Scripture: Matthew 22:15–22
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Questions
- Why does Jesus’ answer stifle the questioners so much?
- What kinds of parallels can we draw being Jesus words about Caesar and our own government, what parallels are tempting but illegitimate?
Background
Related Scriptures: Romans 13:1-7
Jesus was sitting in the Temple during this confrontation and Jews would have found it disrespectful to the temple to have a coin with Caesar’s image in that space. So when Jesus gets a coin from those accusing him he is making them look bad in front of the crowd because they had an improper image in the Temple space.
Incomplete Work on Matthew: They called him teacher, and truly he was. Yet they were only pretending that he was a teacher, one honored and praised. They pretended that he would simply open to them the ministry of his heart, as if they wanted to be his disciples. This is the first power of hypocrites, to simulate praise. They praise those whom they want to destroy. Their art is to incline human hearts toward simplicity of a kind confession through the delight of praise. They take small steps, a little at a time.[1]
Severus: “What then! You permit us to serve a man, and not god? And how is this not a violation of the law?” It will amount to nothing. Indeed, the act of giving tax to Caesar does not prevent the service of God, although you would like to think so. This is why it is necessary for you to give to God equally what is God’s, in such a manner that if what is Caesar’s is kept for the service of God, it is necessary that God be preferred to him. If you remain a tributary of Caesar, you should attribute this to your sins, not to God. In the same way, Paul similarly applies himself to the same distinction. In sending a letter to the Romans he wrote, “Pay to the world, therefore, what is due to the world; to those you owe taxes, taxes; to those you owe tribute, tribute.[2]
Reflection
Taxes are never popular, at best most people see them as a necessary burden. But taxes from an oppressive foreign occupier are even more galling. It is this backdrop that makes the challenge presented to Jesus so daunting. If Jesus agrees with paying taxes the people will likely turn on him and if he does not then he is sure to face consequences from Pilate and the other Roman officials. I am sure that many, including American Christians, would accuse Jesus of fence-sitting if he gave such an answer in our political climate today. Even if the Pharisees meant their question sincerely, the lack of a yes or no answer from Jesus would likely have bothered them just as it bothers us today. Now obviously, Jesus needed to somewhat sly because he was posed a catch-22 question, but his words transcend a cop-out answer and offer us true wisdom for interacting with government.
Jesus’ answer forces us to ask “what is God’s?” What are the things that I have control over that belong in the category “God’s”? The rub of course is that we are all probably going to answer this question slightly differently. In reading commentaries on this passage I noted just how many different questions and interpretations were possible outcomes of reading Jesus’ words. There were subtle differences in interpretations and major disparities, depending on how each scholar approached these words. And this is part of the point of the interaction. The pharisees want Jesus to pick a clear side. Is he with Jewish revolutionaries and the people or the Romans and the status quo. They want to put him in a box of “us” or “them”. Jesus though, does not fit into that box and provides an answer that expects wisdom. Consider what it means to give to God what is God’s and then give to the government what is due the government. The further beauty of Jesus’ statement is that it takes us away from creating the “us vs them” dichotomy and places our focus where it belongs, on our relationship with God.
It is important to remember that Jesus’ relationship to the occupying government of Rome is far different from ours in modern America. However, that does not mean that his wisdom cannot be applied to our situation. First, we start by identifying what is under God’s control—what is God’s that we must give to God. Once we have determined this we then ask, “how do I give that to God?” Can I give resources to the government for the purpose of surrendering them to God? When do I reasonably say no to the government because it is asking for something of God’s? While the question posed to Jesus is limited to taxes, there is room to take Jesus’ advice beyond taxes to how we support the government more broadly. As many Christians have pointed out there is an overlap between the image of Caesar on the coin and humanity being God’s image. Understanding this then we are allowed to ask if our regimes are building up humanity or bringing it down and throw our support toward building up God’s image. Now again it is likely that Christians will disagree at times on how exactly this plays out in the world. What is important is that we do not get dragged into the “us vs them” mentality that Jesus wants us to avoid. Instead, if we understand that we are giving to God first, then we will realize that our mentality is “us for the greater good of everyone”.
Jesus wants his disciples to recognize that we can and should support governments to the point that they do not interfere with our ability to give to God. And every time we consider supporting the government we need to ask, “how does my support of this impact what is given to God.” I understand that we all want God to just tell us what to do, and there are many who want to take this role. But God wants us to think through our association to society ourselves and consider how we best honor God in what we do. The beauty of Jesus’ response is not that he evaded the trap laid by his opponents, but that he was able to provide us with a profoundly wise saying that can help us shape our lives and society.
[1] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 149
[2] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 150.
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