Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. 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." When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

- Matthew 22:15-22

In yesterday's reading, Jesus told a parable to the chief priests and elders in the Temple at Jerusalem. This is the third parable He has told them after He was questioned as to His authority to cleanse the Temple. In yesterday's parable, Jesus told the story of a king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to all who were invited. But they weren't willing to come. He sent out his servants again describing all the preparations for the wedding feast and what awaited the guests. But the ones who were invited spurned the invitation, making light of the wedding, and going off to their own business or their farms. The rest of the invitees did worse: denigrating the servants and having them killed. So the king was outraged and had the murderers killed, and burned their city. Then he sent out his servants to the highways and invited everyone they found, both bad and good, so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in, he saw a man without a wedding garment. He asked, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" And the man was speechless. Jesus said, "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" To tell Jesus that He "does not regard the person of men" is to say that He has no prejudice, He judges fairly. This is a question meant to trap Him into a choice: His answer will either make Him look like a revolutionary against the Romans or a collaborator with them. The Herodians are the party of those who supported Herod, the local king who ruled in the name of Rome. Herod the Great extensively built up the Temple in which they are standing.

But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money." "Hypocrites" is literally "actors" in the Greek. They are those who wear a mask in the ancient plays. So, Jesus -- who has just been told He does not regard the person (or more literally, the face) of men -- is calling His questioners those who wear a false face, a mask to cover up their true person. It's a unique kind of irony, the type of which fills the Gospels. My study bible points out that it is a characteristic of His divinity that Jesus reveals the true face of these people, "the secrets of their hearts." The One who does not regard the face of men knows the true face, the person, in the heart.

"Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. 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." When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way. We remember that Jesus has cleansed the Temple by overturning the tables of the money changers. The money changers were those who exchanged Roman coins for temple currency, precisely because of this face of Caesar which was considered defiling by the devout Jews. Caesar, after all, was hailed as a god. But we get a deeper sense here of what is "in the name" of Caesar as opposed to the name of God. Jesus' answer confounds their question: He will not choose from the opposing points of view they present to Him. He will teach His own way. He remains supremely independent, and in a deeper sense of irony, "disregarding the face of men" even as He speaks of the face on the coin. In another characteristic of His divinity, He refuses to be pigeonholed into the alternatives they offer Him, and silences them with His own questions.

My study bible has an important note here: "The distinction between the things that are Caesar's and the things that are God's does not imply a division of life into two domains, the secular and the sacred. Rather, God is Lord over all. We must fulfill legitimate governmental requirements which do not conflict with our responsibility toward God (Rom. 13:7). Paying taxes and similar duties are not detrimental to godliness. The fact that the Jewish establishment had a Roman coin in hand proved they accepted and used this coin, thereby accepting the earthly rule of the one who issued it." In our worldly lives, it can be truly difficult to distinguish between good and bad. What is worth our time and effort, and what is not? But if we remain like Christ, we have a good start in discerning where it is we need to go in life; what do we use and what do we not use, how do we live our lives? If we understand that the supreme hand behind all things is God, then that means that our choices rest in God's hands. The world may seem to offer us one alternative or another, and this will always be the case. But the worldly perspective, the worldly deals that always seem to be on offer, can be entirely misleading, and for hidden, hypocritical purposes. Often, Jesus will allude to such worldly deception, such as in the phrase "wolves in sheep's clothing" by which He will also teach us to use discernment. By "disregarding the face of men" but always regarding the face (or the Person) of God, we retain our independence, like Him -- our discernment. And that is what we are being taught by today's reading. When we really can't find our way out of a "bad or worse" situation, we know where we need to turn to see outside of that box of what the world seems to offer to us. We have Him to show us the way, His Way. Christ is our gift for many reasons, but especially when we find ourselves in this type of dilemma, when we are offered one way or another, neither of which fits the real person we want to be. How does He teach you to be yourself today? How does He lead you beyond the hypocrisy and deception, the inauthenticity, we might find in our supposed alternatives in life?