Mark 12:13-17:

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes

“A Tribute to Caesar”

13 “Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in

a statement. 14 They came and said to Him, “Teacher we know that You are truthful and defer

to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay

a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their

hypocrisy said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” 16They

brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to

Him, “Caesar’s.” 17And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,

and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.” (NASB)1

Survey

In Mark 12:13-17 Jesus challenges the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes. This

challenge is one of many through out the Gospel, and causes the Pharisees, His audience and

us to reevaluate where allegiances lie.

Historical Context

Going off M. Eugene Boring’s commentary, the author wrote this gospel under the

reign of Tiberius Caesar, sometime between the years of 65-75AD.2 “Virtually all scholars

date Mark in the period of 65-75, with the major issue being whether or not Mark 13 is

understood to reflect the destruction of Jerusalem as something that has already occurred.”3

The empire at that time was in vast disarray; with the attack and defeat of the Romans by the
1
All references are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.
2
Boring, M. Eugene. "Introduction." In Mark: a commentary, 14-15. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.
3
Boring, M. Eugene. Mark: a commentary. 14.

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Parthians in 62, as well as the great fire in 64 which was blamed on the Christians, the early

church community that the author wrote to was under much persecution and hardship. In

dealing with the author of this gospel, we run in to much opposition. Like the other gospels,

the author is unknown. “The tendency in the early church was to associate apostles with the

writing of the New Testament books.”4 The trend in the first century was to attribute

unknown letters and writings to apostles in order to gain fame, and this gospel is no different.

The most prominent argument for apostolic authorship of Mark comes from Papias. He

believed “Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all he remembered… For he

had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed Him.”5 Most scholars agree that the apostle

(John) Mark authored this gospel, being that this was the only first century Mark to be

mentioned without further description. Aside from these arguments, the gospel of Mark

remains anonymous.

Amid much discussion and debate, the authorship of Mark’s gospel still seems to

clearly point to the apostle Mark. “The Greek style of Mark’s gospel is simple and relatively

straightforward. It is full of the Semitisms that one would expect of a Jerusalem-bred

Christian like Mark.”6 Mark is mentioned throughout the New Testament, in Acts (12:12, 25;

13:5, 13; 15:37), also in four New Testament epistles (Col. 4:10; Philem. 24; 2 Tim. 4:11; 1

Peter 5:13). It is almost certain that a person mentioned as many times as Mark, would also

have written this gospel. It would have been a far stretch for a different, unknown Mark to be

the author. Not to mention Mark’s close relations with many of the apostles and disciples

4
Carson, D. A., Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris. "Mark." In An introduction to the New Testament, 174. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan, 1992.
5
Carson, D.A., Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris. An Introduction to the New Testament, 172-173. Papias believed that Mark
received his eye witness from Peter’s preaching, which Carson and Moo disagree with and claim Mark had to have used other
sources, with Peter the apostle being the main source for Mark.
6
Carson, Moo and Morris. An Introduction to the New Testament, 175,

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who personally witnessed to the ministry and life of Christ.

Mark writes during a time of political power struggle; the demise of the mighty

Roman Empire is on the horizon and the strength of Christianity is growing, despite much

persecution and opposition. Mark writes to strengthen the Christian community in the hope

of the Messiah Jesus, the good news of His death and resurrection, even amid the persecution

from the Roman Empire.

Literary Context

Most commentators agree the gospel of Mark can be divided into two main sections.

However there seems to be two possible ways to dividing the book up. First, M. Eugene

Boring divides his commentary into two parts: part one, “Galilee” this contains verses 1-

10:52; part two is “Jerusalem” containing verses 11:1-15:47.7 Boring divides his commentary

of the gospel in this way, but the second possibility is that of Craig Evans. He divides his

commentary into two parts, part one being verses 1-8:26; part two being verses 8:27-16:20.8

The first half of Mark’s gospel is Jesus’ Galilean ministry and the second half contains His

ministry in Jerusalem and passion narrative. In the larger literary context, Mark 12:13-17

falls in the pericope of the second half of the book, lying between the triumphal entry,

cursing of the fig tree and cleansing of the temple in 11:1-26; the parable of the vine-growers

in 12:1-12; the question of resurrection in 12:18-27 and Jesus’ eschatological discourse in

chapter 13. The larger context gives us a picture of how the passage fits into the larger

narrative story of the whole book. Jesus’ authority is challenged (12:27-32), which leads to

the parable of the vine-growers, a parable Jesus speaks against the Pharisees. Jesus continues

7
Boring, M. Eugene. "Introduction." In Mark: a commentary, 4. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. Boring
argues the first century hearers were less aware of “links” that hold the story together, rather than divisions like an outline. Boring
goes on to say

8
Evans, Craig A.. Mark 8:27-16:20. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001

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his rebuke of the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees in 12:13-17, with the answer to the

question of paying taxes to Caesar; the section ends with the Pharisees going away amazed

and silent.

Form, Structure, and Movement

The gospel of Mark follows the structure of a narrative, recounting the life and

ministry of Jesus in the form of a story. The gospel of Mark is “narrative Christology… it

(the Gospel) is a kerygmatic genre, expressed in narrative, not a wisdom genre, expressed in

sayings.”9

Mark 12:13-17 comes directly after the authority of Jesus is questioned in 11:27-33

and the parable of the vine-growers. Jesus is asked about paying taxes to Caesar, but unlike

11:27-33, where Jesus refuses to give an answer for the lack of the Pharisees’ answer, He

gives His answer to the question of paying taxes to Caesar in an indirect way. Jesus targets

and challenges the Pharisees three times in 11:27-33 through 12:17.

The passage begins with a plot by the Pharisees and Herodians to trap Jesus in a

statement by asking Him a question. They ask the question with false motives (vv.13-14),

Jesus perceives the Pharisees hypocrisy and asks them a question and demands to see a

denarius (v.15), Jesus then counters with a question and hears His adversaries reply (v.16),

9
Boring, M. Eugene. "Introduction." In Mark: a commentary, 6-8 Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. Boring also
argues against the view that Mark writes a Hellenistic biography of Jesus’ life, giving five elements setting Mark apart from
Hellenistic biographies: 1. The narrative presents a tensive juxtaposition of pictures of Jesus as truly human and truly divine,
facilitated by the narrative-rhetorical device of the messianic secret. 2. The story of Jesus is presented as the definitive segment of
universal history that extends from creation to eschaton; Jesus the Christ and Son of Man who has already appeared in history will
appear at the end of history as its goal and judge. 3. The main character is presented as both a figure of past history who once spoke
and the present Lord of the community who still speaks. The Jesus of the narrative speaks not only to the characters in the story, but
as bearer of the present word of the risen Christ to post-Easter believers. The narrative throughout is implicitly a two-level drama,
which becomes evident in numerous specific senses. 4. The narrative is episodic but anecdotal, composed on the basis of individual
units of tradition that had themselves been utilized in preaching and teaching the gospel. The aspects of the Gospel are not
incidental but fundamental, and they set Mark apart from other Hellenistic authors and place his narrative in a distinct category. 5.
As Jesus communicated the inexpressible reality of the kingdom of God in parables that point to it in ambiguous, deceptively
history-like, open-ended stories that called for participation and decision by the hearer, so Mark wrote his Gospel that points beyond
itself to the meaning of God’s act in the Christ-event as an ambiguous, deceptively history-like open-ended narrative that calls for
participation and decision by the reader. As Jesus spoke of the kingdom in parables, so Mark speaks of Jesus in the new narrative
form that is an extended parable.

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finally Jesus gives His stunning pronouncement (v. 17).10 The story shifts to the question of

resurrection and Jesus’ eschatological discourse in 12:18-13:1-37

Mark writes his gospel for those who already know the basic story of Jesus. He writes

in a way that when the end of the story comes and Jesus is crucified, rather than hailed as

God’s Messiah, the readers and hearers will not be dismayed but have hope in the

resurrection.

Detailed Analysis

“13 then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a
statement.”11

13 The “they” that sent this group of people was the Sanhedrin.12 The Pharisees are a

major part of the Sanhedrin and are sent to represent them. The Herodians are another major

group of people, largely made up of the supporters of Herod of Antipas. The Pharisees have

already been mentioned in their association with the Herodians to kill Jesus (3:6), and have

already lost their first debate with Jesus (11:27-32). They also recognized they were the

targets of Jesus’ parable in 12:1-12 (“for they understood that He [Jesus] spoke the parable

against them” 12:12). Their goal is to bring to light Jesus’ controversial views regarding

Caesar, in order to get Him in trouble with the Roman government, or the “crowd.”13 The

Herodians would have believed that paying taxes to Rome was appropriate for a Jew, where

the Pharisees would have believed it to be idolatry.14 They come to Jesus attempting to trap

10
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 243, Gundry, Robert Horton. Mark: a commentary on his apology for the cross. Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1993. 692.
11
NASB
12
Boring, M. Eugene. Mark: a commentary. 333.
13
Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark . Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, 343.
14
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 244.

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Him in His own statement, with the goal to have grounds on which to arrest Him.

“14 They came and said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to
no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to
pay a poll tax to Caesar, or not?”

14 The statement from verse 13 (“In order to trap Him in a saying”), gives warning to

the reader that the compliments they give Jesus were not meant as sincere, but is intended to

overly compliment Jesus. They are willing to flatter Jesus and let Him fail with His own

words. The statement, “We know that You are truthful and defer to no one…”15 is meant to

pressure Jesus into being dangerously candid.16 Perhaps the statement that Jesus teaches the

whole way of God is meant to get Him to teach the will of God in this situation, even if it is

unpopular with the Roman government.17 The questions of Jesus’ adversaries follows a

chiastic structure, (A) “truthful”; (B) defer to no one; (B’) are not partial to any (A’) “in

truth”.18

After they flatter Jesus, they finally get to their question: Is it lawful to pay poll tax

to Caesar? This is a loaded question! It has many political implications, and the way Jesus

answers the question will determine whether or not they attempt to seize Him. The issue at

hand in this verse is what is permitted. To pay the Roman tax was to acknowledge the

Emperor’s sovereignty and Jewish submission to a pagan emperor. To not pay would run the

risk being accused of rebellion. 19 Jesus is now faced with a dilemma; if Jesus had declared

that it was not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, He would have won instant acclaim in the eyes

15
NASB
16
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20,245.
17
Collins, Adela Yarbro, and Harold W. Attridge. Mark: a commentary. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007, 556.
18
Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark, 344.
19
Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark, 344.

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of most in the crowd, but would have put Himself in a precarious situation with the Roman

government. It is interesting that this story follows Jesus’ triumphal entry; Jesus comes riding

in on a colt, people shouting Hosanna, and now He’s being asked who to pay taxes too. Many

people would have thought, instead of paying taxes to Caesar, why not pay taxes to the

legitimate king of Israel, Jesus Himself!20 At this point they think they have caught Jesus in

their trap. He is faced with the dilemma of giving His allegiance to Rome and everything it

represents, or don’t pay and face the consequences of being labeled a rebel against Rome. It

is interesting that later, Jesus will be arrested as a rebel against Rome.21

"15Shall we pay or shall we not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them,
"Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at."

15 Jesus knows their hypocrisy and unmasks it with the statement “Why are you

putting Me to the test?” Jesus’ recognition of their hypocrisy gives Mark’s readers assurance

that Jesus was not taken off guard by their attempt to trap Him. Jesus puts them in their place

and then asks for them to produce a denarius, in order to further prove His point in 16-17.

The denarius was a Roman coin, bearing the face and inscription of the Emperor, specifically

in this context Tiberius Caesar, declaring him to be divine and pontifex maximus (high

priest).22 The inscriptions would have been offensive and blasphemous to Jews.23

“16They brought one. And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"
And they said to Him, "Caesar's."

20
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 246.
21
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 246.

22
Boring, M. Eugene. Mark: a commentary, 335.
23
Boring, M. Eugene. Mark: a commentary, 335.

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 16 They bring a denarius to Jesus and he calls attention to it, forcing them to say

whose inscription it is. Jesus’ point is not to draw attention to the commandments of the Old

Testament (no other gods, no graven images), but Jesus is setting the stage for His surprising

pronouncement in verse 17.24

“17And Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God
the things that are God's." And they were amazed at Him.”

17 Most commentators agree that Jesus last statement is ambiguous. Does Jesus

advocate paying taxes to Caesar or not? It seems Jesus is thrusting the question back onto his

adversaries. Can the Herodians justify paying taxes to Rome? Can the Pharisees justify a

policy of civil disobedience? At stake are one’s loyalties and motives.25 Jesus forces his

hearers, as well as Mark does, to ask themselves the question, “What belongs to Caesar and

what belongs to God?”26 The message of Jesus’ statement seems clear here: it’s an anti-

empirical statement and the answer to the question is nothing belongs to Caesar, but it is not

in Jesus’ agenda to say that paying taxes to Caesar is unlawful. All commentators agree that

Jesus is not saying don’t pay taxes to Rome; paying taxes is in step with other scripture

calling Christians to be good citizens of the pagan empire, including payment of legitimate

taxes (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17).27 It is hard to determine, without proper study of the

contexts and circumstances surrounding those verses, whether or not they have the same

meanings, implications and theological overtones as does Mark 12:13-17. However it only

makes sense to reconcile these parts of scripture with each other, but there is not enough

24
Boring, M. Eugene. Mark: a commentary, 335. Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 247.
25
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 247.
26
Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27-16:20, 247.
27
Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark, 346.

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space, nor is that the main goal of this paper.

His main point is to say that nothing belongs to Caesar and all things belong to God.

There seems to be a deeper theological point and deeper look into one’s own motives and

loyalties. Are you willing to render your own life, motives, and loyalties, not to Caesar, but

to God? The open-endedness of Jesus’ question renders a reflection upon the reader as well

as those witnesses around listening in on Jesus’ debate with the Pharisees. Not only does

Jesus target and silence the Pharisees (v 17), He also targets those around the debate, the

onlookers and listeners. Jesus’ anti-empirical statement in verse 17 seems clear, but in no

way renders the Christian free from paying taxes to Caesar. He’s asking are you going to be

concerned with the things of Caesar, and therefore render your allegiance to him? Or will you

be concerned with the things of God and therefore render your allegiance to Him, even above

Caesar?

Synthesis

Jesus’ statement “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and God the things that

are God’s”, had a profoundly deep meaning to someone living under the rule of the Roman

Empire. Jesus’ hearers and followers would have faced great persecution and opposition

from the Roman government and Mark’s words in his account of Jesus’ life and ministry

would have been a refreshing reminder of where their loyalties and allegiances should be.

The ultimate down fall for the Pharisees in the context of this verse is their unwillingness to

see beyond their own self-righteousness to render their allegiance to God rather than to

Caesar. The great, mighty political and spiritual leaders of the day were faced with the same

questions and dilemmas the disciples of Jesus faced, with a much different outcome. Jesus’

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overall statement is to say, where does your allegiance lie? With Caesar, to whom nothing

belongs? Or to God, who owns everything and to whom everything belongs, including the

individual himself. God owns everything, including you and to take away from God that

which belongs to Him has far greater consequences than not paying taxes to Rome.

Reflection

Jesus’ teaching in Mark 12:13-17 has many profound warnings and challenges for us

today. First would be Jesus’ challenge of what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God.

This statement has profound theological implications for us: what does belong to Caesar?

What does belong to God? When we look at the statement more closely we see that Jesus is

directly challenging us to look in and ask ourselves, “Where does my allegiance lie? Am I

devoted to giving my allegiance to others, instead of God? Am I willing to give all of my

things (i.e., possessions, money, and my own life)?

When this passage is read it is clear Jesus targets the Pharisees in order to show the

very things disciples of Jesus should not display. Our lives are challenged when we read a

passage such as this one. It causes us to look in and compare ourselves with the Pharisees;

are we being self-righteous or giving our devotion to God on the outside and inwardly giving

seeking to gain everything for ourselves? Jesus’ question was open-ended, but leaves us still

asking the question, “Am I giving to God the things that are His?”

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