Whose Stuff Is This: Mark 12:13-17

Who we see as the author or originator of an object says much about how we perceive the world around us.  Suppose I make a dining room table out of some mahogany and sapele.  Do I get the credit for cutting the wood and assembling it?  How much credit should the person who cut the tree down receive?  What about the person who farmed the tree and cared for it?  Whose tree is it?  Whose table is it?

When the Pharisees come to trap Jesus by flattering Him, Jesus employs one of the greatest strategies known.  Jesus returns their question with another question.  Unlike the last passage, where Jesus asked a question in an intentional willingness to exchange traps, this time Jesus’ question serves another purpose.  Jesus is using this question to teach.

Jesus wants to flesh out the motivations of the religious elite before He willingly steps into their trap.  He wants to know more about their thought process.  Perhaps more importantly, Jesus also wants the religious elite to learn about themselves and their own motivations.

When Jesus asks for a coin and the face upon it, the religious elite say they see the face of Caesar.  This identification tells Jesus about their focus.  While the face on the coin is certainly Caesar’s face, the real argument underlying the conversation is to whom the coin belongs.  Was it Caesar’s metal that was smelted and forged to make the coin or was it God’s metal?  Because Caesar’s face is upon the coin, the religious elite illustrate their focus is upon Caesar.  Jesus tells them in that case there is no reason to not give it back to Caesar.

I don’t want to be too harsh with respect to the religious elite.  If Jesus had asked me about the coin, I probably would have said the same thing as the religious elite.  I would have given the answer, though, because of surface level thinking.  The face stamped upon the coin was Caesar’s face.  To see God’s handiwork upon the coin, much more intentional thought and focus is required.

We only get this dynamic in the story because Jesus chooses to lift up a rebuttal question. Jesus could have said, “See Caesar’s face?  Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”  That would have answered the Pharisees question and taught the lesson on taxes.  By asking the rebuttal, though, Jesus gives the Pharisees – and us – the opportunity to participate and learn about ourselves in the process.  Of course we see Caesar’s face.  Yet, if we are following God, shouldn’t we see the coin as God’s coin?

This story is far more layered than it appears.  What starts out as a simple question about taxes turns into a self-reflective moment.  To whom do the materials of this world belong?  To whom do we give credit?  Who gets our praise?  Who we see as the author or originator of an object says much about how we perceive the world around us.