Day 30: Mark 12:13-17

I know that Jesus was God and had the ability to see people’s hearts and thoughts, but he was also very quick witted. This chapter always amazes me at how Jesus handled himself as all these different people were coming at him. It’s like a spiritual Bruce Lee movie.

I love the implications from this response. First, Jesus is saying that he isn’t concerned with our politics. Think of who he had chosen to be his disciples. You had Matthew, the former tax collector who had worked for the Roman government, and you also had Simon the Zealot, who had committed his life to overthrowing the Roman government. But even more than that, he was saying that he was concerned with our response to God. Leave your politics at the door, and instead concentrate on what is truly important.

What was it that identified the coin as belonging to Caesar? It was that his name and image were stamped upon it. So Jesus says, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God?”

What belongs to God? Genesis 1 says that we are created in the image of God. He has stamped our being with his image. What about his name? The name of God is Yahweh. In the Jewish tradition the sound of breathing is represented by those two syllables. Breathing in is “yah”; breathing out is “weh”. Everytime we breathe we are saying his name. Our bodies are his image. Our breath is his name. Give to God what belongs to God.