they brought it. Jesus first removes the bait and then exposes the trap. He calls out their hypocrisy and false flattery. It had no effect upon him. He holds it out, he exposes it. He says, you don't mean any of this sincerely. It's all just meant to test me and to trap me. When the simple motives of darkness are known, they are best removed by exposing them to the light. Now, we do not have all of Christ's insight, and so this is not a call for us to judge the motives of others when we cannot know them. But we can do this where those motives are known, where they are made plain. We can expose them to the light in keeping with our place in calling, and more importantly, where can you know without question wrong motives? by self-examination. We can do this with our own temptations. We can do this with the trickery of Satan, the world, and our own sinful desires. We can expose them, and we should, just as Jesus calls it out, calls it what it actually is. So should we when we feel the tug of sin. Shine the light of the truth of the scriptures upon that. Call it what it is. Don't toy with it. Don't allow it to have traction, to have a place to pull as a bait to sin. Do what Jesus did here. Expose it. Name it for what it is. Put light upon it. that it may be destroyed in that clear light of Scripture. Christ turns their test back on them in calling for the Roman coin, the denarius. Part of the argument against paying tax to Rome was argued on the basis of the profanity of the coin. The currency, the denarius, was the coin in question. It was about the value of a day's wage in Judea in that era. And that coin would have an image of the emperor on it together with an inscription reporting his claims of divine origin and his position as the high priest in pagan idolatry. But when Christ calls for them to bring this presumably profane coin, they clearly have it in their possession. They produce it. And so, again, it's ironic. The very thing that they're trying to amp up As the bait and snare turns out, they're guilty in so many ways that they had loaded this trap against Christ. The trap is turned against them. This coin is supposedly so profane, they can't stand to use it, but they have it right there when called upon to produce it. Verse 16, the remainder into verse 17. And he said to them, whose image and inscription is this? They said to him, Caesar's. And Jesus answered and said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's. And they marveled at him. Christ turned the trap to expose their hypocrisy. And now he turns it to undo their false teaching. Whose image is on the coin, he asks, and they answer, it's Caesar's. The image on the coin revealed its origin and the authority exercised in issuing it. They wanted to deny any legitimacy to the pagan ruler, but Christ corrects them and reveals that some things indeed belong to Caesar, and we have a duty to give those things to him. And yes, this includes taxes, as Paul explains in Romans 13, verse six. But this also includes an appropriate honor, something that these were not really promoting. Paul also teaches on this. Romans 13, verse seven. Peter touches on this. First Peter two, verse 17. And indeed that honor extends to a duty that we considered in our Old Testament reading. There's a duty on our part to pray, even for pagan rulers. Paul teaches this. in 1 Timothy 2, verse 2. But notice, Christ is not teaching, nor does the rest of Scripture teach, that this civil ruler has an absolute authority. No, no. Christ's concluding command corrects the overreach of Caesar. Caesar does not have lawful claim to anything he chooses. Christ's logic here requires us to consider if the coin bears Caesar's image and displays its origin and the authority exercised over it, what bears God's image? We do. Human beings bear God's image. And so we display our origin and the ultimate authority over us. This is a masterstroke of teaching on Christ's part. No wonder they marveled. Christ, by this brilliant stroke, demonstrates that we are not Caesar's playthings, as he may think. All human engagements, human relationships, all human interactions must honor ultimately the one who minted us with his image and inscription. We are all accountable to God and we must all honor his law. It's stamped on our very nature that this is so. We must all give God his due. We must give Caesar, a civil ruler, his due. But Christ has revealed there's an order and a limitation. God has absolute authority over all mankind, over us. And there is a limited authority on the part of those who rule, even when they're pagan rulers. And you know what? That law stamped on us reveals the limits of the exercise of that law by others. What a master stroke. And as we have this stamp, we bear the image of the one who made us and know our duty that we owe to him. Paul pressed that reality. When he went into the middle of a bunch of the brilliant philosophers of Athens, he goes to Mars Hill and listen to what he said. He demands the giving of due to the true God. Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead." Acts 17, verses 30 and 31. And so, indeed, What they said through hypocritical lying lips is demonstrated to be true. He is a teacher of surpassing excellence, unimpeachable integrity, and great brilliance. Let's consider all the many things held out to us here for our lives as we consider where we started in this portion, let us pray for and protect leadership of integrity in Christ's church. Considering that wicked collaboration of those who made common cause against Jesus, let us be warned, let us be watchful against the world's agenda creeping into the church and enticing us away from Christ's agenda. We must desire the praise of Jesus as the remedy against desiring the praise of the world. Let us reject the sinful methods displayed on the part of the Pharisees and Herodians. Now, it is no sin to bless others with honest encouragement. Both parties may give glory to God in this, but it is wicked to manipulate through false flattery, appealing and enticing sinful pride. Let us put such sinful desires to death in ourselves so that we may be people of integrity, reflecting the holy character of our Savior. Let us understand, as Jesus so brilliantly puts forward here, the limits of civil authority. And may we live boldly in light of divine authority stamped upon every human being. It has ever been an effective ploy of civil rulers to claim divine prerogatives and then demand absolute obedience. It's happening all the time, everywhere in the world, where any ruler can get enough power. That power and that obedience of that extent is not theirs to claim and it's not ours to give. Remember the response of the apostles in Acts chapters four and five when they were faced with rulers demanding in the exercise of their authority that the apostles stop this preaching We've already done everything we can to put this down, now shut up. And what do the apostles say? They say what we should say if rulers demand that we break the commands of Almighty God. We should say with the apostles, we ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5 verse 29. We must also do our best within our place and calling to foster and be the cause of godly civil rule. We mustn't encourage the abuse of civil authority when we think it's to our advantage, when they entice us. Vote for me, and I'll remove all of these legitimate debts that you accumulated. It's wicked. We should pray against it, and we should ferret out the sin that would give it traction in our hearts. Buy these tickets out of covetousness, and I can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. And hey, it's for a good cause. You're funding my kingdom as a ruler. Oh, and I'm using it for your good. It's just a little covetousness. It's just a little get-rich-quick. Does it tug at our hearts? We know what to do. We know how to pray. And we should exert ourselves towards godliness in rule, as well as in those who are ruled. We should give no place to it. And above all, as Christ lands the master stroke by implication, his logic at the end, let us live as image bearers of God. Our risen Savior has, as it says in Matthew 28, all authority in heaven and on earth. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. The glad shout in Revelation 17 and 19 And do we yield to Christ in all things? We owe it to him. We bear the imprint. And we've been saved to delight in it, to have it in its fullness of restoration. And do we live that way? We heard in the reading of the law what that would look like. Zealous love, saturated with his law, living it in glad delight. day in, day out, when we rise up, when we lie down, pouring out of us gladly as we commune with one another, teaching all those that it's our charge to teach. Surely that's what it's like to have that imprint become clear and shining that you bear the image of God. Do you bear it well? Is that how you live? This is our glad calling. This is our savior. The true teacher has taught us this. Let us with gladness live this calling. Let's pray. Most Holy Father, how we should marvel at the mastery of our Savior, the true teacher of Israel, our teacher. And yet, we acknowledge there are things here that sting because we're reminded there's work that needs to be done in our hearts. But as we hear the word of our Savior, we long for that work. So give us hearts sensitive. Give us a glad delight in your right order, for we bear your image. So may that rightly order all lives, privately and publicly, and may The lives we live shine out into the world around and rightly order society so that we render rightly to rulers that which is their due. We have duties there. Jesus teaches that. But may it be beautifully ordered according to the absolute authority of the one whose image we bear. So make us unmistakably minted in His image by how we live. Work in us for the glory of our Savior, we pray in all these things for His glory. Amen.