“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Today in our Gospel “some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech”; by whom, we do not know. Clearly someone has it out for the Lord, and they want to embarrass Him publicly. Notice their approach, beginning with all seeming courtesy and feigned respect: “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” If they believed what they were saying, why would they question His teaching? “Knowing their hypocrisy,” Jesus responds by requesting to look at a denarius, a particular kind of Roman coin, as they are asking whether it is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar. From this episode we get the famous verse “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Clearly there was a controversy over such a tax, with the Pharisees and Herodians likely supporting the notion that paying the tax was objectionable on religious grounds. After all, Caesar was looked upon and even worshiped by Romans as a god himself: the son of god. From this his power and sovereignty derived, and thus Roman law and politics was mixed up in Roman religion, which the Jews would have resisted strongly. Really, a Roman coin bore not merely the image of the Emperor, but a deity; Roman money was in this sense idolatrous. Understandably it put Jewish people in a bind when it came to paying taxes and engaging with Romans commercially.
Yet there is a greater question being asked here, as this is not simply one tax among many, but a census tax: a tax on the heads of those who, in a way, belong to the Emperor. Even Jesus, the Son of God, was subject to this tax, as the means by which God fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem was the census conducted under Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-7). The Empire had records of its citizens in Judea, and Jesus son of Joseph was among them. It seemed as though the Emperor counted the Jewish people among his many possessions, hence his perceived right to tax them. These are the very people, however, who recall what happened when their great king David sought to conduct a census, did so, and immediately regretted it, as he realized that in doing so he was claiming Israel as his own possession, rather than God’s. God gives David three choices and allows him to choose the consequence of his sin; a terrible but short-lived plague devastates the people. Only after David offers a sacrifice in worship to God does the plague end (2 Samuel 24). Thus, given this history, we might see what the Pharisees and Herodians are really asking Jesus: do we belong to Caesar or God?
The answer of Jesus is not merely about taxation: it is about identity. The coin represents more than just wealth and taxation, but in this lesson it represents the human being. Does Jesus not later tell a parable of a woman with ten coins who loses one and sweeps the whole house in search of it, just as God searches for a single sinner and rejoices when that sinner repents (Luke 15:8-10)? The coin bears the image and likeness of Caesar; you, child of God, are made in the very image and likeness of God Himself (Genesis 1:26-27). Indeed we must render unto Caesar—representative of the “world”—what belongs to Caesar, but we must also render unto God what belongs to God: namely, ourselves. That is what Jesus hoped to teach the Pharisees and Herodians; notice they identify themselves not as children of God, but as members of a particular group, a particular outlook or philosophy, or even political alignment. They are so caught up in worldly affairs they miss out on what Jesus came to tell us: God loves you, and He has emptied the treasuries of Heaven to ransom you. Never forget that you belong to Him, and not to this world. Render unto Him the only thing He desires, the only thing He asks of you: yourself.