Caesar or God? Yes
Matthew 22:15-22
November 12, 2023 anno Domini
How many times in the Gospels did people come up to Jesus thinking they had Him? They had the question He couldn’t answer or the argument He had to agree with, the mystery no one could unravel. Today, the Pharisees come to Jesus, and they bring the Herodians. They’re like the Minnesota Vikings – they have yet to win the big game. The Pharisees are like 0 and 17 in arguments with Jesus, but they’ve brought the Herodians and together they think they’ve got the winning combination with the simple question, “Teacher … Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
The Herodians (who support King Herod) hope Jesus says, “No, don’t pay taxes.” Then they can accuse Him of insurrection and put Him on trial all over the empire for sedition and rebellion. He won’t be fit for any office once they are through with Him. The Pharisees hope He says, “Yes, pay your taxes” for according to Old Testament Law it is blasphemy to honor any one as King except the Lord and His anointed. Yes or No. They have Him.
What will Jesus do? Well, He will be God and put them (and you) in your place, because these sorts of question stem from one desire – to be your own God, to set your own rules, to do what you want to do. First Jesus traps them by asking for a coin. You can picture the Pharisees and Herodians patting their pockets. Eli, one of the younger guys, says, “I don’t carry cash. I only use my debit card.” Then Jacob, a boomer, says, “I don’t trust all that technology. I use cash. Here I’ve got a couple of coins.” Do you see how they are caught? Jesus could have asked Jacob, “If you’re so opposed to Herod and the Romans what is that coin doing in your pocket? If you oppose Caesar, why are you using his economic system.” Then after He traps them, He gives them a “yes and yes” answer. It isn’t either the Government or God, rather it is “both-and” but each in their own way, “Render to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s.”
Saint Augustine, a fourth century church father, has a helpful illustration about that coin shown to Jesus. It explains the difference between what we owe the Government and what we owe God.
Augustine said, “That coin has no knowledge of its bearing the image of the prince. But you are the coin of God, and so far highly superior, as possessing mind and even life, so as to know the One whose image you bear.”
It might be too simple to say the difference between the coin and you is that the coin is dead and you are alive. It is more than that. The coin, while a gift from God, has no sense of its purpose. It doesn’t matter to the coin if it is spent at Dollar Tree or Lunds and Byerlys, if it buys peeps or Dom Perignon. Also, that coin only had a temporal purpose – to be used here and now by us for good.
In those ways the coin is like the government. Government is a gift of God which has a purpose here and now, a good purpose. According to God’s Word the government is to protect the life of outwardly good people and punish those who do evil. By establishing a peaceful society by the sword government paves the way first for the preaching of Christ and Him crucified and secondly for the safe assembly of those who worship Christ to receive His gifts. The founding fathers of the United States placed those rights as their duty in the first amendment – the free exercise of religion, the freedom to assemble.
Sadly, because of sin, many who serve in government have no sense of that God-given purpose. Instead, they have taken God’s place demanding that we obey their words, listen to their truth, and live or die according to their will.
Render to Caesar what is Caesars. Render your taxes and your prayers. Render your respect since it is God’s government. Render your vote in elections. Render your voice to the public square. Get involved with those who support and lobby for life, for the family, for marriage between one man and one woman. Don’t render your hope for the future. Don’t render to Trump or Ramaswamy or Biden or Kennedy your faith that they can save the nation or you. Remember the coin. It’s temporary. It serves a good purpose now, but both the coin and the government will have an end.
Now hear again what Saint Augustine says of you and God compared to that coin and Caesar. But you are the coin of God, and so far highly superior, as possessing mind and even life, so as to know the One whose image you bear.”
You and I bear the image of the eternal God. We were made in the image of God – living, breathing, rational beings, with emotions and for deep and intimate communion with God and each other. God stamped us with His image in creation. And when we as Augustine said, “wandered from the treasury” God restamped His image upon us. He redeemed you in Christ — made alive when you were dead, found when you were lost, forgiven when you sinned, cleansed when you were filthy.
You are not a dead coin bearing the image of a man. You are created and now redeemed in the image of God. You know whose you are. You know the love God has for you and the cost He paid for you – His own flesh and blood, His only-begotten Son in the womb of Mary and in the tomb outside Jerusalem. You have a purpose, an eternal purpose given by God, to love Him and your neighbor. Your purpose is to trust the God who made you and saved you. Why would you trust anyone else? Do you know anyone else who loves you enough to die for you? Who walked out of the cemetery alive? Who beat every real enemy you have – sin, death, and the Devil? Your other purpose is to love your neighbor and serve him with your good works. And remember – your nearest neighbor isn’t Israel or Palestine or Ukraine. Your nearest neighbors are in your house, on your block, next to you in the pew. More Americans have died by abortion this week than have died in the war in Gaza.
Render to God’s what is God’s. Render repentance for your sins. Render faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. Render your obedience to His Word even when you disagree or think your way is better. It’s not. Render your body as a living sacrifice – doing good while you are here. You have a purpose. You know your worth. You are created and redeemed in the image of God.
Keep the Government and God straight. One can save, the other cannot. One is eternal, the other is passing away. One created you and redeemed you. The other is supposed to serve you. One loves you. The other doesn’t and really shouldn’t. One bestows life, the other at best protects life. Render to Caesar what is Caesars until he demands your faith. Then you must render to God what is God’s – your faith, your confession, and probably your life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.