Demand #43: Render To Caesar The Things That Are Caesars's And To God The Things That Are God's

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle [ Jesus] in his talk. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying . . . “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 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.” — Matt. 22:15-21

Excerpts from the book:

Page 324 - I don’t think Jesus dodged the question. I think he answered it in a way that forces us to think; and in the end the answer demands radical allegiance to God’s supreme authority over all things. The first command, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” gets its meaning from the second one, “Render to God the things that are God’s.” It’s the juxtaposition of these two commands that gives the first one its proper scope.

Page 325 - Jesus wisely left the scope of these two ownerships and authorities for the listener to answer. Whether this is a compromise with Rome will depend on how a person understands the scope and nature of God’s ownership and authority in relation to Caesar’s scope of ownership and authority. That is what he forces us to think about. The starting point for this thinking is the unmistakable assumption of the second command, “Render to God the things that are God’s.” That assumption is: Everything is God’s. If a person does not hear that in Jesus’ command, he would say, “Hearing they do not hear. They have ears, but they do not hear.” In other words, the allimportant fact is unspoken and obvious to all who are willing to hear
the obvious. By being unspoken, it accomplishes more than getting Jesus out of a trap; it leads to an answer to the question that is far deeper and more far-reaching than what his adversaries were asking.


The fact that God owns everything and has all authority in the universe puts the first command under the second: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” becomes a subcategory of “Render to God the things that are God’s.” All is God’s. Therefore what is Caesar’s is God’s.

Page 326 - Even though the power of Caesar stood behind the crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus is the supreme Lord over Caesar. Jesus knows this. He is consciously abstaining during his earthly life from exercising the right and power to subdue his enemies. He is choosing to lay down his life. “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John
10:17-18). Therefore, when he had risen from the dead he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). That means that he is above all of Caesar’s authority.
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” means, therefore: In all your rendering to Caesar, render to Jesus the full honor of the absolute authority that he has over Caesar.


It was fitting during Jesus’ earthly ministry that he not draw excessive attention to his universal ownership and authority. He was here to suffer and die. He knew that the day would come when he would rule openly over the nations.

Page 327 - Therefore, Jesus is demanding absolute allegiance to himself and his ownership and authority. All other allegiances are relativized by this supreme allegiance. All other allegiances are warranted and limited and shaped by this first allegiance..............They are warranted because the subordinate authorities in the world, like Caesar, are owing to God’s authority. Jesus said to Pilate, who seemed to have authority over Jesus at his trial, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11).

Page 327 - But pride and rebellion is what sends everyone to hell who doesn’t have a Savior. Therefore, the subordinate authorities of the world are warranted by God’s will in two senses. On the one hand, he wills that we recognize that these authorities are indeed subordinate and that we glorify him as the only supreme sovereign. On the other hand, he wills that we recognize these authorities as God-ordained and that we not proudly kick against what he has put in place.

(for a free download of this book, see the link at http://whatdoesjesusdemandfromtheworld.blogspot.com/