Controversy
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image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s.”
Pointing to the inscription on the coin, Jesus said, “Render therefore
unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things
that are God’s.”
The spies had expected Jesus to answer their question directly, in
one way or the other. If He should say, It is unlawful to give tribute to
Caesar, He would be reported to the Roman authorities and arrested
for inciting rebellion. But in case He should pronounce it lawful to
pay the tribute, they designed to accuse Him to the people as opposing
the law of God. Now they felt themselves baffled and defeated. Their
plans were disarranged. The summary manner in which their question
had been settled left them nothing further to say.
Christ’s reply was no evasion, but a candid answer to the question.
Holding in His hand the Roman coin, upon which were stamped the
name and image of Caesar, He declared that since they were living
under the protection of the Roman power, they should render to that
power the support it claimed, so long as this did not conflict with a
higher duty. But while peaceably subject to the laws of the land, they
should at all times give their first allegiance to God.
The Saviour’s words, “Render ... unto God the things that are
God’s,” were a severe rebuke to the intriguing Jews. Had they faithfully
fulfilled their obligations to God, they would not have become a broken
nation, subject to a foreign power. No Roman ensign would have
waved over Jerusalem, no Roman sentinel would have stood at her
gates, no Roman governor would have ruled within her walls. The
Jewish nation was then paying the penalty of its apostasy from God.
When the Pharisees heard Christ’s answer, “they marveled, and
left Him, and went their way.” He had rebuked their hypocrisy and
presumption, and in doing this He had stated a great principle, a
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principle that clearly defines the limits of man’s duty to the civil
government and his duty to God. In many minds a vexed question had
been settled. Ever after they held to the right principle. And although
many went away dissatisfied, they saw that the principle underlying
the question had been clearly set forth, and they marveled at Christ’s
far-seeing discernment.
No sooner were the Pharisees silenced than the Sadducees came
forward with their artful questions. The two parties stood in bitter
opposition to each other. The Pharisees were rigid adherents to tradi-