About Politics

Well, you know, I love stories of political figures who were good with a quick quip. For example, Winston Churchill is a great source for this kind of stuff. Like one time he was out on the town and a woman who was a political opponent told him, "If I were your wife, sir, I would poison your coffee!" To which he quickly replied, "If I were your husband, madam, I would drink it. I love that. The American president, Calvin Coolidge, was famous for being a person of very few words. A very taciturn fellow. And at a party a lady came up to him and said, "I made a bet with my husband that I can make you say three words!" And Coolidge looked at her and said, "You lose." And didn't say anything the rest of the night. I love that.

Some of the best of these are from Abraham Lincoln, of course. One time in a debate his opponent said, "You, sir, are a two-faced liar!" And Lincoln shot back, "If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?" But the master of the short debate answer, of course, was Jesus. And what I want you to do is grab your message notes. They look like this. They're right in the middle of the bulletins that you got when you came in. As we start a brand new series, Debating Jesus. Because there's one chapter in the Bible, Mark 12, where three different groups try to debate Jesus three different times. And in this three-week series, I'm going to look at these three debates. This week, they're going to debate Jesus about politics. And this is a really fascinating passage. Because I don't know about you, but in Santa Cruz today, I think in America today, I find it increasingly hard to talk about Jesus without bringing in politics, right? I mean, I don't bring it in, but people want to know, is this Christian thing a Republican thing? Is this a Democratic thing? Does this mean I have to change my political parties if I want to be a Christian? And the answer to that question will emerge as Jesus Christ answers this question in Mark 12, verses 13 through 17. I want to look at the verses first, and then we're going to explore them, all right?

Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. And they came to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others. You pay no attention to who they are, but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth." Can you hear the flattery just being layered on here, right? So, is it right to pay the imperial tax of Caesar or not? Should we pay, or shouldn't we? But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius. Let me look at it." They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose image is this, and whose inscription?" "The Caesars," they replied. And then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is gods." And they were amazed at him.

What's happening in these verses is they are trying to smoke Jesus out. They're trying to find out whose political side is Jesus on. You see, this verse says, "The Pharisees and the Herodians came to talk with him, and the Pharisees and the Herodians were on opposite sides of the political spectrum." The Pharisees hated the Roman government. They did not want to have anything to do with it. They were the super religious people who focused their attention on the law of God. The Herodians, on the other hand, were pro-Roman. They were in alliance with the Roman government, and their authority was the law of Rome. And really, they disagreed on almost every single other political point, really every single political point that I can think of. They didn't agree on anything, except they both agreed that they did not like Jesus. And so they try to trap him.

This conversation has fascinated artists through the years. This one is by the 18th century engraver Alexander Beda, who I think does a great job showing these two different parties. Do you see this? You've got the Pharisee over there on the left, and then you've got the Herodian on the right, and you can see by their snarls, they hate each other, but they hate Jesus more. And so they're surrounding him, trying to trap him with this question. Here's another one by Jan Loiken, and again, you see on the left the religious anti-Roman Pharisees with their hats and their beards, and on the right, the pro-Roman Herodians, you can tell because they've got their Caesar haircuts on, right? But they're both surrounding Jesus, and they're trying to get Jesus to come down on one side or the other. What political persuasion are you, Jesus? What party are you a member of? Whose side are you on? And it's all centered on this very clever question of the tax.

As Tim Keller puts it, there's three ways this is revolutionary, and I want to give special thanks to Tim Keller, one of his sermons, and also his great book on the Gospel of Mark, King's Cross, were huge resources for me as I studied this. So what I'm saying is this, if you like what I'm saying about Jesus and politics, if you like it, then I want to say I took Keller's ideas and I improved them vastly. But if you don't like what I say, it's all Keller, I'm just repeating what he said. Okay, he says, number one, this is a revolutionary question. This is a revolutionary question, and to understand the background, you really need to kind of dig in a little bit here. The tax that they're asking about is not taxes in general, it's a particular tax. He said there were lots of taxes, taxes on goods, taxes on imports, taxes on exports, but there was also what they called a head tax. And the head tax was an annual tax of one denarius, one Roman denarius.

Now, when that tax was first put into place, there was a huge rebellion, not because this was a huge tax, as we will see, but because it was symbolic. It was a tax for the privilege of being a subject of Caesar. And almost exactly 25 years before this moment in the Bible, when the tax was first instituted, there was an armed revolt against Rome, and it was led by a man named Judas the Galilean. And when Judas the Galilean led the revolt, he did three things. One, he called on all Jews to not pay the head tax. Keep your money in your pockets, everybody. Number two, with an armed guard, he went in and he cleansed the temple. And number three, he said, now we are going to bring in the kingdom of God, not of Caesar. The kingdom of God, not Caesar. And what happened a few days later, he was caught, tried, and executed. And now it's 25 years later.

So do you realize what's happening in this moment? Do you see the parallels? Judas the Galilean said, don't pay the tax, he cleansed the temple, and he called for an armed revolt to bring in the kingdom of God. Now Jesus has built his entire teaching around the phrase, the kingdom of God. For three and a half years or so, he's been saying, the kingdom of God is coming, and the kingdom of God is like this. And then second, Jesus has just cleansed the temple. In the chapter preceding this, in Mark 11, and that is actually what instigates this whole series of debates. There's just one element missing from the armed revolt that they think he might be trying to instigate, and that's this. So what do you think of the head tax? You see what they're asking him? They're saying, are you a revolutionary? Man, this is a massive trap. Because if Jesus says, no, don't pay the tax, he's calling for an armed revolt. And what's going to happen then is he will be crushed by the thumb of Rome. He won't just be unpopular, he will be crushed, wiped away. And on the other hand, if he says, yes, do pay your taxes, like good citizens, he's going to lose the people who loathe the Romans. So how do you like that? There is no good answer. Every answer, yes or no, is going to lead to either his destruction or the destruction of his following. How do you like that tight spot that he's in?

So what does Jesus do? Because literally they're asking him a revolutionary question. They're asking a question about whether or not he is a revolutionary. And then he gives a revolutionary answer. You know, so often when a politician's asked a hot question, they hem and they ha, and they don't really say anything, and you realize he just talked for ten minutes and actually didn't say a thing, right? And you're kind of disappointed and disillusioned. But were these people disappointed? Were they disillusioned? No, it says they were amazed. Because Jesus' answer is off the map. Jesus' answer is outside of all of their categories. And so they're just like, wow, that is a new way of looking at things. Because in his answer, Jesus resists three things that they are trying to force him into. And people will try to force you into these three things too. And as your pastor, I'm just saying, as followers of Jesus Christ, I think it's really important for us to resist these three things as well. And you see Jesus doing this in his answer.

First, he resists political simplicity. Political simplicity, kind of an oversimplification of the question. Did you notice they rephrase the question? They asked the same question twice. They say, is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we? You know how clever that is? They're making it binary. Only two options, Jesus. Yes or no? Choose a side. Do you agree or do you agree with them? Yes or no? And Jesus does not do what they are trying to force him to do, which is to give a simple yes or no answer. And Christians, this is so wise. Listen, so much of the political questions that are hot potatoes today have nuance to them that the extremists on either side do not want you to have in your answer. The fanatics want to hear your position on everything. Yes or no? Now, Jesus is that blunt when he talks about a few things like our relationship to him. He's very binary. Will you follow me or not? But when he's asked about the political hot potatoes of his day, like this political issue, he does not give a simplistic answer. He gives a balanced answer. He gives a nuanced answer. They're really after yes or no, but he won't do it. Man, this is so, so important.

And before we go on, let me just suggest you a very practical application. Don't do for Jesus what Jesus refused to do for himself. Do you know what I'm saying? I mean, you are going to be flooded in the next year as the presidential campaign heats up and so on with stuff on social media and emails and all kinds of stuff. Would Jesus support this? Yes or no? Or they'll say, "This political party, that program, this law, Jesus would be for that." Beware. Man, you wouldn't believe the emails that I get. Maybe you would. You'd probably get them too. From political groups, what's funny to me is both left and right, I get them all. And they all amount to the same thing, or so many of them amount to this. This is real simple. Real simple calling all Bible-believing true Christians. This is what we should vote for. This is who we should vote for. We should vote this on this proposition clearly. Think this way. Man, I'm not talking about one or two issues that the Bible is really clear on. I'm talking about, I get this, about everything that's on the ballot. Every proposition, every candidate, you can find voter's guides on either side of the political spectrum that'll tell you what Jesus Christ's opinion would be on every single thing. And I think Jesus wouldn't do that for himself. Why are you trying to do it for him?

So he resists political simplicity. He resists being put in a box. They're trying to say, "All right, Jesus, which of our categories do you fit into? Do you fit into this category, or do you fit into this category?" Because those are the only two categories we've got. And Jesus goes, "Actually, I'm over here in this category. It's so far off the grid, so far off your map, that you guys aren't even thinking this way." Man, this is so, so important for Christians to realize. Now, I know this raises a lot of questions, and you're going, "Well, what about this? What about..." Remember, this is a three-week series, and so I'll probably get to some of those questions a little bit later on in the series. I'll answer them, and then I'll leave on sabbatical. So it's perfect timing. But I do want to hear, listen, if you've got complaints or questions, email me. My email is m-a-r-k-at-t-l-c-dot-org. So just flood that email box. No. But listen, Jesus resists political oversimplification.

The next Jesus resists what you could call political complacency. Political complacency. And what does that mean? Dropping out. Giving up. You know, being so cynical about politics that you don't vote, that you kind of go off the grid, that you say, "Forget it. The whole world's going to hell in a handbasket, and so I'm not going to have anything to do with it politically at all." See, there were two groups out there in Jesus' day not paying this tax, and one was the Essenes. Have you ever heard of the Essenes? Well, here's how the Essenes dealt with injustice and social problems in their society. They didn't. They dropped out. They literally left. Have you ever heard of Qumran near Jerusalem, where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls? It's way out in the desert, and this is where the Essenes lived. And the Essenes went out there because they said, "We're not going to pay the head tax. In fact, we are completely dropping out of the whole system. The way we are going to deal with a bad society is, we're just going to not have anything to do with it anymore, and when God comes back, He's going to set it right, but we're not going to do anything." They were the withdrawers.

And this is a temptation just as much as political oversimplification is. It's happened throughout human history. In fact, I just read a story in Smithsonian. Get this. In 1978, in the wilds of Siberia, scientists discovered a group of people that had been so isolated without any contact with human civilization that they did not know anything that had happened during the 20th century. In 1978, they had no idea that World War II had happened. This is a picture of the area in Siberia where they were found. This was taken by the people who were on the ground who discovered them. Check this out. A Soviet reconnaissance plane took photos of a terraced garden where the Soviets thought Siberia was completely uninhabited, and when they developed these pictures, they went, "There are clearly people living out there." And so they sent scientists in '78 to make first contact with them. And this is one of the log cabins that they found. Some of the people who lived there, this old man, spoke Russian, but he was the only one who spoke Russian. He was the only one in the entire village who had ever been outside the village. The other members of the family spoke their own language that they had developed that sounded like a soft cooing.

Who were these people? Well, it turns out they were members of a Russian Orthodox Christian sect called the Old Believers. And way back in the days of Peter the Great, the Old Believers had been persecuted, and the last straw for them was their beards were taxed. Because Peter the Great wanted to modernize Russia, and he was like, "Everybody has this stereotype of Russians wearing beards, so the beards have got to go, and so we're going to tax all those Orthodox who wear their beards, and if they won't pay the tax, we will forcibly shave them." And so the whole group decided way back then, "We are going off the grid so we don't have to pay that beard tax to the Czar." And they lived all alone, forgotten by the rest of the world, developing their own culture, their own language, and eventually after all of this severe isolation, they came to look like, as you see here, young men in Santa Cruz, California. I'm not sure what that proves, but wow.

Well, a lot of them came back to society, but a lot of them refused to leave, even when somebody said, "There's no beard tax anymore. You don't have to shave your beards." But a lot of them stayed there, and to this day, I looked this up, there is one survivor of the Old Believer society, this little civilization that's still out there in Siberia, crossing your arms, saying, "I'm not coming back. You are fooling us. There are some kind of tax out there. I'm staying off the grid." And this was the impulse of the Essenes, complete withdrawal, let the world go to hell. Jesus says, "No, no, render to Caesar. He is not preaching. No taxes go off the grid. Don't be involved in politics." He is not saying that, but Jesus is also refusing what you could call political primacy. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, the other group that would not pay their taxes were the zealots, right? And the zealot said, "Let's not pay our taxes, and let's revolt, because our only hope is violent change of political leadership." And Jesus is clearly not going that direction either, the idea that the main way you solve the problems of humanity is through politics.

And this is important for churches to hear too, because let me ask you this. Is it possible for a church to get so involved in social activism? I mean, God wants us to be involved with feeding the hungry and helping the poor and social problems, but is it theoretically possible for a church to get so involved in that kind of stuff that it ceases to become a church and becomes a social activist club? Absolutely it is. And you forget the gospel, and you forget conversion, and you forget you're mooring in the Bible, and you're a political organization. So Jesus says, "I'm going to resist political oversimplification, this binary world that people live in. I'm going to resist political complacency just going off the grid. I don't care what happens. I'm going to resist political primacy." A kind of idolizing politics is what Jesus says, "There's another way! There's another way! Am I a revolutionary?" Yeah, but not the kind of revolutionary you guys are imagining. And people are amazed at his answer.

He says, "Get me a denarius." And we know what these are. There were actually a lot of these. They were about the size of a quarter. In fact, when we were in Israel earlier this year, we went to a shop that was selling denarii, that's the plural of denarius, that were found in Jerusalem from the first century, and I got to handle some of them. And I thought to myself as I put them in my palm, I thought, "There's a statistical chance that this could be the very denarius from this story, right? Because this was found in the first century. It's a denarius in Jerusalem. But here's what these things looked like, and they all had a picture of Caesar Tiberius, and they had two really interesting inscriptions. On one side, it read, "Tiberius, son of the god Augustus." And on the other side was another picture with the words, "Pontiff, Maxim." Can you see that? That stood for "Pontifex, Maximus," which literally meant "bridge builder." Pontifex means "bridge builder," and Maxim means, like, "ultimate." The great bridge builder.

Now, this had another meaning, because the Roman pagan priests used this term to describe themselves, because they said, "Hey, we high priests are the ultimate bridge builder between God and man." And then Caesar heard about this and applied this to himself, and he said, "Well, no, you can't have any title that I don't have. I'm the great bridge builder, both literally and metaphysically, between man and God, because I am a god." So, do you see the irony of the picture that Mark's painting here? Jesus is holding up a coin on which it says about somebody else, "Son of God, great high priest, bridge builder between God and man." Isn't that fascinating? And so Jesus looks at the coin, and he says, "Whose image is this?" Remember that image. And whose inscription? "Caesar's," they replied. And then does he say, "So pay your taxes?" No. Or does he say, "How dare this idolatrous image even be in my hand? Take it away. How can you think as respectable Jews have ever paid these kinds of taxes?" No. What does he say? He says, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's." By using the word "image" when he asks him the first question, he's implying, "Give to Caesar only that which has his image on it." It's got his image on it. It's his money. In fact, literally, it was, by the way. The coins back then were literally minted out of the wealth of Caesar. It's his money. Give it to him. But give to God what has his image on it. And that's you. Give to God what is God's. Give Caesar his money, but give God the worship.

Now, do you see what's happening here? Jesus is brilliantly redirecting the question. The questioners came up to him with a question about taxes. And in half a phrase, Jesus has flipped it back to what really matters. Are you personally surrendered to God? Do you see how brilliant that is? So many political debates are potentially a giant distraction from the central mission of Christ and the central focus of the church, and that is your relationship with the Lord. Are you surrendered to God? And then when you're surrendered to God, are you giving to God what has his image on it? Your life, your soul, your whole self. Because that really creates revolution. Jesus is talking about what somebody has called a revolutionary revolution. A revolutionary revolution. He's saying, "I'm a revolutionary, all right, but unlike any you've ever imagined." You know, of all the gospel writers, Mark loves irony. And I think he means for his readers to picture what is on it. Daenerys, remember that inscription? Son of God, great bridge builder between man and God, great high priest. Mark is trying to say, "Look, they're trying to get Jesus to make a decision about tax, but here's where the real decision is, between the two kings on the same stage. Two people, Tiberius, Jesus, and they both say, 'I'm king.' They both say, 'I'm the son of God.' They both say, 'I'm the high priest.' But look how totally different they are. One guy has all the money in the world. It's literally his money. And the other guy doesn't have a coin to his name. It's a really deliberate detail here in Mark, where Jesus says, 'Bring me a Daenerys.' Just Jesus reach into his pocket and pull out a coin like me? No, he's got to ask for one. He doesn't even have one. And a Daenerys was not a very big amount of money at all. A Daenerys was one day's wage for the lowest of the low peasant. It was the barest minimum wage, but Jesus doesn't have one.

And Mark is very deliberately making a contrast between the two people who claimed what was on the inscription. It's just brilliant. The king without a minimum wage coin versus the king with all the coins. Because he's saying, "Look, Jesus is a revolutionary, but he's not saying, 'I'm going to politically replace Caesar.' He is saying, 'I'm a totally different kind of Caesar.'" And as Tim Keller points out, the best place to understand how Jesus completely is outside of everybody's categories here is to look at places like Luke 6. And we're going to kind of, for the last five minutes here, put the brain into overdrafts. So get those thinking caps on, kind of dial it up here. Because in Luke 6 starting in verse 20, Jesus says, "Blessed are you who are what? Poor. For yours is the what? The kingdom of God. Blessed are you who what? Hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who what? Weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people what? Hate you when they exclude you, when they insult you, when they reject your name as evil because of the son of man." Jesus says, "Blessed are four categories that are exactly the opposite of the four categories that every single person lives for in human kingdoms.

Because in human, follow me, in human kingdoms, everyone is looking for power, wealth, comfort, and status. That's what they want. And even when there's a revolution, even when Judas the Galilean overthrows the Romans for a few days, it doesn't really change the values of the human kingdoms. Everybody is looking for power, wealth, comfort, and status. All the revolution does is change the players. It's just rearranging chairs on the deck of a sinking ship. It's a new cast of characters, but they're still looking for power, wealth, comfort, and status. And Jesus is saying, "I have a revolutionary revolution that's actually going to change those values." And it won't be a kingdom where people prioritize power, wealth, comfort, and status, but instead where they value those who are poor, and those who weep, and those who are hungry, and those who are rejected.

Jesus is saying, "Look at me. I'm giving you a true revolution. My mission isn't coronation. It's actually execution." He's saying, "Have you ever seen a king like me, a king without a coin? A king who spends time with the marginalized and feeds the hungry and cares for the sick and hangs out with the rejected?" And he's saying, "And people who are in my kingdom are going to act like me." Now listen carefully. Not because there is something intrinsically wrong with power, wealth, comfort, and status. In fact, when God blesses you with them, bless God for that. And you can use them for God's glory. But, listen, the way you know that you're in the kingdom of God and have those values internalized is that you are not decimated when those things slip away from you. You don't need them. You're not driven by them. You're not making life decisions based on, "How will I get and maintain power, wealth, comfort, and status?" You're making life decisions based on, "How can I further the values of the kingdom of God? What's going to benefit others?" And all that happens, not when you decide to be a do-gooder. It happens when you understand why Jesus is the king without a coin.

Did he do that as a wonderful example for all of us to be an inspiration? No, he did it actually for your sake. Listen, the gospel is that Jesus took the poverty you deserve so you can have the wealth of God. That on the cross, Jesus took the punishment you deserve for your sin. He took the rejection. He took the poverty so that the Father, by His grace, can give you true wealth, true empowerment, true comfort that goes beyond comfort, true status as a beloved child of God. And when you get that, when you really believe that to the core of your being, when that captures your imagination, then you're able to help other people in a revolutionary way because you're giving away things that aren't the main things to you anymore.

Now, what does this look like in real life, living this kind of revolutionary, revolutionary life? What are you talking about, René? I understand this theoretically, but how can I do this? Well, let me give you a couple of examples. I was watching a documentary the other day on a young teacher named Lindsay who works in the inner city of New York. And I want to show you just a two or three minute clip from it. Watch this.

Hey, guys. Thanks for coming in quietly. Many of my students haven't been loved well. They've been abandoned. They've been promised things that have never come. They've been promised relationships with their fathers or mothers that have never happened. And so they're just worn. They're weathered and they don't trust love. On the first day of school, the first thing that I tell them is, I've been thinking about you all summer. Like, I love you already. You may not believe this, but you can't earn my love. You could make straight A's all year and have perfect behavior all year. Or you can get detention three times a week and I'm going to love you the same. And then I spend all year trying to prove it.

So I want you to think back to Monday. We chose that one personal narrative that we're going to publish and celebrate and put out there to the world. Who am I as a person? What do I really want people to know about who I am? Well, it wasn't until recently that I realized that God had been preparing me for this job for these kids at the school right now. I grew up in Georgia, mostly at my grandmother's house because my mom and dad were divorced. And then when my dad got married, I felt like I wasn't good enough. He wanted me to be perfect. I just wasn't good enough anymore. But I know I don't need other people to say I'm okay anymore. I did that my whole life and I think I'm finally done. So maybe now I can just be Lindsay. And if I make mistakes, then oh well, I'm not only as good as what I do.

Growing up, and especially now, even as an adult, I still long for that love and acceptance. And God has shown that to me and given that to me so that I can go and give these kids the same love and acceptance that they have always wanted to. Over time, I really do believe this classroom becomes a safe haven for them, a place where they feel accepted and they know they're going to be safe and it's comfortable. I think God loves these kids so much more than I could ever hope to love them. I think He wants them to rest and to be happy. I think He wants to heal their hearts. Every day they walk out of my classroom and at the end of the year they walk out of my classroom forever. It's so hard. It's hard not knowing what lies ahead for them or what type of choices they'll make. And I just have to rest. I've done everything I could do. I've loved them the best that I can. And my hope is that they'll figure out that God loves them so much more than I ever could.

Do you see what's happening? That's a real revolutionary. Because she's let the Lord revolutionize her own heart. She knows she's loved by God. God who gave His life on the cross, who gave His one and only Son for her. And then having begun inside, that revolution is rippling outward from her. That's really revolutionary. And it's so outside the categories of the two people that were coming up to Jesus with this question. I've got to tell you, it's happening here too. I was so glad to know that many of the volunteers for Project Homeless Connect, just this last Tuesday, were from TLC along with many others from the community, but they were valuing and caring for the homeless. Why? Just to be do-gooders? No, because God found us when we were homeless. God found you when you were rejected and without any resources. Maybe not physically, but spiritually. And God found you to bring you home to Him. And so we want to help people thrive so that they can know that God loves them.

And so Jesus is looking at this little trivial revolutionary question that these people are offering Him. And He's saying, "Listen, I've got a revolution that goes so far beyond this." And He has an invitation that 2,000 years ago still goes out to you. Join the revolution that Jesus started. Give to God what is God's. Your heart, your soul, your life. And then the revolution, having started and here, will spread out there. Let's pray together. Would you bow your heads with me? I just pray that you would help us to be like Jesus. Help us not to be politically simplistic and distracted by the issue du jour away from full devotion to you. And help us not to be politically complacent and withdraw and be cynical and not do anything. And help us not to be about political primacy where we forget the importance of repentance and starting with the soul. God, help us to give to you what is yours. And God, we want to start by just doing that right now. We come to you now and we confess that we are sinners and in need of your mercy first. And thank you for the forgiveness made possible when Jesus took our rejection upon Himself. And now, God, may your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.