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JESUS AND CAESAR
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Matthew 22:15-22

Romans 13:1-8

 

“…Render therefore unto Caesar

the things which are Caesar’s…”

 

JESUS AND CAESAR
 
Here we find the Pharisees sending out their students with the Herodians to see if they were able to catch Jesus in His words. These rabbinical students perhaps thought they could do better than their teachers. Those professors were only too glad to dispatch their young upstarts, to see how they could tackle Jesus. Either way, they had nothing to lose. Those rabbinical undergraduates and Herodians asked Jesus whether it was lawful for the Jews to pay taxes to Caesar.
 
Should the Jews pay or not pay taxes to Caesar? If Jesus were to say Yes, He would have compromised His Messiahship as King of the Jews. If He were to say No, He would be accused of disloyalty to Rome. It seemed to them like a foolproof trap. But Jesus saw through their hypocrisy, wickedness and craftiness. With divine wisdom, He asked for a Roman tax coin, and asked them whose image and inscription were on it. They had to say it was Caesar’s. Their acknowledgement that the coin bore Caesar’s face and name effectively provided the answer to their question. That the tribute money had Caesar’s face and name all over it surely meant that it belonged to him. So Jesus said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” His detractors were all amazed by His answer and remained speechless. There was nothing they could take hold of to accuse Him before the people.
 
It needs to be said that Jesus did not simply answer in such a way to extricate Himself from a trick question. He answered sincerely. Jesus meant what He said. He required the Jews to pay their taxes to Caesar. In keeping the law of man, He also fulfilled the law of God. Romans 13:1-2, the classic text on submission to civil authorities, commands, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.”
 
THOUGHT: Borrowing without paying is stealing.

PRAYER: Father, help me settle my debts immediately.

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