Give Until Caesar

In last week’s discipleship teaching series by Ray Vander Laan, we explored questions of why God would stamp His image on broken people. The answer is, He doesn’t. When God put His image on our ancestors, they weren’t broken. Why does He remove His image when we’re broken? So He can reassemble us and restore His image in us.

In Jesus’s day, Caesar claimed to be deified as a god. Statues of his image were everywhere. People wondered if they should pay a certain temple tax, or temple tribute, because the coins bore Caesar Agustus’s image and God forbade the worship of images. (Exodus 20:3–4; Deuteronomy 5:8–9).

God left His people in Babylon for several years to get their heads on straight. When they returned from captivity, they were determined never again to make images. They had paid an enormous price in loss of land, temple, and lives. They became adamant: absolutely no images, so images disappeared from Jewish culture.

The nations that ruled over them did the exact opposite. They were governed by empires whose rulers were deified and whose statues were made and worshiped everywhere. Caesar and Tiberius were both considered divine. Eternal gods like Jupiter and Mars were always seen as divine. Others, like Hercules, Cesar and Tiberius were not thought to be eternal but “deified” after living remarkable lives—upon death, they were believed to join the counsel of the gods, and this idea was promoted.

The Romans couldn’t understand the Jews. The Egyptians had over 1,200 gods. The Jews said there was only one, and they tolerated no images of Him. The Romans didn’t understand that kind of conviction.

Herod was the first to blend these worlds. He built a temple to Caesar Augustus. Over 50,000 statues of Caesar have been found. Before any Roman public gathering, instead of singing an anthem, they poured out wine in honor of the divine emperor of the day. This shocked the Jews. How could they live with that?

The worst part was the money Rome minted: the denarius. Every coin declared Caesar to be deus—"the deified one." You couldn’t even reach into your wallet without touching the image of a pagan god. How, then, would Jesus enter this culture and train disciples?

Jews were butchered for centuries for refusing to acknowledge Caesar as divine.

Herod’s palace represented Roman power. To its east stood the Temple Mount, visible in its entirety, including the courts of the Jews and Gentiles, the Court of Women, and the Courts of the Priests and Israelites. In the Court of Women were offering plates for money (not for sacrifices). Each Jew was required to pay a half-shekel annually (Exodus 30:13). This wasn’t a tithe but an additional tax. And the problem? The coins bore Caesar’s deified image.

If you showed up at the temple, how could you carry a coin that said Caesar is God? Ray went on to tell his class that Herod apparently told Caesar, "I'm ruling this country on your behalf, but if you don’t allow a change in this rule, people will die—they won’t use Roman money because it violates their faith."

So Caesar allowed the Jews to mint their own temple money—coins without any images or gods. These Jewish shekels could be exchanged for Roman coins. But the money changers were ripping people off, especially the poor, because the temple was the only place to get the appropriate currency.

Jesus was frustrated—not because people were conducting business in the temple, but because they were exploiting others. Corruption in the temple was hurting the poor (Matthew 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17).

One day, someone asked Jesus, “Rabbi, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” The Greek word used is kensos, which doesn’t just mean “tax.” It’s closer to “tribute.” We pay taxes all the time—property tax, sales tax, federal tax—but this was different. Tribute is more accurate, and some versions of the Bible use the word ‘tribute’ instead of ‘tax’.

If you were Caesar and believed the gods made you divine and placed you as ruler, you might not care which gods others worshipped, but you would demand that they call you god, and treat you accordingly. If not, they’d lose their rights. They couldn’t work for the government or sell to the Roman army. And if they refused to participate in rituals like offering incense on your birthday, they could be crucified.

How do you get millions to call you god? You don’t line them up to confess it. Instead, you mint a tribute coin that says, “Caesar is god.” Everyone had to buy one and bring it to the tax collection center as tribute—not a huge sum, maybe a day’s wage, but it wasn’t optional. The coin declared that its bearer acknowledged Caesar’s divine claim.

To know who had to pay, Rome held a census every few years. Everyone returned to their ancestral home to register. That’s the start of the Christmas story and explains why there was no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:1–7). They enrolled, but with a different attitude.

Jews believed giving the coin was idolatry—breaking the commandments against graven images and idols. Refuse to pay with Roman ears nearby, and you risked crucifixion.

So when Jesus was asked, “Should we pay the tribute to Caesar?” it wasn’t about everyday taxes. Kensos meant something deeper. Tiberius had only one official coin minted in his name, though there were tens of thousands of them. He was the reigning emperor when the disciples asked Jesus that question.

The coin’s two sides displayed images—one crowned with a deity’s wreath, the other showing a figure seated like Zeus or Jupiter, holding a scepter—symbolizing divinity. The inscription? “High Priest,” claiming Caesar to be both God and religious authority.

The inscription around the edge translated: “The worshiped son of the worshiped god, Augustus, who deified Tiberius Caesar.”

The disciples handed Jesus the coin. He asked, “Whose image and inscription is this?” (Matthew 22:20). It clearly stated Caesar is God. Jesus understood that completely. Then He said, “Give back.” Where is He getting that from? Likely Jeremiah and the story of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:5–8; Daniel 1–4).

“Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21). The coin is Caesar’s. How do you know? It has his image on it. If it has his image, let him have it!

But what has God’s image? We do. We should never put anyone down—they bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27). We must never display loyalty to a false god in any form, because humans are the only images of God that He accepts.

 What belongs to God? We do—because we bear His image (Genesis 1:27). That’s the point. You can’t give Caesar your heart, because you don’t bear Caesar’s image. You belong to God alone. So give to God what is God’s: you.

You belong to God. He marked you, just as Caesar marked his coins. He stamped His image on you. God claims all of you—your abilities, your relationships, your parenting, your body, your soul—everything.

You want to pay taxes to Caesar? Go ahead. But ask yourself: what bears God’s image?

You do.