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Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death."Acts 2:23"

AN INTERACTIVE APPROACH

One of the most effective ways of teaching has to be the “interactive approach”. This was the very approach that Jesus chose as He prepared to give an answer to His enemies.

“‘Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.’
So they brought it. And He said to them,
‘Whose image and inscription is this?’
They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’
And Jesus answered and said to them,
‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.’
And they marveled at Him.”
MARK 12:15B-17

1. The Denarius
a) This was a Roman coin.
b) A denarius was the pay of a daily-rated laborer.
c) The image of Caesar was stamped on every coin.

2. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”
Jesus was not against the idea of paying taxes! Nobody should be against paying taxes!
a) Everyone must know that Governments have a right to levy taxes.
b) No one can effectively run a government or country without levying taxes.

3. “And to God the things that are God’s”
This latter statement was unexpected. This balanced the equation significantly.
a) There were duties to man.
b) There were also duties to God.
c) Man is accountable to both earthly rulers and to God!

THE SILENCE OF THE ENEMIES

They knew that while they could debate with Jesus on the first part of the equation, they could not fare as well on the second part! Jesus knew that they would not dare to debate publicly on the issue of the things that must be rendered to God. Their spiritual lack would only add to their already badly tarnished public image.