Matthew 22:20–21: “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.'”
January 20th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotionalThe Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by sending some people to ask Him whether or not it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus had them show Him the silver coin used to pay taxes. The head of the Roman emperor was stamped on it, and it was inscribed “Tiberius Caesar, the august son of the divine Augustus.” Pretty humble stuff, right? Jesus’ answer was to give Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to give God what belonged to God. The Savior’s logic was simple but profound. The Roman coin bore the image of the emperor; therefore, it belonged to, was the property of, the emperor. Those listening knew well that the first chapter of Genesis says, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . . So God created man in His own image” (Gen. 1:26,27). We bare the image of God, and therefore we belong to Him. Jesus was saying we are the coins of God’s realm, the coins of His kingdom. This fact is the source of our dignity, destiny, and freedom.
If we are to “give to God the things that are God’s,” then every person must conclude that there is no limit to what we owe God. We owe God our whole being and life, meaning that all we might think is ours is really His. No part of our life is excluded from our fundamental covenant with the One who is our Creator. The One who has redeemed us from sin and death to make us citizens of His empire. The religious rulers asked the question to entrap Jesus but, in turn, His answer traps us all!
Jesus reminds us that all believers are citizens of 2 kingdoms: an earthly kingdom, to which we owe certain allegiances and a heavenly kingdom, to which we owe everything. Jesus’ response didn’t really settle the dispute with the men the Pharisees sent any more than it settles the conflict that each of us faces daily as we try to live out our faith. Our government has the right to expect a measured but limited allegiance from us. What we owe to God is not limited. And when we perceive a conflict of allegiance, when our earthly authority is in conflict with God’s authority, our greatest allegiance as believers belongs to God.
“LORD, give us strength to follow You this day, discernment to know which steps to take, and patience to wait on Your guidance as we serve You and others.”
