And they marveled at him.

Mark 12:13-17, And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

Even those who set out to trap Jesus had to respect his wisdom. They were hoping that he would denounce the government as evil, and start a tax rebellion. His wisdom goes far beyond that to put the light on our own priorities. The government knows very well how to extract taxes from us; how well do we do at setting our priorities to the things of God?

Give us wisdom about how to keep our priorities straight, to render to you the things that are yours!

ESV Lectionary