God or Government?

Jesus interacted with a group of bigoted religious leaders who sought to impel Him on the horns of a dilemma. They asked, “ Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” It was a gotcha question, a ruse. The groups questioning Jesus were the Herodians and the Pharisees.  The Herodians were pro-Roman, the Pharisees were anti-Roman.  No matter how Jesus answered the question, He was sure to offend one or the other.  To side with the Herodians was to commit heresy in the eyes of the Pharisees, for to pay tribute to Caesar was, in effect, to bow down before other gods; but to side with the Pharisees was to commit treason in the eyes of the Herodians, for to refuse to pay tribute to Caesar was an act of sedition.

Jesus asked, “Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. Jesus probed further, “Whose image is on it.’ They replied, “Caesars.” He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” End of the conversation. They left. (Matthew 22:15-22).

A casual reader is likely to miss the primary point.

The tax money had the image of Caesar on it. By virtue of his image being on it, it was his.

Then Jesus made His point saying we are to render “to God things that are God’s.”

What thing bears God’s image? Only one, we human beings were created in the image of God. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him…” (Genesis 1: 27). The point, give yourself to God. Pay Caesar his due and God his due…. yourself. Have you ever done that? Do you do it daily? Renew that commitment daily. Once we give ourselves wholeheartedly to God then we know how to establish priorities.

There are a lot of competing claims in your life. By prioritizing them more can be accomplished. Jesus and His will for you as priority number one enables all else to be aligned in proper order. Family, friends, church, social clubs, sports, and society in general are but a few of the entities competing for your time and attention. Most are not evil, but they keep us from the optimum good if not aligned as priorities behind the Lord.

Jesus in response to His detractors focused on government, Caesar, and the Spirit. Both in proper order are good. His loyalists must relate to both properly. Don’t depend on the government to do for you what God alone can do. We should look to God, not the government, to supply our needs. Government has assumed many roles intended by the Lord to be provided by the church as His agent. The government can never do as well what God intended His church to provide as can a functioning church. Trust God, not Caesar.