Jeff Garrison
Mayberry and Bluemont Churches
March 2, 2025
Mark 12:13-27
At the beginning of the service[1]:
Two weeks ago, those of us who live and own property in Carroll County received a real estate reassessment. I’m not sure about Patrick County, but Virginia law requires all counties to reevaluate real estate property values every five years. So, if you’re in another county and didn’t get such a statement, don’t worry, your time will come.
There has been a lot of gashing of teeth and complaining about the reassessments. County wide, property values are up 40-some percent and many of us have seen valuations up by 50 or 60 percent. If you think it’s too high, you can appeal. I doubt anyone will say anything if they think theirs is too low.
We’re going to talk about paying taxes and God’s control today. I am sad to inform you that I can’t give a theological reason not to pay taxes. But if you feel your evaluation is high, you have the right appeal. Hopefully, what we pay in taxes will be used to enhance our communities and support things which makes our common life more productive and pleasant.
Before reading the Scripture:
We’re continuing through Mark’s gospel. As I mentioned last week, opposition to Jesus increases as we move toward his arrest. Today, we’ll see Jesus challenged with the second and third of four questions. The first question, which we heard about last week, had to do with his authority. He now gets bombarded by different groups of Jews, who attempt to trick Jesus into incriminating himself. The second and third questions have to do with paying taxes and the resurrection.
We see an odd group of folks come at Jesus. The question as to taxes involves the Pharisees and the Herodians. The latter group supported Roman control over Palestine. Normally, we’d see these groups on opposite side of issues. Of course, nobody likes paying taxes. But the Pharisees disliked it for theological reasons while the Herodians saw it as a necessary evil which allows them to enjoy the things Rome supports.[2] Earlier in Mark’s gospel, we see the two dissimilar groups joining together against Jesus.[3]
The next question which relates to the resurrection is brought about by the Sadducees, a group who denied the resurrection. The Pharisees believed in it, but they’re not the one who asked this question. The questions and those who ask them are ironic. It’s almost like someone set up several groups of people to ask Jesus questions. But our Savior answers them in a way that sends the questioners off shaking their heads.
Read Mark 12:13-27
Have you had a salesperson play on your emotions to get you to buy their product? The life insurance salesperson who speaks about how desperate your family will be when you die. Or maybe a car salesperson trying to get you to move up to a nicer vehicle than your budget allows, telling you how impressive you’d be riding in the fancier car. I’m sure we’ve all been there.
Not long after moving here, we had our HVAC system checked. The technician suggested the thing was rusting away and leaking, and I should replace it before winter. A few days later the company’s owner came to give me a quote. I had already called around, so I knew about how much a system should cost. So, when he handed me his quote, I was shocked. It was well over twice what I expected.
He tried to tell me all the reasons they were the best company and pressure me into signing a contact with offerings such as a yearly maintenance check, but only if I signed that day.
When he realized I was not buying his line, he changed tactics. He told me how all the other HVAC companies hire guys trained in prison. He also implied that many of these workers were people of color. Then he asked what I’d think if one of them came into my house and attacked my family. I’d had enough. I told him to leave.
The next person who came to give me a quote for a new HVAC system asked why I thought I needed a new system. I told him I’d been told it needed some expensive freon and was rusting out. He looked at the system, said the rust was to be expected, and wasn’t bad. He then asked if he could test it. After hooking up gauges, he shook his head. “Your system is fine,” he said, “And if you put anymore freon in it, you’ll blow it up.” We’re still using the same system and have yet to add freon. It has lasted the past five winters.
When a wire shorted out, I called the guy who said I didn’t need a new system. He isolated the problem and quickly fix it.
Honesty and good service are traits which serve us well. When someone tries to butter you up or use dishonest techniques, hold on to your wallet and run.
Jesus must have known when the Pharisees and Herodians showed up together, something was up. And then they butter him up with praise. I’m sure Jesus just listened, waiting for the hook. Sure enough, they then asked: “Should we pay taxes to the emperor?”
This put Jesus in a bind. If he says yes, the people who despise taxes will think Jesus sold them out. Furthermore, the Roman taxes had to be paid with Roman coins, the denarius,[4] which the Pharisees and strict Jews considered idolatrous. The coins went against a strict interpretation of the commandment prohibiting graven images.[5] Furthermore, the inscription around the emperor’s head read “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus.”[6] In other words, it indicated the divinity of the Caesars, which flew in the face of monotheistic Jews.
On the other hand, if Jesus said, “no, you shouldn’t pay taxes,” the authorities would have a reason to arrest Jesus. “Inciting the crowds against Rome,” would be the charge. It’s a no-win situation.
But Jesus is clever. “Let me see a coin,” he said. And they produced one, which is telling since they considered the coin idolatrous. When Jesus said, “give to the emperor the things that are his, and to God the things that are God’s,” the questioners are left speechless.
Jesus acknowledges the legitimacy of human government.[7] We shouldn’t forget that all governments, like all human institutions, are sinful. Yet, scripture understands they’re necessary and, as Paul reminds us, deserve our respect.[8] Jesus does not encourage an artificial separation of life into the secular and sacred, as some have suggested.[9] Instead, if we’re to acknowledge that all belongs to God, that includes even what’s the emperors. The earth and those who live in it are the Lord’s.[10]
We don’t know if the Sadducees who next approach Jesus were waiting to see what happened to the Pharisees and Herodians, or if it was later in the same day or another day. But Mark presents these events as if they happened in rapid succession.
Mark first informs us the Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection, then tells the scenario which they present to Jesus. We also know that the Sadducees didn’t believe in angels and demons in addition to no afterlife.[11] They base their question on the laws of Moses, which said that if a woman dies without children, her brother-in-law should marry her.[12] In this case, the woman is terribly unlucky with husbands, because every brother she marries dies without her having children.
Their question for Jesus, “who’s the woman’s husband in the life to come since she’s had seven husbands on earth?”
The Sadducees story drips with irony. They don’t even believe in the resurrection, yet they are trying to trap Jesus concerning his beliefs. Jesus responds harshly, telling them they don’t know scripture, nor do they understand the power of God. He suggests that in the life to come, we’ll be more like angels, of which the Sadducees also didn’t believe in.
Paul, in his great chapter on the resurrection in 1st Corinthians, speaks of our earthly bodies as perishable seeds, but the resurrected body as imperishable. Just as we don’t know for sure what a seed will produce until it planted in the ground and sprouts, it’s not for us to fully understand what our resurrection life will be like.[13]
Jesus concludes his response by drawing on the name God gave Moses to use when he addressed the Hebrews in slavery. “I am the God of Abraham, of Issac, and of Jacob.” God didn’t say, “I was.” The use of the present tense is important for it implies that the patriarchs of the Jewish people are not dead and forgotten.
In this second story, Jesus refuses to let the people pin God into a vision from their own minds. God’s freedom and ability are beyond our minds to comprehend. We tend to think of the afterlife in terms which we know from this life. We expect our bodies and families continuing as we have experienced them. But Jesus’ response reminds us there is a lot we don’t know. We are called to walk by faith, and that includes into the life to come.
Furthermore, we shouldn’t be surprised when others rise up against us. Jesus faced enemies in his ministry, and it won’t be any different for us. Hold on to the faith and keep your eyes on Jesus.
Today’s stories remind us of God’s sovereignty over our earthly lives. Yes, we’re to live on earth and abide by laws, if they don’t contradict God’s law. And we are to live by faith, trusting the future to the one who created and redeemed us. Amen.
[1] I plan to omit the opening section at Mayberry to shorten the service because the congregation celebrates communion on the first Sunday of the month.
[2] William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1974), 423.
[3] Mark 3:6. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/03/10/the-plot-against-jesus/
[4] Lane, 424.
[5] Exodus 20:4.
[6] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 363.
[7] Edwards, 363.
[8] Romans 13:1.
[9] Douglas R. A. Hare, Mark: Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville, KY: WJK Press, 1997), 154.
[10] Psalms 24:1.
[11] Edwards, 365.
[12] Deuteronomy 25:5-10.
[13] 1 Corinthians 15:35-42.
You just have to be extra careful … not always easy.
I too like the way the stories you tell tie into the scriptures.
My good wishes.
All the best Jan
Thanks! Life can be hard especially with those trying to cheat.
Oh yeah, I got snookered by a sales person selling phone service for Cox cable years ago. They quoted me $75 a month and by the 3rd month my bill was $150. By the time I cancelled cable the bill was $300 a month. I don’t even talk to the door to door sales people now. Have a good week.
Wow, we no longer deal with cable or satellite.
Similar experience, Jeff, also with my HVAC. They took advantage of me being female, but they were wrong. My sis also had that kind of experience. It pays to get a second opinion.
Love the stories you tell and how you tie them into the scriptures.
You’re right about getting a second opinion!
I’m amazed by the gall of that owner! We had someone try to tell us ours all needed updating, but thankfully had another company check and like you, was told everything was fine.
I know many non-Christians don’t understand putting faith in the unknown (future), but I take great comfort from it. I trust God. He’s never let me down in the past.
The HVAC company was a piece of work. I would never call on them again and have warned many others away from them. We want to be in control, but we never are, so it is more comfortable to let God be in control.