In the World to Win the World
Today, Pastor Michael is preaching about being in the world to win the world. In this episode, Jesus will speak to the reality of our dual citizenship: heaven and earth. The timeframe of this lesson is about 48 hours before Jesus is crucified on the cross.
The leaders at this point were sick of Jesus because he was a light that would take away their control. These leaders sent a group of spies to catch him in his words (trick him).
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” was the question asked of Jesus. Jesus asked for a coin and showed them the inscription and image of Caesar. “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” and they marveled at Him.
The leaders were amazed; they had never heard anything like Jesus was offering. Jesus was teaching that we have to obey earthly authority as long as it does not force disobedience to God.
(CSB Bible Notes) 12:15 If Jesus answered “yes,” he would be seen as pro-Roman and would alienate the crowds. If he said “no,” the Pharisees and Herodians would denounce him as a revolutionary (Lk 20:20). Jesus was not fooled. He saw their hypocrisy and realized they were testing him.
Verses can be found in Mark 12: 13-17.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.