Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Whose Image Do You Bear? | The Gospels | Mark 12:13–27

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Why was Jesus so controversial? Why did the religious leaders constantly attempt to "trap" him? Are we guilty of doing the same? In today’s episode, Tanya shares how Mark 12:13–27 exposes the deeper question behind the debate about taxes—whether we truly recognize that we bear God’s image and owe our whole lives to him. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Mark 12:13–27

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. It's hard to imagine people wanting to trap Jesus, isn't it? I mean, here is this man who's going around, healing people, feeding people, teaching people about God. Why would he be so controversial? Why would anyone, let alone a whole group of people, make it their life's purpose to try to trap him in his words or expose him to eventually have him killed? Jesus must have been doing something controversial.

He must have been saying things that threatened the way they lived, or the things they believed. He must have threatened their position in society, or the things they built their lives on. Some of the most controversial moments in Jesus' ministry are things that seem pretty straightforward to us now. Of course, we should help a woman who has been in hard situations. Yes, we have a legal obligation to pay our taxes. But really, we still get caught up in the same kinds of Muslims. understandings. We still choose sides and try to self-determine how Jesus would vote who he would want to be in leadership, who he would help with a hand-up, and who he would condemn. It sounds like we're doing

more than trying to trap Jesus like the Pharisees did. It sounds like we're trying to read Jesus' mind. In Mark chapter 12, the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus. They want him to say something that will turn people against him. But they don't begin with the trap. Well, they do, but they also begin with flattery. They call him a man of integrity. Someone who tells the truth. Someone who tells the truth. someone who doesn't play favorites. And the irony is, everything they say about him is actually true. They just don't believe it really. They're using truth as a tool for manipulation.

Then they asked the question that was loaded with political and religious tension. Teacher, we know how honest you are. Now tell us. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or shouldn't we? This wasn't a sincere question. This was a setup. See, if Jesus said don't pay taxes,

the Romans would see him as a threat. If he said pay the taxes, the Jews would see him as someone who was a compromiser. Either way, they thought they had him. And honestly, this doesn't feel that foreign to us. We still live in a world where people try to force Jesus into political categories, where we assume we know how he would vote, who would support, who would approve of, who he would reject. But the problem then and now is the same. We're trying to shrink Jesus down to fit a framework. instead of submitting to him as our king. Well, Jesus sees right through this when it happens with the Pharisees, and he says, Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin. So they bring him a denarius. Apparently he didn't have one on him.

And he asks, whose image is on this? Caesar, they say. And Jesus responds, then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God. In other words, this coin belongs to Caesar because it carries his image. But you,

belong to God. Now Paul leader reinforces this in Romans 13, and that is written during a time when the Roman government was very corrupt and godless. But Paul said, render therefore, to all their due. Taxes to whom taxes are due. Custom to who custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. So the moral failures of government do not excuse us from civic responsibility. But Jesus is actually going way deeper than politics, because the real issue here isn't taxes. The real issue is ownership. So the real question becomes, whose image? Do you bear? If the coin belonged to Caesar because it carried his image, then the implication of Jesus' words is clear. You belong to God because you carry his image. Scripture is explicit about this. Genesis 1.27 says,

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Every person is made in the image of God. That is not a cultural idea. This is a biblical fact. That means the question is not only whether we believe the right things about Jesus. The question is whether our lives reflect him as the one we belong to. If in our ordinary, practical ways, we show that we belong to Jesus. Every person we deal with bears God's image. That fact alone sets the standard for how we speak, how we listen, how we disagree, and how we respond when we are frustrated. When we forget that we belong to Jesus, we begin to treat people as those who are on a different side, as those who are obstacles in our path to being right, who are interruptions, who are problems rather than people with dignity. That is not a political issue, that's a discipleship issue. So when Jesus says to render to God what belongs to God, he's not asking for a portion of your life. He is claiming all of it, thoughts, words, and relationships. So whose image do you bear? And does your life give evidence that you belong to him?

We all need his glory and grace. Thank you, Jesus for being with us.