Caesar and God

June 1999 NewsletterEvery Sunday-school child knows the story well. Hoping to entrap Him, the Pharisees and Herodians publicly confronted Jesus with an apparently unanswerable question, "Is it lawful [under the law of Moses] to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give?" They had cleverly plotted to place Christ in an impossible position. If He answered "yes," He would be a stench to the Jews, who hated Roman taxes. If He answered "no," He would be fomenting rebellion against Caesar, and the Romans would crucify Him.Jesus, "knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them...bring me a penny...." When someone presented the coin, Jesus asked whose picture was on it. When they told him it was Caesar's, Christ spoke these oft-quoted words, "Render [give] to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mk12:13-17). His brilliant avoidance of the trap that had been carefully laid for Him left the rabbis speechless. To their chagrin, they found themselves unable either to denounce Him to the Romans or to discredit Him with the Jews.