What “Render to Caesar” Really Means!

What “Render to Caesar” Really Means! April 15, 2015

According to Mark 12:13-17 (CEB):

They sent some of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you’re genuine and you don’t worry about what people think. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay taxes or not?”

Since Jesus recognized their deceit, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin. Show it to me.” And they brought one. He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” His reply left them overcome with wonder.

This story of rendering to Caesar the things of Caesar has long been used as a proof text teaching that Christians should be good and upright citizens who pay their fair share of taxes. Sadly, however, the story has nothing to do with honesty in your IRS, IR, or ATO tax return. To be frank, it is not even about taxes for those who know some background and who can read between the lines.

Here’s the gist.

First, remember that the question is actually a trap set for Jesus by the Pharisees and Herodians, not a sincere question about whether Jews (let alone Christians) should be upright tax-payers. How does the trap work? Well, if you read Josephus (Ant. 18.23; Wars 2.118; 7.410) you’ll see that some zealous Galileans had a motto, “No king but God,” and since paying taxes to Caesar meant recognizing him as king, paying taxes was in fact a type of blasphemy or a cowardly betrayal to their religion. So when Jesus is asked about paying taxes to Caesar, he’s put in a Catch-22. If he says, “Yes, pay them,” Jesus would look like he’s compromised and sold out. If he says “No, don’t pay them,” then the Herodians can have Jesus arrested on charges sedition as forbidding the payment of taxes which was an offence – precisely the claim they fabricated against Jesus at his trial (see Luke 23:2). Second, notice Jesus’ response, he doesn’t try to bluff his way through an answer. Instead, he requests a denarius, and asks, “Whose image and inscription are on it?” (see here). Now in Jesus’ day the coins minted by Tiberius would say on one side “PONTIF MAXIM” (which means “high priest”) and on the other side is an “image” of Tiberius with an “inscription” that reads “TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTFS” (which means “Son of the Divine Augustus”). The rub is that if Caesar is “divine,” and if this is his image, then it is a violation of the second commandment (see Exod 20:4; Deut 5:8). In other words, Jesus is saying, you guys are carrying around pagan money which is an affront to our religion, so give the pagan king back his pagan money. Third, perhaps there is even more to it. Perhaps Jesus is saying that Caesar should receive taxes because Caesar should get EVERYTHING that he deserves, and he means everything! Much like how Judas Maccabees could urge his fellow Judeans to “Payback the Gentiles in full” by which he meant violent retribution (1 Macc 2:68). So far from acquiescing to the view that Jews or Christians should pay taxes, Jesus is being subversive, affirming a critique of pagan power over Israel, and avoiding the trap set for him.

 


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