Matthew 22
15Then the Pharisees met together to think of a way to trap Jesus into saying something for which they could accuse him. 16They decided to send some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to ask him this question: “Teacher, we know how honest you are. You teach about the way of God regardless of the consequences. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. 17Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?”
18But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Whom are you trying to fool with your trick questions? 19Here, show me the Roman coin used for the tax.” When they handed him the coin, 20he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
21“Caesar’s,” they replied.
“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God.” 22His reply amazed them, and they went away. (Matthew 22:15-22, NLT)
The Daily DAVEotional
Recently, I heard a pastor referencing this passage, which I’ve probably read a hundred times, and it caused me to gain a new insight that I had never seen before.
In this passage, the Pharisees, who were looking for a way to arrest Jesus, send some of their goons (disciples) to confront Jesus with this trick question:
Should we pay taxes to the Roman government?
To understand how this was a trick question, it’s helpful to know a bit of the political and cultural climate that existed at the time.
The Jews were under Roman occupation. Judea was essentially a Jewish province within the Roman empire.
As such, the Jews were allowed to follow their religious and cultural practices and even enforce some of their own religious laws, but all under the control of and within the larger Roman political and governmental system.
The Jewish leaders were longing for the day when they could break free from the shackles of their Roman overlords and experience the independence and freedoms they had enjoyed as a nation centuries before.
Their hope was in a promised Messiah who they believed would rescue them from their political enemies.
So when these Pharisees come to Jesus with their question about paying taxes to Caesar, they expect that if Jesus is the true Messiah, he is going to say something that demonstrates a disdain for the Roman government. After all, if the Messiah were going to bring about a rescue from the Romans, then surely he would speak negatively against those who were ruling over them.
On the other hand, if Jesus failed to speak against the Roman government and Caesar, then he could be discredited as a false Messiah.
Jesus, being omniscient, knows the motives of these disciples, whom He labels as “hypocrites”, yet he responds to their inquiry anyway.
His response amazed them because he responded in such a way that he could not be accused of being a rebel to the Romans, nor could he be directly discredited as a false Messiah.
Jesus’ tactic was simple. He requested that someone produce the Roman coin that is used for the tax and then He asked, “whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
They responded, “Caesar’s”.
Jesus then tells them, “well give to Caesar what belongs to him but everything that belongs to God must be given to God.”
Click here to see a Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference
When I recently heard the pastor reference this story, he retold it using slightly different words than what is shown in the New Living Translation text above.
When the pastor restated the story, he said “whose image is on this coin?”
I don’t ever recall reading this passage in a translation that used the word “image” in verse 20.
The New Living translation says, “whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
The NIV asks, “Whose portrait is this?”
Both the NASB and the ESV translate it as, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
However, the King James says, “Whose is this image and superscription?”
The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) as well as the New English Translation (NET Bible) both use the word “Image” in their translation of verse 20.
“Whose image and inscription is this?” (HCSB)
“Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” (NET)
Why does this matter? Aren’t all these words pretty much the same?
Yes, they are synonyms, which is why different translators use the different words we see in their translation.
But the underlying Greek word is the word “eikon” which is where we get our english word “icon”.
This same word (eikon) is found in Genesis 1:26 where it says that mankind is made in the “image” of God.
My point in all of this is that reading a passage in different translations can be helpful, as it may give you different insights that you had not noticed before.
This was the case for me when I heard the pastor retell this story using the word “image” which is not the word I’ve typically seen because it’s not the word used in the translations I normally read. When I heard the word “image”, I connected the passage to Genesis 1:26, which helped me to see Jesus’ response in a different light.
What Jesus is saying is that Caesar’s image is imprinted on the coin so it is right for a person to give to Caesar that which belongs to him.
When Jesus follows by saying that everything that belongs to God must be given to God, He’s saying that since people bear the image of God, then we belong to God.
The image demonstrates ownership. The coin bears Caesar’s image so the coin belongs to Caesar. Therefore, it is “right” to pay taxes to Caesar.
On the other hand, people bear God’s image, which means we belong to God. Therefore, we must give ourselves to God.
This is Paul’s point exactly in Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30 when he talks about the Spirit being given to believers as a seal. I wrote about that in my blog post “The Holy Spirit as a Seal.”
Incidentally, we demonstrate who “owns” us by the image we project. The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the places we live, the restaurants we frequent and the lifestyle we lead, all say something about who we are and where our affections lie. It’s a statement about what or to whom we give our allegiance.
In the current cultural milieu, Jesus is being used as a religious pawn to endorse and affirm political and personal ideologies of all kinds.
However, Jesus isn’t interested in being used as some kind of tool to advance or promote one’s personal views or political agenda. Jesus is interested in one thing: ownership.
We bear the image of God and therefore, Jesus rightfully “owns” us. However, unlike some political tyrants, Jesus doesn’t force us to bow and pledge allegiance to Him. But He does point out, in this passage, that He has the right to rule in the lives of those He has created.
So instead of using Jesus to promote our personal political view, Jesus invites us to give ourselves completely to Him.
Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!
Reflection
In what ways have you seen people use Jesus as a tool to promote their personal or political agenda?
What do you think were the reasons the Pharisees were attempting to trap Jesus? In what ways do people today approach Jesus in the same way the Pharisees did?
What has been your understanding of Jesus’ statement to “give to Caesar what belongs to him but everything that belongs to God must be given to God”?
What are the implications of being owned by God? What does it look like practically?
Photo: Portable Antiquities Scheme from London, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
