Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 12-13.

I have always loved the accounts of the Pharisees asking Jesus if it was lawful to pay tax to Caesar.  In response to their question, Jesus asked to see a denarius (the coin used to pay the tax).  When they produced one, He asked them whose image was on it.  When they replied (accurately) that it had Caesar’s image on it, Jesus told them to give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s, a clear reference to the Genesis Creation account where God said that He made man in His own image.  Jesus’ message here was that we should give money which has no intrinsic value and is produced by the government back to the government when it asks, but we should give our selves, which has eternal value, to God who created it.

Today, I am equally taken with Jesus’ response to the Sadducees, whose question on marriage in the after life immediately follows that of the Pharisees.  What struck me about Jesus’ answer is that it gives the model of the appropriate response to those who question our basic faith.  Paraphrasing Jesus said, “Your question is fundamentally flawed because you neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God.”  This approach is the answer to many who argue for false ideas about God.  Carefully read the Scripture and put your faith in an all-powerful God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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