It was like a scene from the cartoon where Wile E. Coyote was setting his next trap for the road runner. Their plans to discredit Jesus and turn the people against Him had been foiled time and time again, but surely this plan was foolproof. The religious leaders of Israel would wait for Jesus to be teaching a crowd. Then, they would swoop in with the perfect question. “Should we pay taxes to Rome?”

   Caesar was padding his pockets and funding the expansion of his empire by demanding more and more from the peoples he had conquered. Israel was facing yet another tax from Rome. Some hung their heads and paid it to avoid the consequences of rebellion, feeling the sting of this repeated humiliation as they did. Others simply refused to pay in defiance of this occupying force. This was a division they could work with. If Jesus said that they should pay the tax, He would lose the support of the people. If He said they should not pay the tax, the Romans would take care of Him. What could go wrong? They had Him right where they wanted Him. 

    They buttered Him up with flattery about His impeccable integrity, His fidelity to the Word and ways of God, and His disregard for the apparent power of men. Finally, the question: “Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?” All was quiet as they waited for His response. They glanced at each other congratulating themselves on their ingenious plot. And then, He answered. 

     Jesus asked for a coin. When they produced one, He asked whose picture was on it. Caesar’s image stared back at them. By Roman law, all currency bearing Caesar’s image belonged to him. Jesus looked at the coin and then back at His challengers. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” They did not see this coming! With this one sentence, Jesus silenced them and exposed their hearts. 

    They were created in God’s image. They belonged to God. God deserved their allegiance, their lives, their true and total worship. This was the real issue at hand. Instead of focusing on Caesar, they should have been focused on God. 

    We love to read those reports of Jesus putting these hypocritical religious leaders in their place. We enjoy seeing their plans fail, their pride exposed, and Jesus simply bringing truth back to center stage. However, before we laugh at their failure to succeed with this trap, let’s be careful that we aren’t falling into one ourselves. 

    It’s tax season again. While our taxes increase and we feel the frustration of handing over our hard-earned money, we need to be careful. It’s easy for us to think that we are getting too little after paying too much to the government. While that may be the case, we do receive more services than most in the world today get. We pay a lot of money in various forms of taxes and it can be frustrating. We can find ourselves thinking of ways to get the most we can from the government while paying the least amount possible. 

    It is possible for this attitude to bleed over into other areas of our lives as well, and when it does, the posture of our hearts is revealed. Are we living for ourselves, determined to get all we can from everything and everyone around us? The truth is that we are all created in the image of God. We bear His imprint. This means, like those Roman coins, we belong to Him. All we have is from Him and for Him. He alone deserves our total allegiance.  

    Yes, file your taxes, give “Caesar” his due. But remember to finish the process. The government gets what is theirs but be sure that God also gets what is His: our allegiance and our lives, our true and total worship. 

    You can read about this encounter in Mark 12:13-17. I encourage you to reflect on it and not fall into the trap of thinking that all we are and all we have belongs to us.