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15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22 NIV)
Marvelous Mondays only happen when we ask God to make them so! God can and does make the mundane marvelous; and it's as simple as giving and loving more. So, do you want this Monday to be awesome, make it so by blessing others! Smile more. Smile again. And again! Do kind things. Do kind things to mean people. Love those who may not necessarily love back, but that's on them; you did your part. Feed the hungry. Care for the homeless and walk the second mile to bless those who do not expect it!
When we moved to Houston my Mom took me on a walk. We only had one car so that was the logical thing to do. We walked two city blocks from our street, Brazos to the big street named Westheimer. When we got to the corner, Mom said, "This is the bus stop and you'll wait here for the bus. All buses take you to Lanier Junior High. And each way will cost you ten cents. I will give you 20¢ every day; don't lose them! And ride the bus. Gulp. Yes, ma'am. And so began my journey into trusting God more. I was frightened. I can't deny it. In Kingsville I knew most people and I walked to school with long time friends and hoped for girlfriends. No telling where I was walking to and with. All I knew was that the following morning I would be a student at Syndey Lanier Junior High. I had no idea who he was, but I looked him up right away. A writer and poet who wrote about the Knights of The Round Table. Sounded promising. And that morning before all the time changes, I was awaked and fed by my Mom and her big boy walked to the bus stop. As I got there there was a man waiting for the bus as well. He smiled and welcomed me. He was a black man named Willie and he asked my name and we started talking. I sensed I could trust him and I thanked God for a person who would stand by me as I made my new adventure of bus travel to school. He was a blessing to me. Soon I made friends from the school who would also get on several stops after I got on and before we knew it I had graduated from the ninth grade and on to a new school.
One of my fears was more from theatrical sources of bullies waiting at the bus stop, much like what I read Jesus had to endure especially when He was in His Father's House! The man of neverending love had to endure those men of neverending hatred and evil. One belonged to the Father of Life; the others to the enemy; the Father of Lies. Let's dive into this passage.
The Pharisees and the Herodians walking into the temple together should have been a warning sign to everyone watching. These two groups disliked each other under normal circumstances — the Pharisees were religious purists who resented Roman occupation, and the Herodians were political pragmatists who had made their peace with it. The only thing that could bring them into the same room with a shared agenda was something they both disliked more than they disliked each other, and that something was Jesus. They have pooled their considerable combined talent for making things difficult, and they approach Him with what they are convinced is an unanswerable question wrapped in a compliment so thick you could spread it on the bread we just preached about.
"Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are." Lovely. Very flattering. You can almost see Jesus watching the compliment arrive and knowing exactly what's behind it. And then the trap: "Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?" It's a masterpiece of a political trap, genuinely elegant in its construction. If He says yes, pay the tax, the crowd that regards Roman taxation as a form of oppression will turn on Him. If He says no, don't pay it, the Herodians will report Him to the Roman authorities for inciting tax resistance. They have constructed what appears to be a perfect either-or with no third option, which is exactly the kind of intellectual corner that a genuinely good teacher would notice and refuse to enter. And if you think the IRS is bad, the Romans would laugh us out of church!
Jesus sees through it immediately — Matthew tells us He knew their evil intent, which must have made the elaborate flattery feel rather transparent from His end — and He asks for a coin. A denarius. And here is the first turn: He doesn't have one. He has to ask them for it, and they produce one, which means they are carrying Caesar's money in the temple courts while asking Jesus whether Caesar's money is legitimate. The question they intended to trap Him with has already revealed something about their own position before He's said a word.
He looks at the coin and asks: whose image is this? Whose inscription? Caesar's, they say. And then the sentence that has been discussed, debated, preached, and applied for twenty centuries: give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. They are amazed and they leave Him, which is about the best response He could have hoped for given the circumstances.
Now, the easy reading of this passage is that Jesus is drawing a clean line between the civic and the spiritual — render to each their own sphere, keep church and state in their separate lanes, and everyone goes home satisfied. But the word Jesus uses is not "give" in the simple sense of handing something over. It is "give back" — which implies returning what already belongs to someone. Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's. The coin bears Caesar's image and inscription. It came from Caesar's realm, it operates in Caesar's economy, and returning it to that economy is simply acknowledging that fact. Fine.
But then: give back to God what is God's. And here is where the question becomes personal rather than political. What bears God's image? The coin bears Caesar's image. What in your life, in your very person, bears the image of God? Genesis 1 answers that before you even finish asking — humanity, made in the image of God. You bear His image and His inscription. You came from His realm. And giving back to God what is God's means returning yourself — your time, your attention, your allegiance, your whole life — to the one whose image you carry and whose inscription is written on your heart.
The Pharisees and Herodians walked away amazed without understanding that the trap they had set for Jesus had opened into the most fundamental question any human being can face: are you giving back to God what bears His image? Are you returning to the one who made you what actually belongs to Him? The coin goes back to Caesar. The self goes back to God. That is the answer Jesus gives, and it is simultaneously the most politically neutral and the most personally demanding response He could have offered.
The Spirit poured out at Pentecost is the Spirit who restores the image — who takes what the fall distorted and begins, from the inside, the long work of making us genuinely and fully what we were made to be. Giving back to God what is God's is not a one-time transaction. It is the daily, Spirit-enabled, wholehearted return of a life that has been claimed, redeemed, and is being restored to its original image.
PRAYER: Lord, remind us daily that we bear Your image and belong to You, and give us the grace to return our whole selves — our time, our attention, our allegiance — to the one whose inscription is written on our hearts. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Ask yourself today what area of your life you've been keeping in Caesar's column that actually belongs in God's — and take one step toward giving it back to the one whose image you bear.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! And you matter to many others some of whom you're not even aware of! Let's win the world for Jesus!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
