The Gospel of MarkSample

Conviction > Offense

Something in the religious leader's heart pricked them to continue to choose to be offended by the stories and parables of Jesus instead of pausing and looking within to correct the posture of their own hearts.

"Public opinion kept them from laying hold of Jesus, so they tried to turn the tide of public opinion against Him. Using a clever question, they wanted to make Jesus seem to agree with the Roman government against the Jews." (Guzik)

Verse 13: the leaders sent Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus. The tactics to compliment and then jab Jesus

Jesus sees through to the intentions of our heart and He doesn’t turn away and leave them but stays there and uses it as an opportunity to teach, charge, and challenge them. Jesus is full of patience and is fully on task for his purpose, to live closely to the broken and invite them into redemption and salvation forever.

"And to God the things that are God’s: Just as it is important to render to Caesar, we must also render to God the things that are God’s. The coin belonged to Caesar because his image was stamped on it. We should give ourselves to God because His image is stamped on us." (Guzik)