To Caesar

Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." – Matthew 22.17-21

There has always been a debate and a conflict in the relationship between God and government, or as we normally put it, between church and state. How much do we give God and how much do we give the state? Do we have to pay taxes and obey the law? How do we deal with two such powerful authorities? What do we do when they come into conflict with each other?

The Pharisees thought they could trip Jesus up with this question so they asked Him ‘So what do you think, should we pay our taxes to Caesar or not. If He said yes they could claim that He was not true to His people and they would turn against Him. If He said no the Roman authorities would be disturbed and might arrest Him.

Jesus gave an answer which was perfect in its simplicity and settled the matter once and for all. ‘Give Caesar what he is due and give God what He is due.’

It answers more than just the question of taxes. We have to learn how to live with both authorities. We have responsibilities to both. The epistles will tell more about this later. Jesus told the Pharisees that yes; we have to pay taxes and everything else that is due Caesar We find out later that we owe the state our obedience to their laws and submission to their authority and our prayers.

But while we are doing that we are to give God His due, which is simply put, everything. God is due our thanks, our worship, our prayers, our devotion, our resources, and our very lives.

What do we do when we are these two come into conflict? We owe God everything so we can’t go against Him. When Daniel was told that a law had been passed forbidding him to pray to God he knew that he could not obey. He respected the government leaders and accepting the penalty for breaking the law. He honoured God and the state, even when he could not obey them.

The answer pretty simple and Jesus nailed it. We give Caesar what is due, in other words we are to be good citizens. But above and beyond we give God His due and that has no limits.