They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
In this scene from the Gospel of Matthew, religious leaders tried to trap Jesus with a loaded political question about paying taxes to Rome. Jewish people living under Roman occupation deeply resented the Roman tax — both financially and because it symbolized submission to a foreign emperor who claimed divine status. They showed Jesus a Roman coin called a denarius, which bore the face and name of Caesar. Jesus' reply — "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" — sidestepped their trap entirely while planting a far deeper question. A coin belongs to whoever's image is stamped on it. But humans are made "in the image of God" (as described in Genesis 1:27), the very first book of the Bible, which means we bear God's likeness — and belong to him in a way no government can claim.
Lord, I confess I sometimes live like I belong to everything but you. Remind me today that your image is already in me — that I was made for you before I was made for anything else. Help me give back what was yours from the start. Amen.
A coin belongs to whoever's face is stamped on it. That's the elegant genius of Jesus' answer — and the gut-punch buried inside it. In one sentence, he dismantled their trap. But then he left the second half wide open, like a door he expected you to walk through on your own. If you belong to whoever's image you carry, the question becomes uncomfortable fast: whose image are you? You were made to bear God's likeness — something pressed into your humanity from the beginning, before Caesar was even born. Taxes, sure. But your loyalty, your inner life, your attention, your Wednesday afternoons — those aren't Caesar's to claim. The real question Jesus leaves hanging isn't about civic duty. It's whether you've been withholding from God what he marked as his own long before any earthly authority ever asked for it.
Why do you think Jesus answered with a question about the coin's image rather than a direct yes or no? What was he really pointing toward?
What does it mean in your actual daily life to 'give to God what is God's'? What does that realistically include — and what might you be holding back?
Jesus implies humans bear God's image the way a coin bears a ruler's face. What do you think that means, and does the way you live your life reflect that image?
When have you felt tension between loyalty to a human institution — work, government, family expectations — and what you sensed God was asking of you? How did you navigate it?
Is there something — time, money, energy, attention — that you've been giving elsewhere that you sense actually belongs to God? What would one concrete step toward changing that look like?
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
1 Peter 2:17
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Romans 13:7
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Malachi 1:6
And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:46
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:37
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Malachi 3:8
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
Titus 3:1
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1 Peter 2:13
They said, "[ The Emperor Tiberius] Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."
AMP
They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
ESV
They said to Him, 'Caesar's.' Then He said to them, 'Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's.'
NASB
“Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
NIV
They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
NKJV
“Caesar’s,” they replied. “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
NLT
They said, "Caesar." "Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his."
MSG