Pay Tax Unto Who?

Mark 13:17 – March 22, 2026

“Pay Tax Unto Who?”

If you have lived in Chicago for any length of time, you probably know how much many people around here are involved with politics.

My mother, God rest her soul, was a volunteer for the League of Women Voters. She wanted to get as many people involved in the political process as possible. Even though politics was sometimes crooked, and sometimes politicians played dirty, still – my mother had great integrity, and she wanted to get as many people involved in voting and in democracy as possible.

The people of the first century did not have that option. The Roman Empire had all the power at that time, and Rome was certainly not a democracy. The Jewish people were under the heel of Roman occupation, and every Jew knew it. Plus, like any large bureaucracy, the people who worked for the Roman empire and the Roman occupation had its bad apples and crooked employees. Just like many political bureaucracies throughout the centuries.

Sure, the Roman empire had its governors, and its tax collectors, and most importantly its garrisons of Roman soldiers to make sure everything in the provinces was kept in order. And, a very large part of that order was convincing the local population to pay taxes to Rome. Which is where our narrative begins: two separate factions of Jews are both trying to catch the Rabbi Jesus in a big boo-boo. Something that would get the Rabbi Jesus in big trouble with the Roman authorities. These two groups – factions – opposing teams, if you want to think of them that way – are the Pharisees and the Herodians.

These two groups or factions are not friendly with each other at all. However, both of these groups want to discredit Jesus! They want to make the Rabbi Jesus look bad, and if possible, get Him in trouble with the Roman authorities!

Let’s take a look at what the Gospel of Mark says. The Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday has just happened. Jesus has entered the City of Jerusalem, and the stakes are higher than ever. Let’s listen to how Mark sets up this interaction:

“They sent some of the Pharisees and some supporters of Herod to trap him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, ’“Teacher, we know that you’re genuine and you don’t worry about what people think. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay taxes or not?’”

I want everyone to be sure we all understand. The Pharisees are the ultimate, strict rule-keepers. They not only keep every rule or Law in the Mosaic Law Code themselves, but they are ready and eager to shake their fingers at any Jew who does not keep all of the rules! And then, we have the supporters or followers of Herod. Some translations call them Herodians. These are more secular Jews, more lax in the rule-following department.

Let’s hear what these two groups ask Jesus, again: ’“Teacher, we know that you’re genuine and you don’t worry about what people think. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay taxes or not?’”

“So, here are two parties whose only point of agreement is their fear and hatred of Jesus. The Pharisees object to the tax on religious grounds. The Herodians support it on political grounds.” [1] And, both factions wanted to get the Rabbi Jesus in big trouble!

This seemingly straight-forward question is a trap! If Jesus answers, “Yes! We all must pay our taxes.” Then, the strict rule-following Pharisees will be mad at Him for putting something before God, who is over all! However, if Jesus answers, “No! We can’t pay taxes to an outside, foreign and pagan government!” Well, then, the Roman empire and occupation will come down hard on the Rabbi Jesus for fomenting radical and treasonous activity! Telling people not to pay taxes? Lock up this upstart Rabbi! He’s preaching rebellion and civil disobedience!

As is so often the case in dealing with suspicious or downright angry groups of people, our Lord Jesus has great finesse. He is able to read the room. And actually, our Lord is helped by His Godly ability to discern the intentions of people’s hearts.

Listen to what Mark says in the follow-up to this question: “Since Jesus recognized their deceit, he said to them, ‘Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin. Show it to me.’ 16 And they brought one. He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. 17 Jesus said to them, ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’ His reply left them overcome with wonder.”

So many times, these responses of Jesus are absolutely on the money! (see what I did there?) Seriously, these responses of Jesus are so on the mark, they absolutely flabbergast the people interrogating Jesus.

As the Rev. Alyce McKenzie says, “The trouble is that we want blueprints and prescriptions. We want someone to tell us what to do and think. To know that Jesus is still available, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, to guide us in evaluating our own and others’ motives and making decisions about our allegiances and priorities may not be specific enough for our tastes.” [2]

This whole subject of taxes is a matter of jurisdiction. We see the coin, and can hold a depiction of Caesar. Caesar clearly has staked out his realm in this visible world. However, God’s realm is very different. I hope many people do not criticize me for turning all touchy-feely, but that is exactly what Jesus is saying repeatedly in His description of the Realm of God. He does not give a definition of the Kingdom or Realm of God right here in this particular reading from Mark, but Jesus certainly does in other parts of Mark chapter 12!

Let us go a bit further down in Mark 12, to verses 28-34. This is where the Rabbi Jesus tells everyone which the most important feature of the Kingdom – the Realm of God. Jesus tells us what is the Greatest Commandment in the Law of Moses. Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it. That is all. Love God, first and foremost, and love your neighbor – any neighbor, near or far, of any nationality, any language spoken, any faith tradition, any other similarity or difference – love your neighbor as yourself. Period. That commandment encompasses the Law and the Prophets. That is rendering to God what is God’s.

The issues of today may be weighty, indeed. Plus, we all can hold up the heavenly values we see our Lord Jesus consistently live. “We all can look for God’s work beyond our community, and the places we normally expect God to be. We can call each other back to God’s word and promise and charge that we are each made in God’s own image and likeness and are therefore called to live in a way that others may detect the family resemblance.” [3]

Could we consider our situation in the modern day? Instead of squabbling about nonessentials, with some television preacher or self-help book telling us all what to do or think, what blueprint to follow or which prescription to take, why don’t we all consider loving God, and loving our neighbor. Period.

That’s the way to follow Jesus. Amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.patheos.com/resources/additional-resources/2011/10/state-vs-god-alyce-mckenzie-10-10-2011

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.davidlose.net/2017/10/pentecost-20-a-image-likeness-and-identity/

Spirit of Truth

Featured by chaplaineliza

“Spirit of Truth”

John 14:8-17 (14:16-17) – June 8, 2025

Have you ever been in a building during a power outage? A brown-out? Where something disrupted the electricity? Some years ago, I was at an evening meeting in a large building in Evanston, and that is exactly what happened. The electrical power was somehow shut off or interrupted, and everyone had to evacuate the building.

In situations like that, there can be a real feeling of helplessness. What happened? Where did the power go? When can we get it back? What do we do now? The disciples must have felt very much like this when the Rabbi Jesus made His statements about departure, at the dinner table on that Maundy Thursday night. Jesus told His disciples in no uncertain terms that He would leave them very soon. A distressing, disorienting situation, indeed! What is going on? Is our Rabbi really going to leave? What will we do? Where will we go now?

At dinner that night, our Lord Jesus reassures His disciples with the news that even if He does go away, the Heavenly Father will send another Helper or Advocate, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help these new believers! As Jesus said, God our Father “will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷ This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

We can see how the disciples react to this news, given just before Jesus has His arrest, followed by the trials and then the crucifixion. Confusing events happening in short succession. This was compounded by the followers of Jesus scattering, running away, frightened by the very real, very legal, very official things happening to Jesus before and after His crucifixion. Their leader and rabbi has gone. Several dozen disciples, huddled in an upper room, all together. Wondering where their power is. Talk about a power disruption! Seems more like a power loss of epic proportions.

And now what? As the disciples huddle in that Upper Room where Jesus and His disciples last met, The disciples still must have been frightened to death of the authorities, after the crucifixion. I suspect they needed to talk about the happenings of the past few weeks, too. Debriefed. Tried to figure things out, as best as they could.

We go forward several weeks to the day of Pentecost, another major feast day for the people of Israel. And where are the disciples? Back in Jerusalem, in the upper room, still hidden away from the authorities. Isn’t that a lot like today? No matter where people live in this world today, no matter what their situations are, no matter what they do for a living, a common desire among many people is that desire for reassurance, a wish for something to hope in, to believe in. A desire to know exactly where their power is coming from.

But that is where today’s story continues. You remember the scene? A little over one hundred followers of the risen Lord Jesus had gathered together in Jerusalem, in that very same second story of a building. The place that was the same Upper Room where the disciples had their Last Supper with their Rabbi. When, on that Harvest Festival morning, a noise like the rush of a mighty wind blew through that upper room. Apparently, it was loud enough—surprising enough—so that people on the street heard it, too!

The Holy Spirit came with full power, with heavenly flames over each head and with some kind of noise, music or something that caught everyone’s attention for some distance. After the energizing of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus couldn’t help themselves. They spilled out into the street, and started speaking other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them knowledge and utterance. Surprising? Amazing? Miraculous? Yes to all three!

But, let’s back up. Just before the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. Regardless of people’s Power-Source, something was definitely missing in the lives of these followers of Jesus, and something is definitely missing in the lives of many people today. Some people—for various reasons—give up on a belief in a God, in a Higher Power. They fall back on the vacuum of nothingness, or hopelessness, the feeling of nihilism, the concept that life ends at the point of death, and there is nothing whatsoever afterwards—life on this earth is all there is. Others raise up the substitution of some man-made idol (like the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai).

All kinds of things can function in our lives like a golden calf—something else like money, prosperity, position, huge house, great success, or comfort and lifestyle. Other people cling to the Higher Power of self-sufficiency, the substitution of self for God, the crazy idea that I run the show, I’m all that matters, I can be that Power-Source in my personal life.

We all know what a false hope that can be. The Higher Power of self-sufficiency, the substitution of “me, me, me!” for the power of the Holy Spirit. What was so different and so life-changing was that the powerful Holy Spirit moved mightily upon the disciples, and the very breath of the risen Jesus was felt by many—on that day of Pentecost, through the centuries, and to the present day.

The newly-energized disciples spread the Good News of Jesus and His Resurrection, and of God’s reconciliation. Boy, did the Good News travel! The authorities in and around Jerusalem got seriously worried, so upset that they eventually started to crack down on anyone who called themselves a follower of the risen Jesus. The disciples needed to move out from Jerusalem, and started taking the message of the Good News out to the ends of the earth.

God did a new thing at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came with power! I wonder if God is doing a new thing now, today? It’s possible that “God will use such a time as this to blow new life through and among and into and upon us. For our own sakes, yes. But even more so for the sake of those to whom we are sent.” [1]

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting Lord, the God of all creation is sending the Holy Spirit into each of our lives. Yes, the Holy Spirit is active and powerful, and living around the world. Yes, Pentecost happened, almost 2000 years ago, and Pentecost can happen again, right here and right now. Is the Holy Spirit speaking to you? Have you had the Holy Spirit turn on the power in your life?

We, the Church, are on assignment—out among the people God wants us to minister to. Feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted, welcoming the stranger, taking care of the least of these. We can all tell people about the Good News—the wonderful news of God’s reconciliation and healing. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://dancingwiththeword.com/all-together-in-one-place/

How Shall We Love?

May 12, 2024 by chaplaineliza

“How Shall We Love?”

John 17:6-19 – May 12, 2024

Have you ever heard the saying that “Life is fragile: handle with prayer!” This is so true! Yet, some people might scoff, and say those words are too trite, or too simplistic, or, just don’t work. I feel really sad for people who think this way, because their lives or their circumstances might be sincerely sad or awkward or downright unpleasant.

If we look back at our Lord Jesus, and how He lived, and what His regular habits were, we can see that Jesus practiced regular prayer and meditation. Multiple times in several Gospels we can see our Lord Jesus slipping away to pray, or taking time in the early morning to go away by Himself to pray. He gathered others around Him when He prayed, too. I think Jesus would agree with this saying about prayer, trite though it may seem to be!

Our Gospel reading today comes from John chapter 17, at the end of that Upper Room Discourse, the section of John where Jesus and His disciples gather the night before He was crucified, to eat the Passover dinner. This chapter is an intimate look at prayer, where our Lord Jesus prays to His Heavenly Father. And most striking of all, Jesus prays for His followers. Not only the disciples, but also for us!

I love how straight forward commentator Karoline Lewis is. She says, “That upper room was filled with pain and abandonment. With betrayal and loss. With unsettled hearts and fearful souls. And Jesus ends it all with a prayer for his disciples. The section before this portion of the prayer is Jesus’ prayer for himself. But this segment is for his disciples.” [1]

Jesus has several ideas in these verses, where He talked about trouble and difficulty for His followers. Sadly, this is not new information for us. Plus, these verses contain some of the most powerful concepts about God’s love that are to be found in the whole Bible. Amazingly, Jesus talks about how much God His Heavenly Father loves Jesus, and reminds His followers that they are to love each other in the same way.

The words of Jesus to our God are written down in the whole of chapter 17. How intimate, how meaningful is that? I want to focus especially on verse 9. Jesus says, “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.”

Jesus prays for His followers. Not just any old prayer, but a significant prayer, at a profound time of Jesus’s life. The night before His crucifixion, when He must have had a thousand and one things on His mind, Jesus takes the time to think of and to pray for His followers; His friends and disciples. How selfless, how thoughtful this is. And, how much like the Jesus we know and love!

One amazing thing about this prayer – this High Priestly Prayer of Jesus, is that Jesus not only prayed about the disciples He had at that time, those friends He loved so dearly. “Jesus is still loving and praying for us today – and so are our parents, grandparents, and church community. We are [all] covered in prayer just like a blanket.” [2]

When one of my children was still very small, he had a special blanket that meant a great deal to him. Being covered with that special blanket made him feel safe and secure. Does that sound comforting and heartening? Doesn’t it make you want to feel God’s love holding you (and me) securely, like a warm, fuzzy blanket? I’ve got great news for you! Jesus promises that to us, right here in John 17!

Today is Mother’s Day. Today is a day to take the time to think of beloved mothers (and, those who have acted as mothers).

In many, many cases throughout this country—and beyond, around the world—many caring, loving and nurturing women have mothered those under their care. In cases of religious nurture, caring mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters—and others who have stood in the place of these maternal figures—have prayed for their friends, relatives and loved ones, too.

Whether nearby or far away, prayer makes that intimate connection, that bond between friends, relatives, and loved ones. It does not matter whether the pray-er and the ones prayed for are next door, in the next town, or separated by miles, mountains or oceans. Jesus was making that intimate, loving connection too, through His prayer for us in John 17.

“This [prayer] is not the Lord’s Prayer. This is not Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. This is not only a personal prayer or privatized piety. After betrayal and predicted denial, after concerned questions and foretold rejection, the disciples do not need another lesson, another miracle, another example. They need exactly what Jesus does, because Jesus knows — for Jesus to pray for them.” [3]

Just as a devout mother or grandma prays for her loved ones, just as Jesus seeks a intimate and loving connection with His friends and followers, so we can seek to have that deep connection with one another.

Dr. David Lose invites all of us to hear these words of Jesus addressed to each of us today. To imagine – really, to know – that Jesus was praying for us all those years ago and continues to care for us, support us, and love and connect with us today. Please take a moment to think about where we need to be more whole. Where do we need to have more peace in our lives? Where do we need more love? And then, imagine that Jesus is actively, intimately praying for each of you. And, indeed, for all of us. [4]

Jesus is caring for us, you know. Jesus loves each of us that much.

Plus, Jesus invites us to love one another that much, too, in this, His most intimate prayer. Take the words of Jesus seriously. Go and love others, just as Jesus loves us. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. and A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/prayers-needed

[2] https://www.stewardshipoflife.org/2018/05/the-power-of-prayer/

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/prayers-needed

[4] http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2566 David Lose The Power of Being Prayed For