THE KING’S BUSINESS
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II. T he Q uestion of the T ribute in P ar ticular . 1. The Ground of the Question. The Romans ruled with an iron rod, and stretch ed a greedy, grasping hand. Jewish pa triotism, represented by the Pharisees and prevalent among the populace, resented pay ment *of tribute to pagans from both politi cal and pious motives. Jehovah was their Lord. Fairly romanized themselves and preferring “peace at any price” the Hero- dians and Sadducees were content to pay. They put the question to Jesus with de moniacal malice and shrewdness, not be cause they wished to know and conform to righteousness, but “ to entangle him in his talk’-’ ; for those “bulls of Bashan” (Ps. 22: 12) thought sure to impale Him on one or the other horn of the dilemma, “ Yes,” or “No.” If “ Yes,” they would arraign the people against Him; if “ No,” they would arraign Him before Caesar. But they miss ed their aim. Not that He evaded either. There was a third alternative they had not dreamed. Taking the “ tribute” money and placing His finger on the “ image and super He did not mean to make an absolute distinction between secular and religious duties. Dues to Caesar were dues to God (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:17; Eccles. 10:20; Acts 23 .'5; 2 Peter 2:10). For our under standing He separated between them. There are dues to Caesar and dues to God, neither of which may be neglected. In our country the Caesar is the Constitution and law of the land. We are to fulfill the duties of our earthly citizenship, and neither pass our vote nor dodge our taxes. We owe an in estimable debt to the State, and. should cheerfully shoulder our share o f the respon sibility, and meet our portion of the cost of security, convenience, peace and prog ress. Anarchy, bombs and dynamite are of the devil. H onor the flag , and worship G od . LESSON X.— September 6.—T he G reat C ommandments .—Mark 12: 28-44. G olden T ext .— Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with dll thy soul, and with all thy strength , and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself .— Luke 10:27. I. A L awyer (M att . 22:35) Q uestions J esus . 1. The Questioner. A “ scribe,” a pro scription” of Kaizar Tiberius (and we may see them today in numismatic collections), He said, “ Whose image and superscription is this?” They said, “ Caesar’s.” “Render therefore,” said He, “ to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
However skilled in Scripture even a “ scribe” has but skimmed its Surface, and even there, like this one, missed surface facts. There is only One D. D. We must ask Him, not the scribes. 2. The Lawyer’s Question. He asked, “ What?" (R. V .) not ‘ Which (A . V .) is the first (chief) commandment of all” —of what sort (so the Greek). Is it of the ritual or is it ethical? Is it right or rites ■which is of most import?. Some said one, some the other, as circumcision, Sabbath obsfervance, tithes, traditions. The discus sion today is : is it papal primacy, apostolic succession, the catechism, the capacity of the baptismal font; is it pope, bishop, pres bytery or congregation?
fessional expounder of the Law (Scrip tures). He was not one of the conspira tors (v. 34; Matt. 22:15). A bystander who “heard” what was said (v. 28) and struck by the young Rabbi’s understanding tested Him (Matt. 22:35) with a question disputed among them. Intelligent discus sion in public is desirable, the bystander may be awakened by the spirit and reason ing of believers. Lawyers by training are more easily persuaded; they feel the moral force of the Gospel and the weight of its proofs. Their profession has supplied many most eminent advocates of Christianity.
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