Caeser & God | Matthew 22:15-22

The Question about Paying Taxes

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 Caesar 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, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’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.

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I have never liked this passage. It feels deceptively simple: just give unto Caesar what is Caesar's. And I find it was so often preached that way when it comes up in the church readings. Just pay your taxes. Be a good citizen.

But this comes from a Jesus who, not more than a chapter before, overturns the money changers' tables. This comes from a Bible that tells us to be in the world but not of it. To struggle against the systems of darkness that hold down the Lord's people (you know, all people). Pay your taxes? "Buy into the system" absolutely cannot be it.  

"Give unto Ceasar" comes from a set of passages after Palm Sunday where Jesus is teaching parables and being tested by powerful people who want to catch Jesus saying something wrong. Jesus knows this -- in this particular passage, he calls it out. Jesus would absolutely not have just tried to pay lipservice to those people saying "sure whatever pay your taxes, but like also love God, it's cool." Jesus wasn't out there to be conciliatory, and this isn't a diplomatic answer to a legitimate question. That’s just it. The first thing Jesus says in answering (after telling the Pharisees' agents off) is not "Give unto Caesar and also to God," even if that's the phrase we all know. First, Jesus demands not just a Roman coin, but across translations, specifically "the coin used for tax" or "the tribute money." The way the coin is used is centered. Caesar's face is on it. It goes to Caesar. It's not a gotcha "oh but nothing is actually left for Caesar when you give to God" - again, Jesus wasn't in the business of being diplomatic. It's an acknowledgement. Caesar sows taxes. His image is on the tribute. And when that tribute is unjust, he reaps resistance.

Give Caesar taxes, sure. There are going to be those in the world that demand tribute. The Lord sows something different. The Lord's image is on the struggle against that tribute. The Lord's image is on the people. That is what belongs to God. That is what is Holy. We are not being called to split our earthly things for Caesar and our spiritual things for God. We are called to know there will be Caesars, to recognize Caesar's image, and to give unto Caesar whatever Caesar has sown. Because what bears the Lord's image? The people. All the people.

Prayer: Dear Lord, in the midst of so much darkness, help us to recognize your image in one another and in ourselves. Teach us to reap the love that God sows. And give us the strength to give to the Caesars of the world what they have sown. Amen.

Anna Mizzi

Pinecrest Alum