Some people see Jesus as a good guy—a social reformer—but one who was naïve about the political situation of his day, and so became a casualty of the system. But does that view get Jesus right?

A good measure of political acuity is the ability to answer tough questions. How does Jesus measure up in that regard? Take a look at the political climate that Jesus navigated, and see what you make of how he handled tough questions—as well as what his answers might imply for us today.

A Hot Political Stew

Political sparks were flying in Israel when Jesus came on the scene. The Jewish people were walking a fine line between staying true to their religious cultural heritage and submitting to their Roman occupiers.

Some within the Jewish community wanted to compromise with Rome to maintain the autonomy Caesar allowed (as long as taxes were paid and peace was kept). Others opted for resistance through religious purity, and still others gathered in the wilderness to prepare for a violent revolution. The political climate was charged from without (by fear of Rome) as well as from within (by competing factions). And the average person on the street was caught in the middle.

So, when huge crowds of people began following Jesus, members of the religious establishment were on high alert. Would the crowds grow unruly and bring down the wrath of Rome? Whose authority would Jesus support, and whose would he undermine?

These concerns led certain Jewish leaders to challenge and test Jesus with tough questions. Some were clearly meant to trip him up. Others were sincere.

The Classic Wedge

One of the go-to moves of modern politicians is using “wedge issue” questions to create a “gotcha” moment—and it’s really nothing new. The idea is to get your opponent to come down on one side or the other of a divisive topic. Here’s a classic example of that strategy.

The question:

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”1

Who’s asking?

“Some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians.”2 The Pharisees upheld the written Torah as well as the oral traditions. The Herodians were in favor of Rome’s appointment of “King Herod the Great” to rule Judea. The two sects, while both Jewish, generally opposed one another.

Why are they asking?

This unlikely delegation of rival factions intended “to trap him in his talk.”3

What was the trap?

The first part of the question asks whether paying the taxes demanded by Caesar was lawful according to Torah. In other words, does God want us to support this heathen emperor and his ungodly practices? If Jesus said “yes,” the crowds might turn against him as a Roman sympathizer. But if he said “no,” he could be arrested by the Romans for fomenting insurrection.

Jesus’ response:

He asked to see a Roman coin.4 ^“And then he said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription5 is this?’ They said to him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Render [give back] to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”6

Instead of being trapped by “the wedge,” Jesus rolls the question back on to the people trying to trap him. But he’s not dodging the question like so many modern politicians do. He is engaging them in a teachable moment. He actually answers very directly—but his answer doesn’t land on either side of the wedge.

Jesus is saying that paying taxes has no bearing on one’s loyalty to God or to the Jewish people. His response is consistent with God’s instructions to our people when we had been taken as captives to Babylon.7 Even as captives, we were to be God’s representatives in a way that reflected well on our faith.

Jesus could have stopped after “Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” But by adding, “and to God the things that are God’s,” he challenges listeners (then and now) to focus on what we owe to God.

According to Genesis 1:27, God created human beings “in his own image.” So, Jesus’ response implies a hard question: If we should give the money bearing Caesar’s image back to Caesar, shouldn’t we also give our whole selves back to God, since we bear his image?

Variation on a Straw Man

A “straw man” argument is when people misrepresent their opponent’s point of view, depicting it as flimsy and easily knocked down—and then knock down that misrepresentation. This is another favorite move of modern politicians, but again, it’s nothing new, and Jesus was hit with it as well.

The question:

If a married woman is widowed six times and remarries each time, which man will be her husband in the resurrection?8

Who’s asking?

The “Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection.”9

The Sadducees claimed to accept the authority of the Torah but not the oral traditions and interpretations that had sprung up around it. They were involved with the Temple institutions and rituals in Jerusalem and tended to cooperate with Rome in order to maintain their positions of authority.

Why are they asking?

Why would anyone pose a silly question about something they don’t even believe—the equivalent of asking are unicorns kosher to eat? They probably hoped that Jesus would make a fool of himself by trying to answer. That would have discredited both Jesus and the teaching of resurrection—two birds with one stone.

How does Jesus answer?

Jesus reveals the straw man by sending the Sadducees to school.

Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage.… Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.10

Having brushed off the fictitious dilemma, Jesus reveals something wonderful: the power of God and his love to transcend death. Long after the patriarchs have died, God says to Moses, “I am [not was] the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Knowing God is a personal relationship (like that of a friend, spouse, or parent) that does not end with death. That’s why God names his relationship with specific people who have died (but are not dead to him). God’s promises and plans for us don’t expire with our mortal bodies. One day they will culminate in the resurrection.11

A Real Question Worth Asking

Along with a lot of political trap-setting questions, Jesus also received some sincere inquiries. The following is arguably the best of those:

The question:

“Which commandment is the most important of all?”12

Who’s asking?

A scribe. Scribes were experts in and often teachers of the Law. This scribe had just overheard Jesus’ conversation with the Sadducees above.

Why is he asking?

He was impressed by how Jesus handled the Sadducees and wanted to know the heart of Jesus’ message. What better way to find out than to ask Jesus what our biggest priority ought to be?

How does Jesus answer?

He quotes the Shema:

The most important [commandment] is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.13

This is the bedrock of what God wants from us, and it echoes Jesus’ earlier comment to “render to God what is God’s.”

The scribe agrees with Jesus’ answer and adds,

To love him [God] with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.14

Jesus affirms the scribe and then, almost as an aside, tells him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”15

After that, Mark tells us that no one wanted to ask Jesus any more questions.

A True Revolutionary

Though Jesus was asked politically loaded questions, he doesn’t give politically loaded answers. It’s only when asked a genuine question about how we should live that Jesus alludes to a different kingdom than the Roman Empire.

Jesus was neither naïve nor non-committal—he was a true revolutionary—just not the kind people expected. His arrest and execution were not a tragic result of failure to “read the room.”

Jesus always seemed to know what people were thinking and was intentional about everything he said and did. He not only expected but predicted his death—as well as his resurrection.

And the kingdom of God that he hints at here? It’s not what anyone imagined, and Jesus had plenty to say about it. So, stay tuned!

What Do You Think?

If you could ask Jesus anything, what would it be?

What would your question reveal about who you are and what you want?

Endnotes

1. Mark 12:14.

2. Mark 12:13.

3. Ibid.

4. Specifically, a denarius, which was a Roman coin used to pay taxes.

5. Most likely the coin was minted under the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and the inscription would have been “Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus, Augustus.” Caesar Augustus was believed to have passed down his “divine” status to Tiberius.

6. Mark 12:16–17.

7. See Jeremiah 29:7.

8. See Mark 12:20–23.

9. Mark 12:18.

10. Mark 12:24–27.

11. Resurrection, though it remains a mystery, is listed along with other essential Jewish beliefs in Maimonides “Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith.”

12. Mark 12:29.

13. Mark 12:29–31; also see vv. 32–34.

14. Mark 12:33.

[15] Ibid, v. 34.