"Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Matthew 22:21
The Pharisees think they have built Jesus a trap with no way out. If he says pay the tax, he looks like a Roman collaborator to a crowd chafing under occupation. If he says don't pay Romans, he's committed treason in front of witnesses. Either answer costs him something. So they come at him with flattery first, "we know you are sincere, you show deference to no one", buttering him up before they spring the question.
Jesus does not dodge it, and he does not split the difference either. He asks for a coin, and asks whose image is stamped on it. Caesar's, they say. Fine, Jesus answers, give Caesar what already bears his image. And then, almost as an aside that turns out to be the whole point: give God what bears God's image.
What bears God's image? We do. Every one of us, before we belong to any nation, any employer, any budget line. So this isn't really a clever way of avoiding a political trap. It is Jesus redrawing the whole map of what we owe and to whom. Taxes go to Caesar because Caesar's face is on the coin. But our time, our attention, our resources, our very selves are stamped with God's image first, and that claim does not get canceled out by the other claims on us.
This is a stewardship question to ponder. It's easy to give Caesar, (or work, or obligation, or habit) first pick of our week, and hand God whatever's left over. This text asks us to notice that arrangement and reconsider which claim actually comes first.
Here in Ventura, that might mean looking honestly at where your time and your checkbook actually go this week. This is not to feel guilty about it, but rather to get curious about what they reveal about where you spend your money and time and who you really believe you are.
What in your life currently reads as "Caesar's" that might actually belong to God?
With you on the journey, Pastor Erin
