The paradox of Christian discipleship and civic responsibility

As we continue reflecting upon various aspects of the teachings and life of Jesus Christ especially as they relate to the impending Easter celebrations, this weekend we shall consider one remarkable encounter between The Lord Jesus and the religious rulers of his time, the Pharisees.

In Mark 12: 13-17 the Bible narrates an illuminating exchange between the Pharisees and Jesus: the discussion was calculated to implicate Jesus in some treasonous allegations concerning the ruling power, which was Caesar’s Rome.

To understand the Pharisees’ concerns, one must recognise their clear conflict of interest: they were so closely aligned with the imperial government and were therefore perturbed about the implications to their privileged positions if indeed Jesus’ claims as the One who was to assume rulership of the Jewish nation, turned out to be true.

In other words, these leaders seemed to assume that the only way Christ could take office was if He somehow immediately overthrew Caesar and his agents i.e. themselves. So, their question as to whether it was right to pay the imperial tax (which was an acknowledgement of the political authority of Rome) was intended to test the true political allegiance and civic responsibility of Jesus.

(The subsequent exchange shows how much they missed the means, methods and time within which The Lord had planned to establish His Global Government through His Christ).

In His response Jesus showed that He was aware of the hypocritical motivation for their question (just like most people raise questions about faith today: not intending to know and obey, but rather to display some level of being smart). Having exposed their insincerity Jesus proceeds to tackle their question head on in a most revealing fashion: He requests them to produce the most relevant symbol of Roman imperial authority, the very coin for paying the tax in issue. In doing so, The Lord affirms the imperial domain of Caesar as an earthly power.

Thus, in one brief remark he exposes the error of their question: God is not in opposition to or in competition with Caesar; rather as Romans chapter 13 as well as I Peter 2 later elaborate, current political or civic authorities in whichever geographical location derive their power from the Divine Potentate. There is no contradiction or competition per se; rather the earthly rulers are ultimately accountable to The Divine Ruler, The Source of All Power and Authority.

‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God’ does not suggest that there is anything that does not belong to God. To think so is to miss the wide sweeping claims of the scriptures about the absolute dominion which God has designated for His Anointed One.

It seems quite clear according to the teaching and revelation of the word of God that all worldly executives (in whatever form across the different societies and generations) exercise delegated authority for which they in turn will have to provide an account to God Himself (through His designated Leader). That is why even when Jesus appears for trial before the representative of Caesar, in John chapter 19 verses 8 to 11, when Pilate tries to remind the accused person that he had power to either free or crucify him, Jesus replied very clearly who had the real power between Pilate and Himself.

So, without necessarily evading the question Jesus showed the error of the Pharisees: their own parochial interests had rendered them irrelevant to the very work which had been their reason for existing. The Pharisees were supposed to be in a position to guide the nation into the eschatological purposes of God for the children of Abraham; however, their personal and professional interests had evolved to a level where they were being threatened by the inauguration of God’s kingdom which was clearly superior to Caesar’s geopolitical domain.

In this season of Easter, we would do well to remember that Jesus did not die to claim a transient seat of power either in Galilee, Jerusalem or Rome: His reign is superior to all earthly kingdoms and is not subject to human appointment or election but rests in the irrevocable foundation of Divine Sovereign Choice. When we contemplate the death (and resurrection) of Jesus Christ, it is important to recognise the pervasive and personal relevance of this historical incident and its eternal implications for each one individually even as history draws to its conclusion when all global geopolitical and natural powers shall account before The Eternal King of Kings and Lord of Lords!