Paying Taxes to Caesar

Setting and Overview
After Jesus refutes the challenge from the temple officials, the controversies continue. Before the section is over, we will see three different challenges to Jesus, beginning with the first one from the Pharisees over the question of paying taxes to Rome. While it is not the Pharisees themselves who approach Jesus here, the opening to the section makes it clear that they are behind it, and likely were part of or connected to the officials who had just been refuted. Since the first approach didn’t work, they are determined to keep trying again until they find one that does, and taxes seems like as good of an option as any.

Exposition
Matthew 22:15 begins with the Pharisees plotting to trap Jesus by sending their disciples and some of the Herodians to approach him. Since Mark identifies the sending party as “they” (Mark 12:13), we can assume that this included some of the party of officials from the previous section. We don’t know much about the Herodians, other than that the name would seem to indicate that they were supporters of Herod, but apparently they were united in a desire to hinder Jesus’ influence. When the group approaches Jesus, they offer insincere words of flattery, that are nonetheless still very true: Jesus speaks truthfully, faithfully teaches the word of God, does not play favorites or compromise his teaching to curry favor with others. As in so many places in the Gospels, they are speaking more truthfully than they realize. The flattery is intended to pressure Jesus to answer a divisive question: is it appropriate to pay the poll tax to Rome? While the Old Testament at times commands the Jewish people to submit to work for the good of the foreign nations by which they are ruled (Jeremiah 29:7) and that foreign rules owe their positions to God (Proverbs 8:15, Daniel 2:21, 37), it also at places prohibits foreigners from ruling in Israel (Deuteronomy 17:15) and clearly prohibits the worship of idols (Exodus 20:4-5) which was difficult to separate from obeying foreign rulers who held themselves to be gods and commanded the worship of their gods. Not only was it divisive religiously, but it also reflected a significant financial burden and could lead to violent responses from Rome or from the Zealots, making it a topic that many people tried to avoid. This of course seemed to make it an ideal question to pose to Jesus, in the assumption that he would have to anger at least one side in his answer.
Jesus recognizes the insincerity of their question however and will again turn the tables on them. He asks them for an example of the coin used to pay the tax. The coin in question was likely a Roman denarius and featured a picture of Tiberius Caesar. While it was usually used to pay the tax, it was not always required, and most Jews did not use it for regular commerce. The fact that they are able to produce it likely means that they were using it for purposes other than paying the tax, which in turn means that they were willing to take advantage of its convenience for purposes of commerce. When Jesus then asks whose image is on it, his question harkens back to Genesis 1:26-27, and sets up the parallel of verse 21. The fact that it bears Caesar’s image means that it is appropriate to pay it back to him, but that is not a limitation of giving to God what is God’s, but rather part of it. Since we are made in the image of God, that means that we owe all of ourselves to him (Romans 12:1) and that even as we pay taxes, we are carrying out an act of obedience to God. Once again Jesus’ accusers are left with no counter and go away stunned.

Examination and Application
Jesus’ command establishes a principle that will be built on in multiple New Testament passages about human governments. While there will be times that obeying human government will contradict obedience to God, and in such times we should always obey God and not man (Acts 4:18-20, 5:28-29), when such commands do not contradict, we are called to be submissive to governing authority (Romans 13:1-2), recognize the value that government provides (Romans 13:4), pay the taxes that are dues (Romans 13:6), and give appropriate honor to them as governing by God’s appointment (Romans 13:2, 7, I Peter 2:17), all with the goal of having our obedience serve as a testimony to the goodness of God (I Peter 2:15.)