I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 12-13

I am not sure where I am going to go with this today. There are several things I want to write which do not currently have any connection to each other in my mind.  First, When asked about taxation, Jesus’ answer was not just about taxation.  The coin which His questioners showed Him had Caesar’s image upon it.  This led Jesus to tell them to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what was God.  Jesus’ listeners would have realized that He was referencing Genesis 1:27 when He said this.  We are made in God’s image.  Money bears the image of the government which issued it, so that government has claim to that money.  But we bear the image of God, so God has claim to our very being.

And now I see a connection to the next thing on which I want to comment.  When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He answered, “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”  Then followed that up by saying that the second most important commandment was equally important, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and that all other commandments derive from these two.  Really, the second commandment derives from the first, but we need that second commandment because without it it would be all too easy for us to pretend that we can love God without loving our neighbor.  Each of us has been made in God’s image.  Therefor, if we truly love God we will love those whom He made in His image.  In fact, loving our neighbor is part of giving to God what belongs to God.