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Meandering through Mark | Wk 12
- Free Church
- Apr 7
- 8 min read
The Mark of God | David Molver | 06 Apr 2025
Do you bear the Mark of God? In Mark 12, we read about three images: a pressed image, cleaning the mirror, and presenting the coin, which help us bear the Mark of God. The more we recognize this mark in ourselves, the easier and more important it becomes to give all we have to God and to build God's kingdom, to serve others and to reach the lost
THE WORLD needs you to show your Mark, to become who God has called you to be, and to live that out.
A pressed image:
Mark 12:13-17 gives an account of some Pharisees and Herodians asking Jesus a question, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax[b] to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him
The Herodian’s, opponents of Jesus, they probably were not a political party or a religious sect. They probably favoured the policies of Herod Antipas, who was tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea (4 bc–ad 39) and a strong promoter of Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) culture in Palestine.
The Pharisees exhibited themselves as righteous on account of being scrupulous keepers of the law but were, in fact, not righteous: their mask of righteousness hid a secret inner world of ungodly thoughts and feelings.
In a Christian context, a modern day “Pharisee” is someone who follows the impulse to be seen as righteous by obeying certain laws while ignoring more important matters of the heart.
The Pharisees and Herodians align here, not because they are fond of each other, but because they want to catch Jesus out.
The denarius was a coin used as the tax money at the time. It was made of silver and featured an image of the emperor with an inscription calling him “divine.” The Jews considered such images idolatry, forbidden by the second commandment. This was a reason why, if Jesus answered, “Yes,” He would be in trouble. His acceptance of the tax as “lawful” could have been seen as a rejection of the second commandment, thus casting doubt on His claim to be the Son of God. The Herodians knew that should Jesus answer no, that they should not pay tax, he would be in trouble with the Roman law.
So Jesus asks for a Denarius, it seems like he is asking the Pharisees, I think this may have caused them to back off a little, knowing that they were carrying the Denarius with the image of Caesar.
Jesus looks at the Denarius and points out the image of Caesar, He then says, give back to Caesar what is Caesars, and Give to God, what is Gods’.
That point stands out for me, we have a reference to Gods image in scripture.
Genesis1:27
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Gods’ image is pressed on us, Give back to God, what is Gods. Do we believe that we are worthy of bearing the image of God?
Cleaning the Mirror:
Mark 12:28-34.
One of the teachers of the law, a scribe, asked Jesus. Of all of the commandments, which is the most important?
In his question to Jesus, we can see that the man exhibited qualities that weren’t apparent in the others, he asks a sincere, intelligent question. Not in the hope of catching Jesus out, like the Pharisees and Herodians had tried to do. But to understand more. His question, which in Greek would read: What kind of commandment is first of all? Suggests a difference in the importance or class of the commandments. Rabbis divided the commandments into “weighty” and “light”. It could be that he wanted a distinction between the moral and ritual commands. Jesus answer brings together two widely separated scriptures to sum up the duty of man. Both were very familiar. The first, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which reads as follows: 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. This was the Shema/ creed of Israel, normally recited twice a day by the questioner himself. It was the commandment worn in Phylacteries, (small leather boxes worn by Jewish men, containing Hebrew texts. These were worn to morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law.) The commandment was also sometimes nailed to door posts, in line with Deuteronomy 6:8
8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The second Leviticus19:18 8
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
The Two commands are here, summed up as one word, LOVE!
The word love here is not meant as an emotional sentiment but as an active principle in embracing the entire personality. I think it is probably true to say that in modern times, men place great emphasis on love to man in the form of philanthropy (the desire to promote welfare to others, expressed especially or most commonly by the generous donation of money to others). But we are inclined to forget the requirement of Love to God!
Giving does not equate to Love; it should, however, flow from it. God links the two commandments here and gives the emphasis, to Love.
Loving others is hard, it takes hard work!! I think that loving ourselves is even harder.
I believe that it is easier for us to start with the first of these two commandments, Love God.
We can't practice Philanthropy with God, There is no wealth or treasure that we can appease God with; God doesn’t want our charity, he wants our hearts, our Love.
And what a privilege it is to love GOD! You see, there is something so incredibly special that happens when we love God. When we love God, actively love God, I believe that we begin to clean our mirrors.
Have you ever tried looking at yourself in a dirty mirror? Maybe trying to look through the side mirror in a car when it misted up? Its almost impossible to see what we need to see, impossible for us to see what MATTERS!
But in loving God, in knowing God, we begin to clean the mirror. We begin to see the image of God, the mark of God that is pressed into us, and when we see this, we begin to start loving ourselves, not because we have made it in life, not because of our money or title. But because we are made in the image of the creator, because we were created by God, we are fully loved and fully known by Him.
Only then can we begin to love others, as we love ourselves. To love others who also bear the mark of our creator, mankind that bear his image.
Isn’t that beautiful, doesn’t it move you, knowing that you are so loved, and so loveable.
Presenting the Coin.
Mark 12:41-44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
This section of the scripture brings some relief from the heated controversy. The woman, in the SIMPLICITY of her lowly worship given to God, gave her all. I want to refer to the passage that precedes this, Mark 12:38-40
8 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
"They devour widows’ houses” Pharisees and scribes were often appointed to oversee the estate left to a lady when her husband had passed away. These executors of the estate would often take all that they could for themselves, they would twist the law in their favour and leave the widows with nothing. And the widows could do nothing to stop this.
Just for some context, married women had little to no say, and widows had even less say. A woman relied on the name and standing of her husband for her place in society and to ensure that she was treated correctly.
So we have a woman, a widow, who has been left with next to nothing. With no social standing, no money, and no job, she gave all she had to God.
If we look at the Greek name for the coins she gave is “LEPTA” these were the smallest copper coins that they had.
I don’t believe for a minute that the scripture is there to tell us to give the last two coins that we have, I think there is a far greater meaning.
You see, the act of giving her two coins was an act of giving all she had to God, her life to God. This woman, was showing the image of God, presenting the “coin of God” in her life
Jesus sees the two coins, not because of their value, but because of the position of the woman’s heart. God’s first concern is not the amount we give, it’s about how we give it.
Jesus uses this as a teaching moment to show his disciples what it means to give all we have and all we are to God.
In my preparation I came across a quote that really stood out:
“The essence of all true giving is sacrifice, and the value of every gift relative, not absolute.”
Show Your Mark:
Friends, I don’t know where you are in your journey, but I do know that you bear the Mark of God.
I know that regardless of what your past looks like, you were created in the image of the creator.
Maybe your mirror needs some cleaning before you can see that image clearly.
Maybe it’s time for you to come and present your two coins to God, He doesn’t need your charity, but he longs for your heart.
Maybe you are in a space that I was in, trying to figure out what your Mark is, the only way to know is to journey with God, to receive Gods love, to love God and yourself. The better we know God, the easier it is to recognize the Mark of God in ourselves and in others.
The more we recognize this mark in ourselves, the easier and more important it becomes to give all we have to God and to build Gods kingdom, to serve others and to reach the lost
THE WORLD needs you to show your Mark, to become who God has called you to be and to live that out. I'm not saying that you need to drop everything and go into full time ministry, unless that’s what God is calling you to. But how different would it look if we lived the lives that God has in store for us?
I want to encourage you to bear the Mark of God, to show others who this God is. To live the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love your neighbor as you love yourself!
You are Marked by God!
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