19 When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them, they sought to arrest Him that very hour. But they were afraid of the people.

20 So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor. 21 “Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

23 But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they answered.

25 So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

26 And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people; and amazed at His answer, they fell silent.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Lachlan Shead

There are two kinds of unbelievers: those who are totally apathetic to Jesus and faith; and those who are open to talking about Jesus and even following him...

Or at least, that's how I thought until last month. Then I spoke with a Muslim who broke my neat categories. He was passionate about Jesus, but totally convinced that we have him all wrong. Nothing I said changed his mind, and I was left discouraged.

It would have helped me to remember this passage. Some people openly opposed Jesus, like the scribes and Pharisees; others trusted him, like his apostles. But these spies are different – they are flatterers who look like they are his fans, but they aim to "catch Him in His words". The trap they were setting went like this: If Jesus said, “No, don’t pay taxes to the evil Emperor,” he would be arrested for rebelling against the Roman government, but if he just said, “Yes you should,” he would lose the crowd’s support.

Jesus' response – "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" – strikes the perfect balance. The people should submit to their earthly government and pay Caesar his tax. But that does not mean they belong to Caesar or owe their allegiance to him. They are to submit to God above everything else, because they owe God... everything! I'm amazed by Jesus' words. So are his opponents.

But they are not amazed like we are. We are amazed because we recognise that Jesus has God’s wisdom. The spies are merely "unable to trap Him", and "they fell silent." That's not the reaction I would hope for if I were in Jesus' shoes!

When I try to convince people and they don’t respond to the gospel, I tend to blame my own words – I assume they would see that Jesus is Lord if I was as wise as Jesus. But Jesus himself was rejected, to the point of being killed! This passage was a helpful reminder to me that my job is to share the gospel, not to be so wise that everyone is convinced. I'm encouraged to remember that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lachlan is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.