12:13 Sanhedrin members took the initiative in sending the Pharisees and Herodians. They united against Jesus, whom they perceived as a common threat, even though they disagreed politically. They asked Jesus about a political issue that divided them.
12:14-15a The critics' preamble was hypocritical flattery, but what they said about Jesus was true. They intended to impale Jesus on the horns of a dilemma.286Since Judea had become a Roman province in 6 A.D. the Romans had required the Jews to pay a yearly head (poll) tax into the emperor's treasury. The Zealots refused to pay it claiming that payment acknowledged Rome's right to rule over them. The Pharisees paid it but objected strongly to it. The Herodians paid it willingly since they supported Roman rule.
Jesus' critics asked Him what was the right or lawful thing to do. In their eyes Messiah would never sanction foreign rule, but if Jesus publicly opposed Rome He would be in a dangerous position. They thought that either answer would hurt Jesus.
12:15b-16 Jesus exposed their question for what it was, malicious entrapment rather than honest inquiry. The small silver denarius was the only coin the Romans accepted in payment for taxes.287The images on the coin showed that Rome had political authority over those who used it.
12:17 Jesus avoided the "either or"problem with a "both and"response. God has authority over those who bear His image. Therefore the Jews should give Him His due, namely complete personal submission. Caesar also had some authority over those who used his image. Therefore the Jews should pay their tax.
"Though the obligation to pay to Caesar some of his own coinage in return for the amenities his rule provided is affirmed, the idolatrous claims expressed on the coins are rejected. God's rights are to be honored. Here Jesus is not saying that there are two quite separate independent spheres, that of Caesar and that of God (for Caesar and all that is his belongs to God); but he is indicating that there are obligations to Caesar which do not infringe the rights of God but are indeed ordained by God."288
This answer amazed (Gr. exethaumazon) Jesus' critics. He had avoided the trap they had laid for Him and had given a profound though simple answer to their question.
This teaching would have been specially helpful to Mark's original Roman readers. It helped them and all subsequent disciples understand that Christianity does not advocate disloyalty to the state (cf. Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-6; 1 Pet. 2:13-17). Duty to God does not eliminate duty to government. Nevertheless duty to government does not eliminate one's higher duty to God either.
