oldbadger
Skanky Old Mongrel!
Caesar's Coin, and Yeshua's lost joke!
I'm sorry that this OP is so long.......... it couldn't be avoided.
I have often thought that @chinu 's avatar is a perfect representation of Jesus. Laughing out loud
.
Apart from Pentecostals, most Christians do seem to view Jesus as a very serious, stern, un-relaxed kind of character. Pictures and drawings of him show serious or unhappy countenances. I think that is wrong. He must have had a wonderful sense of humour at times.
One example is the story of Caesar's coin, as told in Mark and other gospels:-
Mark: 12.14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master................ Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? {12:15} Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see [it. ]{12:16} And they brought [it.] And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. {12:17} And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him.
Some folks have used this story to argue that Jesus was a traitor, others have waffled on about how clever his answer was, but Jesus was far more clever, and enjoyed the situation much more than reported, I think.
Although the gospels call the coin a 'penny', that's just error caused by 'translator's drift'. The early writers thought that if they called the coin a 'denarius' then Roman readers would identify with it more easily, because a small silver 3.5 gram coin of that name was used for civil taxation throughout most of the Empire; and in the same way the translators of the King James bible thought that 'penny' would serve English speakers more helpfully........... hence, translators drift.
Here is a common taxation coin used so regularly in Jerusalem that any man would have known it intimately...........
On the Obverse side you can see the featured head, and on the reverse side you can see an eagle and to the right of it the inscription KP or (sometimes) KAP which is an abbreviation of KAICAP, Greek for 'Caesar'.
And Jesus asked, 'Whose head, and whose inscription?
And the priests answered ,'Caesars', the liars!
How Jesus kept a straight face I'll never know, for the head was not Caesars.
And then Jesus is reported to have answered, 'Give to Caesar things that are Caesar’s, and to God things that are God’s.'
I don't think he said that. I think he said ....... and to Gods things that are God's....... because although the inscription does read 'Caesar' the head on the obverse is not Caesar's, it depicts a God! A Pagan God!
Maybe the mob did not know about this sacrilege, but Jesus certainly did, and those priests could not have dared to answer with total honesty. What a turn around!
The coin shown above was the most common taxation coin known in Jerusalem, the Tyrian half-shekel. This almost pure silvercoin, weighing just overr 7 grams was the Temple head tax for any man to be paid at least once anually and probably on each visit to the Great Temple. Although the mint in Tyre was closed down circa 18BC by either King Herod or the Romans a mint near Jerusalem was used from then on until circa 69AD to continue minting the Tyrian Shekel and half shekel to a lower standard of finish but at the same accuracy for metal purity and weight.
The fact that the Head showed the pagan Greek God Melgarth-Herakles (the Jewish pagan God Baal?!) and a graven image on the reverse was overlooked by the priesthood in favour of the coin's consistency.
The 14 gram full shekels were probably the 30 coins paid out to Judas for his bretrayal of Jesus....... the Sanhedrin had access to thousands and thousands of them.
This is just further evidence of how hellenised the whole priesthood had become, and how far removed from the true ways and laws which Jesus hoped to re-install and uphold?
And despite his severest anger, I think he must have enjoyed these momnents very much.
I'm sorry that this OP is so long.......... it couldn't be avoided.
I have often thought that @chinu 's avatar is a perfect representation of Jesus. Laughing out loud
.
Apart from Pentecostals, most Christians do seem to view Jesus as a very serious, stern, un-relaxed kind of character. Pictures and drawings of him show serious or unhappy countenances. I think that is wrong. He must have had a wonderful sense of humour at times.
One example is the story of Caesar's coin, as told in Mark and other gospels:-
Mark: 12.14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master................ Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? {12:15} Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see [it. ]{12:16} And they brought [it.] And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. {12:17} And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him.
Some folks have used this story to argue that Jesus was a traitor, others have waffled on about how clever his answer was, but Jesus was far more clever, and enjoyed the situation much more than reported, I think.
Although the gospels call the coin a 'penny', that's just error caused by 'translator's drift'. The early writers thought that if they called the coin a 'denarius' then Roman readers would identify with it more easily, because a small silver 3.5 gram coin of that name was used for civil taxation throughout most of the Empire; and in the same way the translators of the King James bible thought that 'penny' would serve English speakers more helpfully........... hence, translators drift.
Here is a common taxation coin used so regularly in Jerusalem that any man would have known it intimately...........
On the Obverse side you can see the featured head, and on the reverse side you can see an eagle and to the right of it the inscription KP or (sometimes) KAP which is an abbreviation of KAICAP, Greek for 'Caesar'.
And Jesus asked, 'Whose head, and whose inscription?
And the priests answered ,'Caesars', the liars!
How Jesus kept a straight face I'll never know, for the head was not Caesars.
And then Jesus is reported to have answered, 'Give to Caesar things that are Caesar’s, and to God things that are God’s.'
I don't think he said that. I think he said ....... and to Gods things that are God's....... because although the inscription does read 'Caesar' the head on the obverse is not Caesar's, it depicts a God! A Pagan God!
Maybe the mob did not know about this sacrilege, but Jesus certainly did, and those priests could not have dared to answer with total honesty. What a turn around!
The coin shown above was the most common taxation coin known in Jerusalem, the Tyrian half-shekel. This almost pure silvercoin, weighing just overr 7 grams was the Temple head tax for any man to be paid at least once anually and probably on each visit to the Great Temple. Although the mint in Tyre was closed down circa 18BC by either King Herod or the Romans a mint near Jerusalem was used from then on until circa 69AD to continue minting the Tyrian Shekel and half shekel to a lower standard of finish but at the same accuracy for metal purity and weight.
The fact that the Head showed the pagan Greek God Melgarth-Herakles (the Jewish pagan God Baal?!) and a graven image on the reverse was overlooked by the priesthood in favour of the coin's consistency.
The 14 gram full shekels were probably the 30 coins paid out to Judas for his bretrayal of Jesus....... the Sanhedrin had access to thousands and thousands of them.
This is just further evidence of how hellenised the whole priesthood had become, and how far removed from the true ways and laws which Jesus hoped to re-install and uphold?
And despite his severest anger, I think he must have enjoyed these momnents very much.
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