‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.’
The religious and civic leaders continue to challenge the authority of Jesus.
They are now trying to trick him, to trap him.
They bring up issues from life and scripture that demand an answer.
They are the kind of questions that essentially are lose lose for Jesus.
But, Jesus is far smarter.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.
So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying,
Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’
The Pharisee’s aren’t talking about taxes in general.
They are talking about a particular tax, ‘to the emperor’ tells us that.
Everyone paid all sorts of taxes, Temple tax, land tax, all sorts.
The tax the Pharisees are talking here is the Imperial Tax, ‘to the emperor.’
This was paid to Rome to support the Roman occupation of Israel.
They had to pay a denarius a year to their oppressors.
A denarius a year to keep being oppressed.
You can imagine that this was highly unpopular.
Most would have resented it. Nationalist zealots in particular.
The two groups which have conspired on Jesus with this question had very different views on this tax.
The Herodians were fine with it. They had been put in power by the Romans, so of course it was in their interest to keep the Romans happy.
The Pharisees on the other hand had a trickier relationship with this tax.
The tax had to be paid with a coin engraved with a picture of Ceasar, which also stated his divinity. This is of course a problem for those so religiously devout: just having this coin breaks the first two commandments:
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol
So you can see what is happening.
This tax was a controversial issue.
Most were opposed to it, so if Jesus says they have to pay it,
he will be offside with the crowd.
He will be seen as supporting the oppression.
If he says they don’t have to pay it,
he will immediately be in trouble with the authorities.
The two groups who have bought this question to him don’t agree on what the right answer is either.
The only thing they agree on is that they want this trouble maker gone.
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said,
‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’
This is the first bit of brilliance.
He gets them to hand over the coin.
By doing so, they reveal their own complicity in the system.
He also reveals that he is not. He does not have a coin to show.
At this very moment, their plan to trap him begins to unravel.
You can almost hear the gasp of the crowd.
If this handing over of the coin wasn’t enough, he makes it clear.
‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’
They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’
Their answer tells everyone they know exactly who is on the coin, what is written on it, and therefore not only are they complicit in the system, they are in fact breaking their own rules by doing so.
The coin carries a graven image, and states the divinity of emperor.
Two commandments broken.
And the fact they can name this, means they can’t plead ignorance.
Their plan is now gone.
Their trick is over.
Then he said to them,
‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.’
So what is the emperors and what is God’s?
Taxes, rates, all those things are dreadful.
None of us like paying them.
But, we have to.
Even if we don’t like the government, or agree with what they are doing, we have to pay our taxes.
That is the emperors.
A small or sometimes not so small part of our money.
To start carrying on about not paying them suggests something else. It suggest the idea a few more dollars as being of supreme value.
It tells of what is in the heart.
Give to the emperor what is the emperors. Don’t let that become your big issue. Don’t let holding on to a bit of cash become what is imprinted on your heart.
For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also
Your heart, your whole being belongs to God.
Give to God the things that are Gods.
While the emperors image is on the coin, God’s image is in us.
We are created in God’s image.
Give to God what is God’s.
This ends up going deeper than about a coin, money, or taxes.
In his this statement Jesus reminds that we are God’s, and that we are to give ourselves, our time, our minds, and our hearts to him.
Give the government its tax, but give your whole life to God.
Be in the world, but not of the world.
Jesus is setting the Pharisees straight about their hypocrisy, and in doing so he sets them onto a higher way of thinking.
He says the same to us.
‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.’
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