Introduction

Things have been so heavy lately, so I want to have a little fun. Let me ask you a few questions.

• How many of you can’t stand it when the topic of politics is brought up at the dinner table, at work or with friends?
• How many of you love bringing it up!?
• How many of you have already made up your mind on who you will vote for in this year’s election?
• How many of you are simply praying for Jesus’ return?
• How many of you think that churches and especially preachers should stay away from politics all together?

We are going to continue to look at the kingdom of God and see how that can inform our political views.

Have you noticed that politics are not an emotionally neutral topic? It has the power to divide us instead of bringing us together. Politics can so color the way we see the world that we’re often left wondering how someone could hold political beliefs different from our own and still follow Jesus.

For me, what’s been helpful is to remember the difference between government and politics. There’s lots of ways to define government, but generally speaking: Government is the authority that sets rules for a society, helps its members relate to one another and to others, and keeps it running smoothly, securely, and peacefully.

Politics on the other hand, is different. Politics are the activities that relate to influencing the actions and policies of a government. It’s about getting and keeping power.

Government is the main body or institution that runs a country and politics is the theory or practice that helps in running a country.

You may be surprised to know that the Bible says a lot about how citizens of the kingdom of God should relate to the government. But what does the Bible say about politics?

To answer that question, we are going to look at a scene in the Bible where Jesus is asked a political question. How he responds to it, is a key to understanding how citizens of the kingdom of God should view politics.

After Jesus cleanses the temple in Jerusalem, because it was turned into a flea market and not a house of prayer, the Pharisees and Herodians approach Jesus and ask him a question. The Pharisees were a sect of Judaism that, politically speaking, opposed Roman rule. The Herodians were influential Jews who supported Roman rule. And yet, these two powerful forces come together in opposition to Jesus. They were trying to get Jesus to take a political side.

(Read Mark 12:13-17)

A Revolutionary Question [1]

Before these religious folks ask Jesus a question, they butter him up with flattery in order to barbecue him, “You are such a man of integrity, you’re not swayed by others and you teach the truth, the way of God.” They didn’t believe this at all! Jesus saw their hypocrisy and knew the question was designed to trap him into saying something that would get him into trouble.

Here’s the revolutionary question: Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? It was not a question about taxes in general. This was about a particular tax. It was a tax used for the privilege of being a Roman citizen. It was a relatively small amount of money, but signified allegiance to Rome. You paid the tax to show your submission to the great Roman Empire.

The Jews, under Roman rule, actually paid a lot in taxes. Anywhere from 20%-30% of their income. Some Jews (the Zealots) flatly refused to pay it, because it was for them an admission of the Roman right to rule, which they outright opposed. The Pharisees disliked paying the imperial tax but didn’t really oppose it, and the Herodians had no objections to it.

The intent of the question was to force Jesus to make a direct answer, a political one: Who does Jesus side with, the Zealots or the Herodians? They’re asking Jesus about his politics.

Why was this a trap? If Jesus says “No, don’t pay the tax,” in essence he’s calling for an armed revolt, one that will ultimately be crushed by Roman authorities. If Jesus says “Yes, pay the tax,” he’s contradicting everything he’s been saying about the kingdom of God and siding with the Herodians!

Keep in mind that these Israelites had a heightened expectation of a physical kingdom of God. In their thinking, the Messiah would literally usher in a new kingdom by overthrowing Rome. So, if Jesus answered yes, then his opponents could publicly discredit him as a sympathizer with Rome. If he answered no, then they could go to the Roman governor and accuse Jesus of rebellion.

Today, there are so many hot button issues we get asked meant to pigeon hole Christians and make us either feel stupid, bigoted, uninformed. And worse, these questions can end up causing division between God’s people. In the US, some of those questions have been,

• Do you think a woman has the right to choose what happens to her own body?
• Isn't love just love?
• Do you believe immigrants deserve to be here?

All of those questions are the types of questions that can trip us up on the wrong things, close people’s ears to the actual message of the gospel and create sides within the kingdom of God. What do we do? Let’s look at what Jesus did

Jesus asked for a coin. Jesus’ request to see the denarius is setting the scene for him to turn the conversation around in an unexpected way. Jesus gives them a revolutionary answer.

A Revolutionary Answer

If you heard my sermon last week, we looked at eight values of the kingdom. Jesus is living those out with his gentle answer. Based on that and how Jesus responds, when it comes to politics, followers of Jesus should be the most confident, curious, composed, and compassionate people in the room.

Jesus, takes the coin, looks at it and asks, whose image is this? Everyone knows, it’s Caesar on the coin. Jesus then gives them a revolutionary answer, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Today, when politicians don’t answer the hard questions, or spin the answer, we get mad. But these people were amazed by Jesus’ answer. In his answer he teaches us a few things about politics.

Their question should have been answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” But, Jesus doesn’t answer either way. Jesus was the master of asking a question with a question! In his response to the question, Jesus both accepts what’s on the coin and rejects what’s on the coin.

For Jesus, it’s not either-or but both-and. This is not easy to do when it comes to politics. For us, living in a highly charged political climate, we need to be careful when we say we are speaking for Jesus, saying things like “Jesus supports this candidate and Jesus would vote this way ….” Jesus never took such political stances as far as I can tell.

Now, that doesn’t mean the church should not occasionally speak out in favor or in disapproval of a political issue. But, whenever we do that, we need to be careful and exercise great wisdom.

Jesus’ approach to politics is revolutionary because he refuses to offer simple answers to complex issues. Let’s look more closely at the denarius coin and Jesus’ interaction with it, because it’s so important.

The denarius was a silver coin and the image on it was of Tiberius Caesar. This inscription on the coin said “The Emperor is the King, the son of god and the high priest.”

So, what is Jesus doing? Does he say pay the tax? No. Does he drop the coin in outrage over the blasphemy and say “Don’t pay!”? No. Instead, he says, “Give to Caesar what’s his and give to God what’s his.”

Jesus points to the image of Caesar on the coin and asks whose image is this? He’s pointing back to the creation account in Genesis. In Genesis 1:26, in week one, we looked at how humanity was created in the image of God. The same word is used here.

Jesus is making a subtle yet powerful contrast. Caesar’s image is on the denarius, so he can lay claim to money through taxation. But God’s image is on humanity, so only he can lay claim to each individual life. This means, give to Caesar only that which has his image on it—a denarius. And give to God what has his image on it—that’s YOU. By answering this way, he slipped out of their trap.

This was a radical and revolutionary answer. The king had sovereign rule and could never be questioned. Most governments worked that way, not just Rome. Jesus said give the king his money but never give him your whole heart. Caesar has a legitimate claim but so does God. Give to each his rightful claim. So, when it comes to king and kingdoms, Jesus sides with only himself.

We’ve seen a revolutionary question: Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? And a revolutionary answer: Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Let’s look finally at a revolutionary revolution.

A Revolutionary Revolution

Jesus’ statement is revolutionary. Give back to Caesar what he deserves. And what does a tyrant deserve? His money. So, give it to him. But, he does not deserve your heart allegiance

Jesus is saying, you can give Caesar some of what he wants but, you can never give him all of what he wants. As citizens of the kingdom of God, we can’t give our total allegiance to any system of cohesion, injustice, and suppression of the Roman Empire or any kingdom for that matter. Kings want ultimate allegiance but we can’t give them that.

NT Wright comments about this and says, “Jesus doesn’t call for revolt or total submission. But his answer reveals a revolutionary idea: don’t give your all to the king.”

The crowd is amazed by his answer because he says to simultaneously give something to your king but look to God for most everything else. Your heart allegiance belongs to King Jesus alone.

During Jesus’ day there were many bad attempts to live this out. The Essenes, a religious community of Palestine during the time of Jesus, totally withdrew from society and weren’t paying their taxes. In their thinking, the only way they can give their all to God is by withdrawing from society and not participating politically. Jesus is saying “no” to this approach to life.

On the other hand, the Zealots wouldn’t pay taxes either. They conspired revolts and tried to overthrow the government. Jesus is saying “no” to this approach as well.

Remember, Jesus came as a King with a new kind of kingdom. This means, to follow Jesus is to give him your whole heart and to live as citizens of his kingdom first. That means putting our faith ahead of our ambitions, comfort, security, and even politics.

There’s some irony in verse 15 that point to some of the things Jesus’ kingdom is about. Jesus doesn’t even have a denarius and has to ask for one. Did you notice that? A denarius was only one day’s wage. It wasn’t small but it wasn’t much either. Think about it, Jesus was a king without any wealth who compared himself to a king who had everything.

When Jesus said he was a king he never said he’d replace Caesar. Jesus was bringing a new kind of kingship. A spiritual revolution. Why does the eternal King have nothing? Jesus was showing us an entirely different kind of kingdom. An upside down kingdom, where the poor are rich, and the meek are powerful.

So, why is Jesus a king without any money? Was it a political statement? No. Was it a wonderful example? No. Jesus was a king without any money for your sake and for mine.

The gospel says that Jesus took the poverty you deserve so we could have the wealth of God’s love and his embrace. Only when we’re transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of heaven are we free to love the people of this world sacrificially.

Her’s what C.S. Lewis says,

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next...The conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.

Conclusion

How does all this affect us politically?

I think the longer it takes people to figure out where we stand on politics, in all likelihood the more faithfully we are living like Jesus. Here’s why. When you and I are transformed by Jesus, you’ll always be moved from somewhere to somewhere else. This is true in some many areas of our lives.

This is even true politically. If you are a strong conservative, Jesus will move you toward the left. If you’re a strong liberal, Jesus will move you toward the right. The gospel even moves moderates to the extremes and extremes to the middle.

Everyone moves somewhere. Why? Because we can no longer see the others as our enemies. We begin to see all people created in God’s image and this moves us. As people of the kingdom we start to value kingdom values and this moves us. Suddenly we care about truth, justice, mercy, and compassion. We start to attend a church and do life with people who look different, vote differently, and socio-economically are much different. And yet they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And as we explore the King and his kingdom, we soon realize our calling to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. All these things move us or at least they should

We need to remember where we’ve been and where we are going. Church history shows that Christianity has always thrived most as a life-giving minority, not a political majority. Acts of love, justice, and service for the common good have always gained more traction for the cause of Christ than anything else.

This means Christianity embraces both conservative and progressive values. We champion the cause of the weak, heal the sick, feed the hungry, and show hospitality to people on the margins. Many of our hospitals, universities, and rescue missions, were founded by Christians!

We also, remember where we are going! The Kingdom of God will be finally and fully realized in the New Heavens and the New Earth. And on that day, justice and mercy will reign. We’ll be in a kingdom with all nations, tribes, languages, and tongues. And nothing will divide us any longer. Jesus will be King and we’ll be able to finally give him our all. So church, let’s give our all to King Jesus this week!

[1] Thanks to Tim Keller and his sermon on Mark 12:13-17 for the outline.

Rob Hall is the Lead Pastor at New North Church, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.