DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE IMAGE OF JESUS

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE IMAGE OF CHRIST

"And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12 17)

In an attempt to trap Jesus, some Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus "to catch Him in His words" (vs. 13). They asked Him if they should pay taxes to Caesar. They thought it was the perfect snare. If He said, "Yes," then He would be seen as a pawn of the Romans and the people would not forsake Him. If He said, "No," then He could be accused of treason against the Roman government and the Romans would take care of Him.

Jesus, in His wisdom, saw through their scheme and answered adroitly that what belongs to Caesar should be given to him, and what belongs to God should be given to Him.

Aside from the fact that everything belongs to God, we still live in a world that demands that we pay our taxes as a part of being in this nation. Someone has to support all the benefits we receive from the government, even though we acknowledge the fact that there is a lot of waste and corruption. Still, God has ordained government and it is supported by taxation.

There is another thing that is often overlooked in this teaching. The Roman coins had a likeness of the emperor Caesar stamped on it. Jesus asked these inquisitors, "Whose image is on the coin?" They answered, "Caesar's." In effect, the money belonged to the one whose image was on it.

In a similar manner, we have the image of Christ stamped on us, and we belong to Him. We bear His image. We do not belong to ourselves nor to the government or the culture. If we bear the image of Jesus, we belong to Jesus, and we need to give Him all of ourselves. The Apostle Paul wrote, we "have put on the new man who is renewed in the knowledge of Him who created him" (Colossians 3:10). Even as Adam was created in the likeness of God, so in our new birth, we are born in the image and likeness of Jesus. May that likeness and image become more and more clear in my life. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18), so that people will know that we belong to Jesus.

Love, Dad