Meditations For Holy Week - Tuesday
7 April 2020
Good Morning
Please follow through today’s meditation taking time to reflect. It may also be helpful to have your bible to hand.
As we continue our Holy Week Meditations, we see the constant trials and questions with which Jesus is bombarded, and yet remains resolute in fulfilling his Father’s will, and by so doing achieving salvation for all who believe in him.
Throughout this week we stand at the foot of the cross in awe and gratitude.
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Mark 12:13-17
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to 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 and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him
A Prayer
Heavenly Father as we consider your word today, we pray that you will speak to us afresh, as we read your written word, reveal to us new insights of the living Word, and what he went through for us poor sinners.
In Jesus name we pray
Amen
All day long Jesus is assailed by questions and traps set by the Pharisees, primarily a religious group concerned with ritual purity, and the Herodians, a Jewish political group that approved of Herod’s compromises with Rome. An unlikely alliance, yet both concerned with removing Jesus from the scene.
Then comes, what they thought, the perfect question, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar?” preceded by some flattery “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity.” Which could easily have thrown Jesus off guard.
How do we approach flattery? God wants us to remain alert and not be swayed by it.
To say pay the taxes, would have upset the common people, who hated paying the occupying force the tax, and so would have turned against him. But to say don’t pay, would have meant he would have been branded a revolutionary by the Romans, and could have led to his execution.
His answer amazes his questioners, as he asks for a small coin, equivalent to a day’s wages, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesars”, they replied. Then said Jesus “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus wise answer, pointed out that the coin having Caesar’s image on it, belonged to, and therefore should be given to, Caesar. But our lives, which bear God’s image, belong to God Are you giving God all that is rightfully his?
As you consider the passage of scripture and the thoughts shared, you are encouraged to ask yourselves some questions:
Has God spoken to you a fresh through his word, or perhaps this meditation?
How do you react to flattery, does it take you off guard at crucial times?
Are you giving to God all that is rightfully his?
Every Blessing