Mark 12:13-17

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@Shield> Again, thanks for coming tonight
@Shield> Just a few announcements
@Shield> First, if you are not yet on our email list and you would like to join, go to www.christian-chat.net and follow the links
@Shield> Second, Also on Friday, 13 June 2008, author Mary Jo Clouse will be sharing in
@Shield> #Spiritled_Woman at 9:00 pm EST.
@Shield> Her book is "Getting Free From Your Past." This
@Shield> will be an awesome time with Mary Jo and will benefit so many women. If you have any
@Shield> questions, please find Bethel online.
@Shield> Third, you can interact with me on these studies by logging on to christian-chat.net and clicking on message boards
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@Shield> Much is happening as we improve our service, so join in on the movement of what God is doing in our midst!
@Shield> At this time, let's pray.
@seekHm1st> Father, we just want to thank You for bringing us together in fellowship this evening.
@seekHm1st> We ask that You would prepare our hearts and minds to be not only in readiness to learn from Your word, but to be in a state of worship of You.
@seekHm1st> And inasmuch as You would have us be doers of Your word, not simply hearers, empower us Father to take what we learn out into the world
@seekHm1st> to share it with those who don't know You.
@seekHm1st> Father too, we would like to thank you for the tools that You have provided here on this server to minister to others
@seekHm1st> and thank You for the people who actively are working to glorify Your name here.
@seekHm1st> We ask that You would bless the evening,
@seekHm1st> in Jesus' amen
@seekHm1st> *name
@seekHm1st> Amen
@Shield> amen
@Shield> thank you seekHm1st for opening in prayer
@Shield> and thank you again to everyone for being here
@seekHm1st> yw
@Shield> Last Sunday I had a very special privilege.
@Shield> I drove to a different town to watch a ballet.
@Shield> The ballet was a unique piece, in three acts, performed by a community theatre company comprised of adults, youth and children.
@Shield> They had practiced long and hard, developing beautiful sets, outstanding costumes, and wonderful c****ography.
@Shield> Of course, there was the cute factor with the smallest of the children doing their dances in portions of the presentation.
@Shield> But there was also outstanding acting and dancing by the lead characters.
@Shield> One of them played the title role, Coppelia.
@Shield> Coppelia, in the ballet, is a doll.
@Shield> Admired by all the towns people.
@Shield> The lead male character even began to fall in love with her.
@Shield> Much to the chagrin of his girl friend, the other lead dancer.
@Shield> But as with anything, there is much that goes on beneath the surface of the Coppelia character.
@Shield> Indeed much also that goes on beneath the surface of the ballerina who played the part.
@Shield> What most of the audience did not know, as they watched her perform flawlessly, is that she had a pulled hamstring.
@Shield> A double ear infection.
@Shield> and upper respiratory ailment.
@Shield> She was sick.
@Shield> and injured.
@Shield> Yet, she performed anyway, and did so admirably.
@Shield> I hope you will forgive me for taking so much time to share this....
@Shield> Coppelia, or rather the ballerina who played her, is one of my nieces.
@Shield> I knew she was committed to dancing.
@Shield> I had no idea her level of dedication and her "toughness" to get it done in spite of her discomfort.
@Shield> I know full grown football players (that would be me) who would have bowed out, rather than endure the pain of the hamstring pull.
@Shield> There is much about her, that lay beneath the surface.
@Shield> Seemingly frail in appearance, she has an iron will, a sharp intelligence, and loves the Lord dearly.
@Shield> And she dances beautifully.
@Shield> As we approach Mark 12, picking up the narrative in verse 13,
@Shield> we are reminded that in the natural, not all is as it seems.
@Shield> Mark gives us a bird’s eye view into the motives of the various characters.
@Shield> In novel writing, we call this the omniscient narrative perspective.
@Shield> So let's glimpse again, the bird’s eye view, looking into the hearts of those who would seek to entrap Jesus for their own manipulative ends.
@Shield> 13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words.
@Shield> Remember, they were still chafing at his ability to turn their own words against him.
@Shield> At the end of chapter 11, for example, they were stumped because Jesus caught them up at their own game of deception and entrapment.
@Shield> So imagine some of the Pharisees returning again, sickly sweet and conniving...
@Shield> 14 They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
@Shield> Can you see the syrup practically dripping off their insincere forked tongues?
@Shield> Think about what is happening here..
@Shield> Teacher, or Rabbi
@Shield> they acknowledged is social and religious authority...
@Shield> we know you are a man of integrity
@Shield> that is to say, we know you will not lie...
@Shield> You aren't swayed by men,
@Shield> that is to say, you are not going to be manipulated by political considerations, public opinion polls and the need to save your own skin....
@Shield> because you pay no attention to who they are
@Shield> in other words their social standing,
@Shield> but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth,
@Shield> which is to say your words are authoritative
@Shield> So....
@Shield> and here is the catch...
@Shield> Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
@Shield> "HA!" they surely thought to themselves as they privately and silently cackled with glee.
@Shield> "We got him now!"
@Shield> "If he says pay taxes to Caesar, then he in effect is aligning himself with an occupying ruler!"
@Shield> "The people of Israel will be enraged!"
@Shield> "Not to mention that Caesar considers himself to be a god."
@Shield> "But if he say no, then he will bring down the wrath of Caesar of his head with the full might of Rome."
@Shield> "He will be charged with all manner of crimes, not least sedition and refusing to pay taxes and inciting others to do the same."
@Shield> "Oh yes, we have him now."
@Shield> And we can imagine the Pharisees folding their arms,
@Shield> scratching their beards piously while smiling sweetly with venomous, even murderous thoughts."
@Shield> If the game had existed in their day, I could imagine them thinking the word, "Checkmate."
@Shield> And that was when their plot took an unexpected turn.
@Shield> They had gone on to ask, "Should we pay or shouldn't we?" in verse 15.
@Shield> To which Jesus replied...
@Shield> But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it."
@Shield> 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied.
@Shield> I can imagine their faces as they wondered how he would continue...
@Shield> Already they were alerted to the fact that he knew they were trying to entrap him.
@Shield> But it was of no consequence, in their view. They had built an inescapable conundrum for him to navigate, especially in the company of the crowds nearby.
@Shield> 17 Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him.
@Shield> There are a few ways to take this passage....
@Shield> first of all, it was proof that Jesus was not a Zealot, for the Zealots were unwilling to handle any coinage since they contained graven images.
@Shield> Second of all, the fact that Jesus said that Caesar must be paid his due was proof that he was not seditious, that he complied with the laws of the land, even if it was an occupying ruler.
@Shield> This might have come as a shock, upon further reflection, to those who expected him to usher in his Kingdom rule on earth in the near future.
@Shield> On the other hand, it could also be seen as an insignificant issue, because of the in breaking dominion of God, according to one scholar, Ben Witherington III.
@Shield> Some have even suggested that it was a comparison between the image of the ruler on the coin, and the image of God in human beings, but that is a stretch since it is not directly inferred in the text.
@Shield> So what are we to make of it?
@Shield> Perhaps returning to context will help.
@Shield> Remember last week, we covered the parable of the unjust stewards who were unwilling to render to the landowner what was rightfully his, and the Pharisees who knew it had been spoken against them, but were not privy what it might mean.
@Shield> Here we see our answer laid out.
@Shield> Render your taxes to Caesar, Pharisees.
@Shield> Render to God that which he has entrusted to you.
@Shield> Theirs was a gross neglect of duty, just like the unjust stewards in the parable.
@Shield> And they were amazed at him and his teaching?
@Shield> Why?
@Shield> Partly by the cleverness of his reply, but also by the authority which Jesus took on, ironically in correspondence to their acknowledgement of his place as Rabbi, as Jesus exhorted the leaders of Israel, the interpreters of the law and traditions, the Pharisees who conspired to kill him.
@Shield> It raises the question.
@Shield> What are we to make of this?
@Shield> How does this apply to our lives?
@Shield> At the beginning I bragged a bit on my niece, but I did so to make a point.
@Shield> God knows things about her that I do not know.
@Shield> He knew she was sick and injured.
@Shield> He obviously knows everything about her.
@Shield> As he does me.
@Shield> And you.
@Shield> He knows the motives of our hearts.
@Shield> He knows our sincerity.
@Shield> He knows when I am being a hypocrite.
@Shield> He knows me
@Shield> and you.
@Shield> What of it then?
@Shield> How do we respond?
@Shield> If God knows everything about us, and he does, then how can we not cast all our cares on him?
@Shield> How can we not entrust to him the secret places of our hearts?
@Shield> How can we not confess those things we hold deeply, which we think no one knows?
@Shield> How can we not realize that nothing is hidden from God, and that God bids us to come clean with him?
@Shield> Render to Caesar what is Caesar's.
@Shield> Render to God what is God's.
@Shield> Your whole heart.
@Shield> The dominion of your life under his Lordship.
@Shield> Some of you are struggling.
@Shield> You bear down deeply issues of struggle.
@Shield> It might be an area of sin.
@Shield> Of willfulness.
@Shield> Of hurt.
@Shield> I don’t know.
@Shield> But God does.
@Shield> The most difficult thing you face, is not too difficult for God to address.
@Shield> Is the evil one giving you a bad time?
@Shield> Worship God, and ask him to protect you, and to guide you.
@Shield> Seek counsel from your pastor and prayer covering from your church.
@Shield> Are you repeatedly ****e to particular areas of sin?
@Shield> Confess your sins to your Christian friends, asking them to help you overcome by holding you accountable and praying for you and with you.
@Shield> The problem with the Pharisees is that they were so hardened in their hearts, that their consciences had become seared to what they were doing.
@Shield> Theirs was a form of godliness but it denied the power of God and it sought glory for them, rather than for God whom they thought they served.
@Shield> What is God speaking to your heart?
@Shield> I pray that in the coming moments and days, you will hear his voice clearly.
@Shield> Let's pray
@Shield> Our Father and Our God, we come before you this evening, seeking your face and asking you to speak to each heart here.
@Shield> We ask that you will lift blinders off of those who are confused.
@Shield> We ask that you will deliver from bondage those who are caught up in secret or open sinful behavior.
@Shield> We ask that you will bring peace to those who are discouraged.
@Shield> We ask that you will comfort those who are down.
@Shield> Lord, may you be glorified in and through our lives.
@Shield> We thank you Lord for all that you are doing.
@Shield> In Jesus precious name amen.
@Shield> good night everyone
@seekHm1st> Amen
Turkey-Legz> amen
Mrs_Tigre> amen
@Shield> have a blessed evening.
carol> amen
@seekHm1st> Thank you very much Shield
Will> amen
Red> thank you shield
Deacon> Amen
GentleDove> Good night Shield. GBU
@seekHm1st> [22:01] <martha> Thank You Shield it was an awesome study. It was eye opening and I’m sure it helps others as it did me thanks Shield :) God Blesses You to be used by Him Thank God!
@Shield> thanks folks:)
GentleDove> Keep up the good work