Render Unto Caesar

Render unto Caesar

Matthew 22:15-22

“Render unto Caesar or as other’s put it “Give Caesar his due” is fairly well known. Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and Herodians does not stop there, of course. But people in this world are more generally concerned about this world’s matters than the next. They also fear government far more than they do God. This is true among many Christians as well. Outside many church buildings in this country, the American flag flies over the Christian flag. The pledge might say “One nation under God” but the message of the flags say “One God under nation.” We must seriously examine what Jesus is really saying in this passage.

The first thing that has to be noted is that the Pharisees were insincere in asking this question. Even though they try to flatter Jesus as a great teacher come from God, their intentions were far from benign. There were four groups that we need to look at. One was the Pharisees themselves. The Pharisees were a religiously conservative party who were closely aligned with another party called the Zealots. The Zealots hated Roman rule over their country, and the Pharisees hated the influence of Graeco-Roman culture which the Greeks and Romans brought. Many felt that it was treason to pay taxes to Rome. They had to walk carefully, though. The Romans had put down a previous tax revolt with utmost cuelty. The perpetrators were hung on crosses on the Jericho Road as a warning to the people. Later on, the Zealots would get the war they wanted, with disastrous results. Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed and the survivors led into slavery.

The other two groups were the Sadducees and the Herodians. The Sadducees and the Herodians both loved Greek and Roman culture. They liked the theatres and the sports in the gymnasiums. The Sadducees were in charge of the Temple which made them a great deal of money. They had a vested interest in keeping the racket going. Jesus really threatened this when he cleansed the Temple just a few days earlier. The Herodians were more secular. They supported Herod who was a client king to Caesar. They prospered under the carrot and stick approach which the Romans imposed upon captive lands like Palestine. They would get a share in the tax revenues of the state. Once their contracted amount of tax was collected, they could keep the rest. Anyone who tried to upset this arrangement would incur the wrath of this party. If left unchecked, they would lose their client status, and rule would then come directly from Rome. This had already happened in part of Palestine. The Romans had revoked their rule over Judaea and installed a Roman governor. At this time, the governor was Pontius Pilate whom Jesus would face in just a couple of days.

The fact that the Pharisees conspired with the Herodians in this case proves that they hated Jesus even more than they hated the Herodians. Jesus would do the impossible in the next few days and unite all four groups into destroying Jesus. So from this, we can see that the Pharisees were laying a trap for Jesus. The common people who followed Jesus despised Roman rule. If Jesus were to say to pay taxes, He would lose His base of support. If He said not to pay taxes to Rome, the Herodians who were witness would have arrested Jesus and carried Him away for trial and execution. So thy ask Jesus whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Rome or not.

Jesus knew this was a trap and called out their hypocrisy. He could not simply ignore the question. He would soon be arrested, tried and crucified, but on His terms, not theirs. So Jesus asks for someone to show Him a coin. We do not know if the coin came from the Herodians or the Pharisees, but if it was the Pharisees, one might ask these purists what they were doing being in possession of dirty Roman money. Jesus asks whose name and superscription was on the coin to which the answer was “Caesar’s.” This is when Jesus answers: Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, but unto God the things that are God’s.” The audience realized that Jesus has answered wisely. By His sage answer, Jesus sets aside the trap that was set. We, too, are constantly asked insincere questions that are set to entrap us. This is why we need to listen for the answer that comes from the Holy Spirit rather than foolishly trying to engage such questions. James tells us when we lack wisdom to ask God who will liberally help us. We must believe that God will give us what to say in these circumstances.

The question of whether we should pay taxes to Caesar or not can be asked sincerely. What if Pater had asked the question? We know of another occasion Peter was asked whether he and Jesus had paid the required Temple tax according to the law of Moses which was half a shekel. Peter seemed to answer that question, “Of course we do.” But Jesus rescues Peter and tells him to cast a hook. The fish he caught would have a silver shekel in its mouth, enough to pay the tax for both Jesus and Peter. Even this was a Jewish tax enacted by the Law, Jesus affirmed the validity of paying the tax, even though the collected money was all too often used for corrupt purposes, just like the tax money we pay is used to line the pockets of politicians and their cronies or spent on ungodly programs. So this question of render unto Caesar is most relevant. What should we do.