So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cesar, or not?Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?
4 sermons cite this verse
… And so here's this idea that, you know, that, you know, Jesus is being asked, is it right? Is it lawful? Is it appropriate for us to pay taxes to Caesar? And by the way, most people resent that payment of taxes. And then there are a certain group of people like the zealots who are going to do everything they can not to pay the taxes. And actually, sometimes they'll go so far as to kill tax collectors or beat tax collectors or kill the Roman soldiers. And so whatever Jesus says, if Jesus says, yes, it's okay to pay taxes to Caesar, then you're going to have a whole lot of people who are pretty perturbed to Jesus because he's coming to Jerusalem riding on a donkey, you know, giving the sign that he is the coming king, and they're expecting he's going to raise up an army and a rebellion against the Romans. So he can't say, yes, it's lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. But if he says, no, it's not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, then the Romans are going to look at him and they're going to say, well, look, he's coming and he's actually teaching them to rebel against us. We better arrest him now. …
… here's this idea that, you know, that, you know, Jesus is being asked, is it right? Is it lawful? Is it appropriate for us to pay taxes to Caesar? And by the way, most people resent that payment of taxes. And then there are a certain group of people like the zealots who are going to do everything they can not to pay the taxes. And actually, sometimes it'll go so far as to kill tax collectors or beat tax collectors or kill the Roman soldiers. And so whatever Jesus says, if Jesus says, yes, it's okay to pay taxes to Caesar, then you're going to have a whole lot of people who are pretty perturbed to Jesus because he's coming to Jerusalem riding on a donkey, you know, giving the sign that he is the coming king. And they're expecting he's going to raise up an army and a rebellion against the Romans. So he can't say, yes, it's lawful to pay taxes the Caesar. But if he says, no, it's not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, then the Romans are going to look at him and they're going to say, well, look, he's coming and he's actually teaching them to rebel against us. We better arrest him now. I mean, Jesus is, it's, you know, darned if you do and darned if you don't, but that's what they've tried to do with Jesus in this moment. And I love what Jesus says. So it's a kind of a poison pill, but I love what Jesus says. He says, you hypocrites, …
… Then they ask about His politics. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Then they ask him a theological question about a woman who had been married many times, and they say in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? And then finally, a scribe comes up with a question about the law, which commandment is the most important of all? Four questions, four controversies, Jesus deftly handles all of them. So, look at verse 34. after that, no one dared ask him any more questions. Smart move. Don't ask Jesus any more questions. This is not getting us anywhere. Now their strategy, rather than to trip him up in his words, they're just going to make a plan to arrest him by force and have false witnesses at a sham trial. So they don't ask him any more questions. And then as Mark recounts, we come to verse 35, Jesus still teaching in the temple, and now Jesus asks a question. So think about this. They've been coming to Jesus with all of their controversies and questions, and now they don't dare to ask him anything else. So you think, what would Jesus, now that he can set the agenda, and he wants to ask them a question, what would he ask? Knowing, as Jesus knows, that his time on earth is soon coming to an end. …
… tell us therefore what do you think? is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Jesus perceived their wickedness and said why do you test me? you hypocrites Jesus just had a way with words show me the tax money so they brought him a denarius and he said to them whose image and inscription is this they said to them Caesar's. And he said to them, render the word there is actually pay. Render therefore to Caesar's the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. What is the subject? The subject is money. And Jesus teaches that part of what you have isn't yours. It belongs to Caesar. Give it to him. And part of what you have isn't yours. It belongs to God. Give it to him. the only concept that the Jew had to work with, with this idea that part of what I have actually belongs to God is the concept of the tithe. It is not a gift. …