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

 

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "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."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

 

- Luke 20:19–26 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. 

 

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "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."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.  My study Bible comments that this question on taxation is designed to trap Jesus.  A "yes" answer would turn the Jewish people against Him, but a "no" would bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  Christ's answer, my study Bible says, defeats their cunning and shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  As the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.

So what is Caesar's and what is God's?  What are we to make of Jesus' answer today?  There is first the understanding about the image on the coin.  Images are important considerations in Christianity.  In Greek, this word for "image" is εἰκόνα/eikona, meaning "icon."  An icon in this context is a picture of someone meant to evoke that person's presence.  For example, if we see a photograph of a loved one who is far away, and we kiss the photo, we don't do so because we love the photo, but because in so doing we are kissing the person, expressing our love in relationship to that person and not to the photograph.  This was well-understood in the ancient world, as Caesar's image imprinted on the coin, as well as the inscription or title which Jesus also names, were representative of Caesar himself.  Everything that bore his stamp or image was an extension of his person -- and this is what Christ is getting at here when He responds, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  So, in such a context, we must think about what belongs to God.  Of course, we're also told in Scripture that we are created in the image and likeness of God.  Εἰκόνα is the same word used in the Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament, the version Jesus quotes in the New Testament.  So, while the coin is minted by Caesar and created with his image on it, we have been created by God and God's image placed in us.  This is something we need to consider in prayer and worship, for Christ came to show us that image, to be an "icon" of God ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father" - John 14:9).  Therefore we are taught by the example and word of Christ to become "like Him," to fulfill that image -- and this is also the purpose of the Spirit sent to us.  St. Peter writes, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18).   We human beings are clearly capable of choosing that to which we want to be conformed, and this is a very important reason for proper worship.   Worship is a form of community participation; it is that which we worship to which we will tend to "conform."  Here Jesus contrasts Caesar and God.   Our earliest Christian martyrs were those who would not give worship to Caesar, who was also called a god.  Possibly our current cultural understanding is so steeped in politics that it is hard for us to understand that paying taxes to Caesar was simply honoring an obligation to the state, and not a form of worship.  We might find questions posed to us today of a similar "tricky" nature.  Sometimes we're asked to support an extreme perspective that has harmful effects, but if we object, we're accused of some hateful behavior.  Or perhaps we object to warfare and violence, but in so doing we're accused of supporting an oppressor.  The question posed to Jesus is tinged with the politics of the time, and the hostility of the Jewish people to colonization and the harsh conditions it imposed, including taxation.  But Jesus offers us a different perspective, refuting each side of the dilemma.  The struggles of the time fueled messianic expectation of a political messiah who would be king.  Indeed, at the Crucifixion, the crowd preferred to save Barabbas the rebel to Christ.  But Jesus avoids the "trick" dilemma posed here.  His answer, instead, provokes us to consider whose image and inscription is in us, first, and what and whom we worship.  How do we render unto God the things that are God's?  Jesus quotes the two greatest commandments in which are summed the whole of the Law and the Prophets:  To love God with all one's heart and soul and strength and mind, and neighbor as oneself (Luke 10:27).   This active love is participatory worship, and creates the bedrock of our reality, the recognition of true image into whose likeness we're asked to grow.  He asks us to go deeper than the heated questions of the day, and to find first what we must love, and live that love.