As I have been reading the interaction between Christ and those that were aro
und Him I have been paying attention to their responses. When some leaders tried to trap Christ concerning the Roman occupation and paying taxes Christ responds in saying, “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” The result was amazement. Why? Why would someone be amazed? Was it because He called them out in their trap? Was it because He acknowledged that Caesar was a leader? We have a tendency to focus on the Caesar part of His answer and not on Christ’s main thrust, the God part, “give to God what is God’s”. But what is God’s? It’s answered right after that in Mark, “Love the Lord with all your heart mind soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself”. Yet we begrudgingly pay our taxes while we ignore the devotion to God.
und Him I have been paying attention to their responses. When some leaders tried to trap Christ concerning the Roman occupation and paying taxes Christ responds in saying, “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” The result was amazement. Why? Why would someone be amazed? Was it because He called them out in their trap? Was it because He acknowledged that Caesar was a leader? We have a tendency to focus on the Caesar part of His answer and not on Christ’s main thrust, the God part, “give to God what is God’s”. But what is God’s? It’s answered right after that in Mark, “Love the Lord with all your heart mind soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself”. Yet we begrudgingly pay our taxes while we ignore the devotion to God. 
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