Render therefore unto 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 unto 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

Yesterday, we read that Jesus responded to the leadership in the temple who questioned His authority there.  He taught another parable to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came into to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  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?"  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 unto 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.   This question is designed to trap Jesus.  If He answers that it's lawful to pay taxes, the people will be against Him, as they detest Roman rule.  If He answered, "No," then He would be open to a charge of treason by the Romans.  Jesus' answer in some way very cleverly points us back to the money changers -- whose tables He upset in His first act after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.   Because the coins bore the image of Caesar, they were considered defiling to the temple.    Jesus' answer once again evades the trap set for Him.  My study bible says it shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (see also Romans 13:1-7).  It also notes that as Caesar's image is on the coin, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict comes where the state demands what is contrary to God.

Jesus' answer takes us to the question of what faith is all about.  Is it a political liberation movement?  Is it something that allies us to particular political causes?  For Christ, allegiance to God transcends all issues and everything in our lives.  We can put our faith in God who is the ultimate arbiter of all things.  Christ never preaches "politics."  In the end, at His Crucifixion, it will be a political activist and rebel against the Romans whom the crowd prefers for amnesty.  Jesus gives us a way to live our lives outside of radical extremism.  Some things are in the realm of Caesar.  But soul and spirit belong to God.  We can live in the world, and still not be "of it."  That is, when we become entirely a creation of "politics," one way or another, we are no longer rendering our due to God.  This is the true understanding of how to delineate relationship, and it is Christ's way.  He has paid the temple tax, even as an obligation He expresses reservations about (see From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?)  Here, He separates what belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar as two different things, not belonging in the same category.  It's another way of saying that Caesar is not a god, if we look closely at what most concerns Jesus.  This is a median way.  It takes us out of "faith" allegiance to movements that would align themselves as purely political.  Our heart is centered on God, the true place of faith, and everything else must "regroup" around that basic allegiance that surpasses all else.  In that context, one can "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" without surrendering the things that are God's.  As we move into times more politicized than seemingly they have been, let us remember where our center is, and where our faith is.  It is the one true thing that sets everything else in its place.