Paying Taxes to Caesar
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.

Here’s some thoughts on this. This is a very short and compact reply that Jesus is giving to the Pharisees who are trying to trap him into saying something that will violate EITHER his obligation to God OR to Caesar. It is not meant to elaborate on any sort of political theory as some assume. What Jesus seems to be doing, as he does throughout his ministry is to confound his opponents by way of showing them their false dilemma by way of entangling them in it.

First, he points out that THEY are hypocrites. And why are they the hypocrites and not Jesus? Well, in the next verse, Jesus asks them to show him a coin with Caesar’s image on it. Seeing as the coin has Caesar’s image on it, this implies that it rightfully belongs to him. Thus, they are to pay taxes (give the money back to Caesar) who it rightfully belongs to.

Second, the whole idea here is that they should know WHAT belongs to God. “Hey, you see this coin? It belongs to Caesar as it has his image on it, right? But what “coin” properly belongs to God? What “coin” bears God’s image? It is you! You bear God’s image and you properly belong to God. You owe God EVERYTHING! INCLUDING all that you give to Caesar (Caesar is an image bearer as well). Give God YOURSELVES--the coin that bears the image of God--the whole of your life!”

Well, that did it. Jesus didn’t challenge the authority of Caesar so the Herodians couldn’t get him on that. And the Pharisees, well, they were not going to let Jesus lead them down a pathway about serving God with all one’s heart, soul and strength.

So giving to Caesar what belongs to him is much the same as giving to parents or teachers or any other authority what belongs to them. Authorities are ALWAYS under God. Even Caesar’s authority is relatively small in the context of God’s Kingdom. And so, the gravity of Jesus command is that all authority is accountable to God because God’s authority is tops.