More on the "Lost Tomb" Circus

From the email bag..


Dear Professors and other Bloggers

I’d like to report something of potentially great interest with respect to assessing the Jesus tomb theory offered by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino (and, by extension, James Tabor).

Many scholars have demonstrated the glaring weaknesses of this theory with respect to the inscriptions, the names themselves, the shaky logic, etc. And despite the clear, coherent response to the statistical framework and analysis offered by my friend Randy Ingermanson, the public continues to be bludgeoned with the “improbability” of it all. Well, it appears that having the names of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Matthew, and Martha (“Mara”) on ossuaries at one location isn’t as improbable as Jacobovici, Pellegrino, and Tabor would have the world believe.

I want to draw your attention—and the attention of scholars and interested parties who read your blog—to a SECOND site that has all those names. In 1953-1955, Bellarmino Bagatti excavated the site of Dominus Flevit (“The Lord wept”) on the Mount of Olives. The excavation uncovered a necropolis and over 40 inscribed ossuaries – including the names of Mary, Martha, Matthew, Joseph, Jesus. These ossuaries are not, as far as I can tell, in Rahmani’s catalogue. I’m guessing the reason is that they are not the property of the Israel Antiquities Authority (see Rahmani’s Preface). The necropolis was apparently used ca. 136 BC to 300 AD. Here is a link that discusses the site. A few scanned pages of Bagatti’s excavation report (written in Italian) can be found here as well.

I’ll be tracking down this report (and perhaps buying an Italian dictionary). I found this information last night (actually 2:00am) while working on my portion of a lengthy response to the Jesus tomb theory (to be co-authored with Randy Ingermanson). I didn’t want to wait until that was done to alert scholars to this so we can collectively look at this data. It appears that the statistical odds touted in such assured terms have taken a sound beating – fifty years ago.

There’s one more really intriguing thing about the Dominus Flevit site. It is referenced by Jacobovici with respect to his argument about the cross symbol’s antiquity, and Bagatti’s book is in his bibliography. And yet he and Charlie Pellegrino somehow overlooked the fact that ossuaries were found at that site with all the names accounted for. One can only guess whether the omission was due to careless scholarship or an effort to deceive the public.

Mike Heiser, PhD
Academic Editor, Logos Bible Software

Whom Are We to Worship?

Several times in my ministry through the years I have had a person say to me something like, "Nowhere does the Bible tell us to worship the Son directly. We are to worship the Father in the name of the Son." It would ring true with me in my earlier years, because I had always felt a discomfort in addressing Jesus directly. I still haven't understood that feeling, but it was the same feeling that I had when I began to pray in English instead of my mother tongue (German).
But others I have talked to have confessed to that same discomfort.

It may be that because I have always been taught to pray to the Father in the name of the Son, it felt like I was crossing a line. Perhaps it's the same line I crossed when I first stopped using King James pronouns in addressing God in my prayers.

But psychological reasons aside, I can think of some legitimate reasons for this teaching.

Jesus prescribed prayer for his disciples in a certain way. He said:
Matthew 6:9-11 9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread..." and so forth.

We are also instructed in several Scriptures to direct our gratitude and praise to God.

For example: Colossians 3:17 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ephesians 5:19-20 Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The obvious question then becomes: Did Jesus intend for us to always only to pray exclusively to the Father? I don't think so.

Although there are several verses telling us who to address in prayer, we do have some examples of worship and prayer to Jesus that are not protested.

So here are the questions I brought to the biblical text:

1. Do we have any examples of humans in the New Testament praying to Jesus and worshiping Him?

Yes, we do. And the Lord Jesus does not object. He accepts their praise.

a. He was worshiped in his infancy.

Matthew 2:2 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Matthew 2:11 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

b. He was worshiped in His adult life.
John 9:37-38 37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

Matthew 14:30-33 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

c. He was worshiped in His post-resurrection state.

Matthew 28:8-10 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Matthew 28:16-17 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Luke 24:51-53 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

2. Are we instructed anywhere to worship Jesus? Not exactly. Not directly, that is.

a. But angels are instructed to worship Him.
Hebrews 1:5-6 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"? 6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

b. We ARE instructed to pray to Him.
John 14:13-14 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

c. And we will certainly be worshiping Him in the future. If what happens in the following description is not worship of Christ, then you can call me a heretic.

Revelation 5:11-12 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

Whatever the final answer, I prefer to err on the side of honouring the Son as I honour the Father. After all, Jesus said in John 5:23

He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.

If you disagree, I would like to hear your reasons. But then I might just pull out some heavyweights, like John Owens and a few other Puritans who would likely really be concerned that this is even a question that is up for discussion!

Do They Read Blogs in Heaven?

How does this happen? The first few years of my spiritual re-awakening were also 'years I spent in vanity and pride'. In my case, when I sing that well known hymn, I am singing about the time AFTER I connected with my Saviour, not before.

I have always looked at my late teens as a turn-a-round point in my life. It was the late sixties. Everyone was on a search of some sort. That's the time I felt that God turned my life around. It had been going nowhere; yet I knew that there was a purpose to life. I had just been too laid back to go after it.

I was a miner in Thompson, Manitoba, and through a series of circumstances, I dedicated my life to the pursuit of God. I met another guy my age who was an authentic example for me. I saw up close that it was possible for someone like me to live for Him.

Yet, I had this radical and impulsive streak. (It was the age of radicalism, remember?) I joined a small group of Christians which was meeting in a home and decided, under its influence, that every other denomination and organized church was somehow substandard. These people claimed that they were the closest thing to a New Testament church that existed. I believed them. No other church seemed to care about a biblical ecclesiology.

We were the elect, the chosen people. We were the ones who did things the New Testament way. We broke bread every Sunday, our ladies wore head coverings (although they wore the pants at home!) and the Holy Spirit led our meetings; there was no presiding officer or pastor. Everything was to be spontaneous and when people asked us what we called ourselves, well, we were just plain Christians. We dared not call ourselves Plymouth Brethren! That's what other people called us. We wanted to be the people who 'gathered to the name of Jesus Christ'.

At the young age of 19, I had become a Pharisee.

I left the small church that I had first attended (although they needed all the help they could get in that mining town). I told the pastor why I was leaving, and I told him how wrong it was to do church the way they were doing church. I left, not regarding the pain and grief I caused in my family or friends.

I lived with my brother and sister in law. I told them how wrong they were.

And I visited with another pastor, and told him how wrong he was. The man's name was George Nelner (His name will come up again). He didn't try to argue much with me. I had my pet verses and I knew how to use them, and I felt very smug as I left his office, because once again it was confirmed in my mind just how right I was and how wrong the whole ecclesiastical system was. (Why it never dawned on me how arrogant I had become, I will never know. I think it had something to do with the illusions that happen when there is a timber in one's eye; see Matthew 7)

Fast forward. I moved from Thompson back to Winnipeg, began fellowshipping with those brethren who were responsible for the effort in Thompson. There was a lot of good Bible teaching there. A lot of people there truly loved the Lord. But there was also an elephant in their living room that no one had the nerve to point out. Group denial is a powerful thing. There were times in those meetings when I had a stirring deep within that said, "This is spiritual pride and it stinks."

I had spiritually distanced myself from my friends and had alienated some of my family with my smug self righteousness. They knew me best, and they did not buy my self-righteous act for a minute; yet they had patience with me; my father most of all. I think my father knew that I just needed time to grow. And with time, I did. I think I know what it must be like coming out of a cult. I was summoned to a meeting one evening. It was with the elders (they really did seem austere and ancient). They read out of the book of Revelation, the passage that tells of the church of Philadelphia. It was the one church that did not receive any criticism from the Lord. Here are the words they read:

"See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars-- I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:8-11

They looked at me and asked, "Do you deny that we are the church Jesus was talking about?"

"Yes," I said, "I deny that this is the Philadelphian church."

The next Sunday I was 'read out of the meeting'. Excommunicated.

I walked out of the Gospel Hall that day, dazed but free.

I was free from a systemic kind of pride that overshadowed these groups of people. But pride as a property of our individual natures doesn't surrender that easily. Although this was a good beginning the Lord had to teach me a few lessons yet.

Fast forward another few years. My sister (who is only a year older than I am) had a series of very difficult circumstances that I will not detail in a public blog. She had also experienced the judgmentalism of some Baptist deacons who had shamed her without knowing her circumstances. Through their actions they made it very difficult for her to ever darken the door of a church again. Many Christians understand this dynamic. There are many 'walking wounded' whose church should have been their safe place. Unfortunately the church can also be a place where the deepest wounds occur.

My sister moved from Toronto to Calgary with her two children. There, with a lot of uncertainty, she, with her children and her partner sought out a church, and I was happy to hear that they had found a place where they were accepted and loved. Not long after that I was invited to their wedding.

The man who officiated the wedding and had become their pastor was none other than George Nelner. I am so grateful that my sister did not find a church led by someone with an attitude that I had displayed to George Nelner that day in Thompson. The grace that this man exuded was evident in his speech and his actions. He personified the words that Jesus spoke to the woman caught in adultery (John 8). "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and leave your life of sin."

Oh yes. George Nelner died this last month. He's gone to his heavenly home. I heard news of this, and it began to stir some of these memories in me. I wish that I could have done a better job of apologizing for being such an arrogant twit in his office so many years ago. I should have thanked him for being so gracious to my sister and brother in law. I can only hope they read blogs in heaven. George, this is me, making things right.

Jesus’ Tomb: What’s all the Fu$$ about?

We are coming up on Easter. Every year, like clockwork, another conspiracy theory hits the media that seeks to cast doubt upon the claims of Jesus Christ. Last year it was the DaVinci Code. In years prior, the Jesus Seminar annually published their latest doubts about Christ. This year, it’s a blockbuster. They claim to have found the bones of Christ. None other than famed producer of ‘The Titanic’ who proclaimed to be ‘the king of the world’ James Cameron, is producing the film with the Discovery Channel behind him.

If you happen to run across anyone who actually believes the documentary that will be airing shortly, please keep these facts handy. (I cobbled these points together quickly from a perusal of various news agencies and blogs).

Ten Top Reasons This Can’t be the Jesus We Know

1. Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth, not Jerusalem. They would likely not have been buried in Jerusalem.
2. It is very doubtful Joseph and Mary had a tomb. They were poor peasants. Normally poor peasants don't get these kinds of tombs.
3. The names, Mary, Joseph AND Jesus (read Joshua) were as common as our names Tom, Dick and Jane. One scholar says that in Jesus’ day, over 40% of the women were named Mary or some derivative of it. Among the about 1,000 ossuaries from biblical times unearthed in Jerusalem, six carry the inscription ''Yeshua,'' or Jesus. Of those, two are engraved with the words ''Jesus, son of Joseph.''
4. The archaeological establishment is labeling this claim as ‘bunk’.
5. The DNA evidence can only tell them if those who are represented in these ossuaries are related to one another.
6. There was a swirl of controversy surrounding the ossuary supposedly containing the bones of James. It is now considered a modern forgery. It was purported in this new documentary to have been stolen from this tomb. Yet it has been considered a forgery, putting the authenticity of this whole group of ossuaries in doubt.
7. Esteemed academics like William Dever says, “Specialists have known about these ossuaries for years. The fact that it's been ignored tells you something. It would be amusing if it didn't mislead so many people."
8. Another blogger asks this question. “How likely is it that the early Christians built and sustained a tomb of Jesus if they — at the same time — were declaring his resurrection and ascension, and were undergoing persecution for the following him? What this tomb requires is a long-term preservation of the remains of the members of Jesus’ so-called family. Unlikely to the extreme.”
9. Hollywood. Need we $ay more?
10. And the final reason this can’t be Jesus’ tomb… He is risen!!

For further reading:
Ben Witherington
Bock's Blog
James White
Andreas Kostenberger

A New Name and a White Stone

You all know that my niece died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. Lisa had some pretty tough struggles. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and diabetes along with numerous other physical maladies. She also struggled in her soul with questions of worth and significance and had some mental disorders that were difficult for us to understand and treatment was hit and miss. And so, although her death was unexpected and painful to the family, it was also a release at the same time, because she has a brand new existence, and is totally healed of all of her health issues.

But back in the days of her struggles, an artist in her church gave her a painted white stone, with a cross painted on it. It was just a small stone that might be used as a paperweight.

My sister showed me that stone while I was there in Calgary. We wondered out loud what the significance of that white stone might be. And it came to me immediately.

In Revelation 2:17 Jesus is addressing one of the seven churches. He says,

”He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”

I am learning that there are a couple of theories about the white stone.

http://www.lookingforlewiscarroll.com/whitestone.pdf
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=72835 (the author of this sermon injects his errant theological views to 'colour' his research about the white stone.)

A comment here:
‘The Romans of New Testament times had a token of hospitality between two friends, which consisted of a tile of wood or stone, which was divided in half. Each person wrote his name on one of the two pieces, and then exchanged that piece with the other person. These were often kept and handed down from father to son. To produce the counterpart of one of these pieces would guarantee the hospitality of a real friend’

Against this identification, though, is the fact that Revelation does not mention stones being swapped, only that one is given. However, it does fit in well with the idea of being granted to eat of the hidden manna in the previous clause of the verse.

To eat with someone in the context of Biblical times was to enter in to a covenant relationship with them. Hence I Cor 11:20-22 - a love feast/communion meal was a time of sharing with one another and thus entering into covenant relationship with each other through Christ and because of Christ.

Similarly, that Jesus permits those in Pergamum to partake (Revelation only says ‘give’ without indicating consumption, however) of the hidden manna would indicate that they become united in covenant relationship through their participation in Him (who is the true manna - see above).

Each participant, Jesus regards as a special guest and a white stone is given upon which a name is written given to Him by God (see, for instance, Is 62:2, 65:15) to allow Him to enter freely into that great and final banquet (Rev 19:7, Mtw 22:1-14).
http://home.clara.net/arlev/pergamum.htm#14

The white stone, as far as we can tell, had two meanings. One was that a white stone was used as a vote of acquittal. A vote for NOT GUILTY!

If you received a black stone, it meant you are guilty. If a black stone was cast in a decision, it was a vote of guilt. In fact, it is probable this is where the expression "to be black-balled" comes from.

The other meaning was that the white stone was a token of admission. If you were invited to a feast, you may receive a white stone, which you would show the porter as you enter the hall or the place of the feast.

In either case, the meaning is precious. I want to track down sources on this theme, and hope to revisit this topic with more research.

The new name generally signifies a new destiny. Although I don't think many people heard about it, at the memorial service we took that white stone and placed it in the hands of Lisa in the coffin, as a powerful symbol to the family, and a statement to the principalities and powers that she belongs to the Lord and none other. She has been acquitted of all of her sins, and she has a glorious new destiny!

And that is a tremendous comfort.

PS. If any of my readers find interesting sources of info or legend about The White Stone, please share them with me. I would be most interested in seeing your information.

Persecution Coming to the West?

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Persecution is Coming to the West
Concealed Affliction May Soon Turn Into Open Persecution

By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service

BLANKENBURG (ANS) -- Persecution is coming to the West. Under the guise of tolerance Bible believing Christians of all confessions are subjected to suppressive intolerance, warns a declaration issued at the Ecumenical Confessional Convention in Blankenburg, East Germany.

The event with 130 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox representatives was convened by the evangelical missiologist Prof. Peter Beyerhaus. The so-called Blankenburg Proclamation speaks of a dangerous anti-Christian influence on legislation, academic life and school education.

Scientists, who believe in God as the creator, were subjected to public defamation. Christians, not willing to compromise their faith, had to face ridicule, intolerance, stigmatization and career obstacles.

The declaration refers specifically to the plight of German homeschoolers. Approximately 150 families were subjected to fines or jail, because they refused to send their children to state registered schools and thus broke the German law.

According to the proclamation this “concealed affliction” may soon turn into open persecution. The threat could come from several directions - from globalization favoring the formation of totalitarian regimes, from growing syncretism, and from Islam.

Europe could be subjected to an enforced Islamization accompanied by the introduction of Sharia law. This danger was increased by the fact that the indigenous population is shrinking.

The proclamation also makes reference to the correlation between faith and suffering. It was part of the nature of the Christian faith to endure disadvantages and persecution for Christ’s sake. The 20th century had been the bloodiest in church history.

According to estimates by human rights organizations 200 million Christians suffer discrimination for their faith. Every year 170,000 Christians die a martyr’s death.
Wolfgang Polzer (56), is senior news editor of the Evangelical News Agency idea, Wetzlar (Germany), which he joined in 1981. In all, he has spent 30 years in Christian media. Wolfgang can be contacted by e-mail at: Wolfgang.Polzer@idea.de.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution
Click here for the source

Why the Pain? A Theodicy from a Baby

In meeting with various individuals, I am learning that questions about theodicy are the ones being asked most frequently; i.e.“If God loves me so much, why doesn't He make the pain go away?"

I don't know the immediate answer to that question. But, if God is purely good, then I must believe that any trial that comes my way has a bigger purpose than I realize.

Let me tell you a true story that has helped me to accept some pain that I didn’t understand.

It happened when our firstborn daughter was only 5 months old. We were on our way to visit a friend one day. It was in the middle of winter. Snow was piled up all over the place. The baby was all wrapped up and just her sparkling eyes and red pug-nose were showing through the hooded bunting bag she was wearing. We loved that baby so much. We felt we could easily die for her to save her life if need be.

Walking towards the house, we discovered that the sidewalk was very slippery. Just before we reached the door of the house, my wife, who was carrying the baby, slipped and fell. It was a nasty fall, and I can see it in slow motion yet. Her feet went out from under her and shot forward. She instinctively clutched the baby close to her, and did not let go. She could have saved herself or at least made the fall a little less painful, but that would have meant dropping the baby in order to minimize her own pain or risk of injury. She landed on hard, jagged ice with a bone-crunching thud on her left hip. It caused her excruciating pain. Upon impact, our baby, who was up until this point in a perfect state of contentment, panicked. Her mouth opened wide with a scream of shock and some pain at being jarred out of her sleepy comfort zone of existence.

What I remember most about that moment was that her scream then turned from shock into anger and was directed at US. She was frightened and angry, and for the life of her, she couldn't understand WHY her parents, from whom she has only known warm fuzzies and overabundant love, would suddenly do this to her! Of course, at that stage in her development, we couldn't explain to her that her Mom absorbed far more pain than the baby could imagine, in order to save the baby from real injury. All the baby could possibly know was what she experienced in her own world.

Although the analogy falls short because God doesn’t have accidents, it is helpful. We often direct our anger and frustration at God, without having a clue about what the Lord might be experiencing. I believe He does experience grief, and certainly the pain and anguish He experienced on the cross is something we can only appreciate from a great distance. Yet He did it for us. I often think that whatever He allows into my life, is something like that fall on the ice. And that perhaps this trial, this particular pain is to prevent me from going in a direction that would be far worse in terms of destruction and damage. And even if I don’t understand it, I can accept it, because I know His intentions towards me are always, without exception, loving and good. Think about it.

"Isaiah 53:4 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted."

The joy of 'older age'

Being a 'grandpa' isn't so bad. There's an upside.

Spiritual Blindness

I was browsing a book entitled, "In His Image" by Dr Paul Brand and Philip Yancey and learned something that fascinated me. He speaks of people who had recovered their sight after living their lives in blindness. The process of learning to actually make sense of what they saw is a long and tedious process. Indeed, some of his patients even (sadly) expressed a preference to being blind.

He relates how depth perception and other kinds of spatial dimensions present real problems to the newly sight-recovered. Some were not able to distinguish shapes, such as the difference between forks and spoons. Another experiment revealed that some could not distinguish between circles, squares and triangles. One spouse could not recognize his wife by sight. He had to touch a small area of her cheek before he recognized her as his wife.One patient walked off the edge of a building, not having any depth perception.

This brought to mind an incident in a most powerful way in the Gospels. Jesus heals a blind man. The Blind Man is miraculoulsy healed; his eyes are opened but he says he sees men like trees walking. He could not distinguish between the shapes of humans and trees.

Something else I learned from Paul Brand is that size differentiation is very difficult for such a person. One blind person saw no difference in size between his mother and a book.

So it is no wonder that Jesus touched the Blind man a second time. As some commentators have observed, Jesus' first touch was not an imperfect healing. His first touch healed his eyesight. His second touch healed his brain so that he could make sense of the optics that were making its first impressions through the optic nerves. The blind man had no referents nor previous knowledge to differentiate between men and trees.

The implications of all of this on spiritual blindness? How necessary it is to follow through on discipleship. Young Christians who are first enlightened by Jesus Christ need to learn to understand what they see. They acquire a new world view that comes with the new birth and everyting looks differently.
.
John 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

If the physical analogy carries over into the spiritual, it is no wonder that God has to bring life to a person by instilling faith in the heart. In the real world, the images that are seen by a newly healed sighted person don't make any sense. It must be similar in a spiritual sense. Here a passage from 1 Corinthians2 to think about.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.[c] 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Whose Image Do You See?

No doubt most readers of Scripture have had this kind of experience. You've read the same passage many times in your lifetime. In fact, your familiarity with the passage keeps you from gaining new insights. When it happens, that's when you slap your forehead with an "Oh yeah! Of course! Why didn't I see that?"

It happened to me the other day. Jesus is being asked a trick question. Here is the passage:

15Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

18But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"

21"Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

22When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

The question, "Whose portrait is this?" is key. Of course, it was a likeness of Caesar.
It was on the basis of the image that Jesus then said the following words:

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

The question I never asked was, "What is God's?"

Well, I did ask it, but then answered all too quickly due to my 'familiarity' with the story. I would normally answer, "Everything is God's."
But Jesus' answer points to something far more focused and specific.

What (or who) else was present in this incident with a stamped image of its maker? The very Pharisees, who sought to entrap Jesus were now trapped.

They themselves bore the marks of their Maker in their very being. Humans are made in the image of God, just as the coin was made in the image of Caesar. Jewish religious leades would have instantly recognized the trap they themselves had fallen into.

Jesus had turned tables on them, and left them sputtering. Of course! Their loyalty to God was to take priority over every other loyalty. Thus, pay to God what is God's due. You belong to Him by way of creation. Give Him your all and be doubly His by way of redemption. This is precisely why Christianity is such a boon for democracies (inner restraint) and a threat to totalitarian regimes.

(With thanks to Vishal Mangalwadi for this insight)
Werner