What does it mean to ‘render unto Caesar’? Is it more than just whether a Christian should pay their taxes?

Aside from the King James language, the phrase has often been taken to mean all kinds of different things which, I suggest, are not in the original meaning.

This blog post is trying to get back to what Matthew 22:15-22 really means and the quite radical implications of what Jesus is actually saying. I think the story is actually trying to teach us about the different kinds of allegiance that a Christian owes to God and to the State, and the danger that comes when they are confused.

What Does The Bible Say?

Matthew 22: 15-22

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ ²¹ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ ²² When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Separation of Church and State?

One of the most common assumptions made about these verses is that they are endorsing or creating the separation of Church and State.

I believe that this is the wrong interpretation.

No Such Thing As Ancient Religion

First, in the time of Jesus there was no such thing as ‘religion’ as a category separate from anything else. The word religion simply meant the things you did for God (the gods), whether that was sacrifices or worship or keeping a particular purity code.

The existence of the divine and a person’s response to the divine was part of everyday life. If you were going on a long journey you would offer sacrifice and prayers. If you were getting married you would offer sacrifice and prayers. When you voted you would offer sacrifice and prayers.

In many cultures, the divine upheld and protected the state, and the leader of that state was often regarded as divine. Whether the pharaohs of Egypt or the Caesars of Rome. The Emperor Augustus had made his father Julius Caesar a god and after Augustus had died his heir Tiberius had Augustus deified as well.

If you told someone in the ancient world that religion and politics should not be joined together they would have thought you were insane. Caesar was also the high priest. The pharaoh was also the high priest.

The Temple authorities in Jerusalem were also the political leadership of the Judeans.

The idea that Jesus was saying that there should be a separation between church and state is very anachronistic and owes more to modern context being read into the text than the actual context within which Jesus is working.

However, as we will see later, the principle that Jesus is expressing will lead to secularisation. But that practice is worked out at a later date from principles established in these verses, rather than these verses saying that the Church and the State should be separate things.

Good Citizens Pay Taxes?

People also assume that this verse is Jesus telling people to pay their taxes. Again, this is not what is going on in the verse.

A Brief History of Taxation – It’s Worth It I Promise, Just Trust Me On This…Please!

To begin with, the idea of taxation as we think of it has only been around for a few hundred years.

In the UK, Income Tax only began in 1799 during the Napoleonic Wars to pay for the huge expenditure required for the Army and Navy during the war. The tax was ended after the war and was not brought back in until 1842.

Before Income Tax, the only regular tax was a uniform land tax which was brought in during the 17th century which lasted until the 1960s. Most taxes were established for a specific purpose, such as raising funds for a military purpose, or for a specific project which needed funding.

Things like the Poll Tax and the Window Tax date back to the 12th and 13th centuries when money was needed for the navy or for building fortifications or funding a war in France.

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish Temple had a form of taxation of worshippers as they had to change their money into Temple Coins, which of course came with a commission.

The Romans also had regular taxation as part of their social control. They levied tribute against their provinces based on the results of a census to determine how many people were in that province. The Senate or the Emperor then told that province how much tribute they had to provide and the governor or procurator was left to their own ideas on how to raise that money from the population.

Rome also levied a kind of inheritance tax (a reason why an Emperor who was strapped for cash might kill a rich a person), a tax on auctions, tolls in ports, duties on sales in Rome itself, and tax on arable income.

Most tax rates were between 2% and 5% and were not dependent on income but were set in Rome for the entire Empire.

Imperial Taxation and Tax Revolts

Just like today, taxes were unpopular. Especially as they were used to pay for the military or imperial projects back in Rome. Some was spent on local infrastructure, but only if the governor chose to make that expense rather than keeping the money for his own purposes.

There had been a tax revolt in Jesus’s childhood following a census. The tax had been intended to raise a new legion to help in the occupation of Judea. Most of the Roman soldiers in Judea came from Samaria or Galilee.

Tax revolts were fairly common across the Empire. This one had led to brutal repression by the Romans and thousands of people being crucified.

Paying taxes was not a sign of someone who was a good citizen, helping to contribute to the work of the state which they then participated in or which supported the less fortunate.

The taxes you paid to Rome went to pay for the soldiers on your streets and the gold in the Emperor’s palace far more frequently than was used to built an aqueduct or set down a new road.

Again, the focus on taxation as a natural part of being a citizen, especially in regard to a welfare system or public works, is an anachronistic concept to try and read back into the time of Jesus.

Jesus would not have told his followers that paying tax made them good citizens because that would have made no sense at all to anyone in the time of Jesus. Something else is going on with this passage. Something deeper and far more important.

What is Jesus Doing?

Lets go back to the text for a moment. What is actually going on here?

What Does the Bible Actually Say?

The Pharisees are trying to trip up Jesus. They can’t defeat him in open debate, and he is too popular with the people for them to imprison or kill. So they are trying to trap him in his own words by backing him into a corner.

If Jesus says that the people should pay the hated Roman taxes then lots of his popularity would disappear. He would be considered a collaborator. His position as a prophet would be undermined, as would his later claims to being the Messiah. But, if he opposed the Roman taxes and said people do not need to pay them, then the Pharisees could turn him over to the Romans who would arrest him for inciting insurrection against Rome and either punish him or crucify him.

So Jesus is actually in quite a difficult position with this question. It is not simply a matter of a tricky debating point. This could make or break his ministry and could potentially lead to his death. How Jesus handles this question is really important for understanding the wider point of his ministry.

He starts by asking them to show him the coin used to pay the tax. Jesus asking this has already turned the question back upon the accusers. Why? Because the coin itself was a blaphemous and idolatrous object which a good Jew should not be carrying, but which they must carry to pay the tax.

The Pharisees prided themselves on being strict observers of the Law, but here they were breaking the Law by carrying this coin.

Why was the coin both blasphemous and idolatrous? Let’s see what is on the coin.

This is a typical denarius of the time of the Emperor Augustus (the Emperor when Jesus was born) which would have still been in circulation during this time. It was roughly a day’s wages for a labourer.

On one side is the face of Caesar. Already this is breaking the Jewish Law not to have any graven images of any living thing. On the other side is the image of a god or of a divine being. This is both breaking the law about graven images but it is also idolatrous in showing a false divine being.

Competing Claims To Divinity

Then there is the inscription on the coin, giving the titles claimed by Caesar Augustus. Augustus claimed to be the Prince of Peace, because he had brought peace to the Roman Empire and there was peace across the Empire for all its citizens. He also claimed to be the saviour of the world, because he had brought the good news, the gospel, of Roman rule to the known world and rescued them from war and barbarism. Finally, Augustus claimed to be the son of god. His father, Julius Caesar, claimed to be descended from the goddess Venus, and after Julius Caesar died the Senate voted to make him a god. Augustus thus claimed to be the son of god, and his heir Tiberius would also claim to be the son of god.

Son of God became an Imperial title and the worship of the emperor, both the dead ones and the living ones, grew around the Empire. This imperial cult was particularly strong in the eastern empire where there had already been a tradition of deifying kings.

This coin is a symbol of Imperial power and rule, but it is also a symbol of the particular claims being made by the Emperor and the Imperial structures of power. The Emperor and the Imperial structures of power claim divine authority for the Imperial mandate and for the person of the Emperor.

However, for Jesus this is a false claim. It is blasphemous nonsense and pitiful idolatry that God has begun to overthrow through the person of Jesus. Jesus is ushering in the Kingdom of God. Caesar is not divine, is not the prince of peace, and is not the saviour of the world. Jesus is.

When Jesus says give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to give to God the things that are God’s, this is a pointed critique and denunciation of the emperor. It is not about whether it is right to pay taxes, nor is it about saying that the things of God and the things of Caesar are different from each other.

Whose Side Are You On?

Jesus doesn’t side with the anti-Roman revolutionaries, nor with the collaborators. He doesn’t say pay taxes or not pay taxes. He does something bigger and deeper and far more transformative.

What value are you placing on that coin that you can’t give it back to the person it belongs to when the coin itself is a blasphemous object which props up an idolatrous state.

The emperor’s claims are meaningless and empty.

The emperor has no things that have any value whatsoever within the scheme of the kingdom of God. His authority depends on violence, not on divine ordination. His peace is rooted in his legions, not in his genius. Worship of the emperor is to worship the dark and demonic powers that slink in the shadows behind the powers of this world. Why would you want to hang onto this coin?

Jesus turns the value of giving tax to Caesar on its head.

Caesar’s claims have no value and Caesar’s money only has value within Caesar’s realm. Caesar is the master of money as an absolute symbol for power by this world’s standards.

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says that you cannot obey both God and money. So don’t bother trying to obey the demands of money because it is a game which Christians do not need to get involved with.

Carrying around Caesar’s coin is, in the realm of symbol, like carrying a radioactive isotope. It is contaminating you with the blasphemous and idolatrous images and titles that it carries. Just get rid of it, treat it with the respect it deserves, and don’t think of it as something with any value.

Instead, remember that God alone is the ultimate source of power and authority in the world. What belongs to God? Absolutely everything. Caesar and his empire are both subject to the Kingdom of God. Christ is King and Lord over Caesar. Your life, your belongings, your role in society, every single thing in this world belongs to and in subject to God.

So give to God what belongs to God – namely, everything. Give what matters to God. Give what is of value to God, and discard everything else. Hold Caesar’s money and Caesar’s power with empty hands, and hold on tight to the Gospel.

Caesar, and we can interpret Caesar as a prime minister or president or dictator or any other political/social/economic leader we can think of today, is busy lording it over God’s people. Even someone with the best of intentions can only lead a country through coercive power and the threat of violence. However, their power and authority is limited and temporary.

Their petty and puny human power – and the idols which underpin their power – will be brought down when God brings God’s kingdom to completion. Jesus is the true source of authority, is the true King and Lord of this world, and has begun the process of tearing down the false kingdoms and powers of this world. Caesar has been revealed as impotent as the power of death has been broken on the cross.

N. T. Write wrote: Perhaps it’s time for God – whose image is on every human being and whose “inscription” is written across the pages of creation and the story of Israel – to receive his due...within the new world that was thereby created, the question of Caesar, his power, and his coins looks completely different.

The revolution which Jesus brings, the change from the dominion of Caesar to the dominion of Christ, robs the images of Caesar of its power.

It is time for God to receive God’s due which is every human being, liberated from the power of sin and set free from the fallen and corrupted systems and structures of this world.

In this bible story, Jesus is setting out the confrontation with the powers of this world which is at the heart of the Gospel. On one side is the Kingdom of God, on the other is the kingdom of Caesar and its representation of all those other false kingdoms in this world.

Pay your taxes to Caesar because ultimately it really doesn’t matter. The money belongs to Caesar so give it back to him. He will be brutal and violent whether you pay those taxes or not.

What you deny Caesar is something far more profound than some of your wages. In your allegiance to Christ you deny Caesar that which gives him his power and security, your absolute loyalty. Caesar is not divine and in denying him your absolute unnegotiated allegiance you are reducing him to a functionary in a system which will soon be swept aside by the power of the cross.

Conclusion

It comes down to a question of where does your heart belong?

In Matthew 6:21 Jesus says that what you treasure, what you value, is where your heart is. Does that coin really have your heart? Does Caesar? This is the question Jesus is throwing back at the Pharisees. They tried to trap him in a false dichotomy and Jesus tears apart their assumptions and reveals the dark powers hiding behind their claims.

Caesar is not Lord. God alone is Lord.

Therefore, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God. Give God all that you are because you belong to Jesus. It is Jesus who is your Lord, it is Jesus to whom you owe your allegiance, not a country or a president, not a state or a nation or a prime minister, but Jesus and the Kingdom of God.

How will people know that you are a citizen of heaven? Jesus tells us how people will know you are his disciples, by the way that you love one another (John 13:34-35). Why are we to love one another? Not only because God first loved us, but because the whole of the law of God can be summed up in loving God and loving others (Mark 12:30-31). What does it mean to love your neighbour? It means to show mercy to people in need, to care for those who are suffering (Luke 10:25-37). What does it look like to care for those in need? To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner and the sick, to welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:31-46).

The coin of the Kingdom of God is to love our neighbour and to love God with all that we are. That is what God asks of us. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s – which is nothing but emptiness and shadows and the vain conceits of human power structures and the threat of violence. Give to God what is God’s – which is everything, but most importantly, your own heart.

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