Israel Trip - Whose Image Is on It?

Rather than writing about a whole day of our Israel experience this time, I wanted to use this entry to highlight the way our trip encouraged me to look at the familiar stories and parables of scripture in a whole new light—one that affected me deeply.

In my lifetime, I've probably had the "Render unto Caesar . . ." story taught to me or preached to me at least 10 times. In every single one of those circumstances, the story was framed as a way to justify Christians submitting to governmental authority or paying taxes. I always assumed that's what it was about.

Until now.

When you have the chance, read the short passages from Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17, and Luke 20:19-26. This story takes place on the Temple Mount during Passion Week as some of the religious leaders and some of the pro-Rome Jews—two groups who disliked each other as a rule—were abnormally joining forces to see if they could catch Jesus in a statement that would let them have Him arrested. You know, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

You also probably know the story.

"Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay taxes or not?" they asked.

Now, there's a couple things to note here. The word "taxes" would be better translated as "tribute," which is a form of payment made by a conquered territory to the conquering empire. Although this tribute has some shared characteristics with what we think of as taxes, there is an added connotation to this payment. It was about reinforcing the societal order—about the conquered people formally acknowledging the greatness of their conquerors.

In the case of Caesar Augustus, he worked very hard to make sure that his father was declared to be a god—which would, in turn, give him the ability to claim that he was the son of a god and deserving of worship by his subjects. In fact, in the Roman Empire the words Lord, Savior, and Gospel (good news) could legally only be used to refer to Caesar and his deity. 

*On a side note, the angels used all of these terms with the shepherds on the night of Jesus' birth to reinforce that He was the true Son of God, not Caesar (Luke 2:10-11). How cool is that?

So, by paying tribute, the people in the conquered lands of Rome were accepting Caesar's claim and his rule. Most conquered people joyfully did so, knowing that life would be much easier and more comfortable for them as a result. But from the beginning, faithful Jews were resistant to this idea. In fact, they resisted so strongly that Caesar gave them a special dispensation: rather than having to pray to him, they could pray for him to their God.

So, when Jesus was asked, "Is it lawful . . ." the Pharisees were referring to Jewish law (the Torah), not Roman law. If you know your 10 Commandments, you know that "You shall have no other gods before me" is right at the top of the list. Caesar claimed he was a god, and paying tribute meant that you accepted his rule over you and his deity. Acknowledging another god would therefore be in direct violation of Jewish law—hence the interest of the Pharisees in Jesus' response.

But not paying the tribute would be in violation of Roman law, so the Herodians (Jews who supported Roman rule and a more Hellenistic way of life) were also interested in what Christ would answer. If He was deemed treasonous, He could certainly be arrested and executed.

Rather than respond immediately, however, Jesus asks them to bring him a Denarius so that he can look at it. The Denarius, or Tribute Penny, was the coin used to give tribute to Caesar, and conquered subjects would purchase it for that specific purpose. When they bring Him the coin, Jesus asks them a question:

Whose image and inscription is on it?

The front of the coin had Caesar's picture, and the inscriptions combined to read, "Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus." Remember that Caesar wanted his dad declared a god? This coin reinforced his claim of divinity, and giving it as tribute meant you agreed. Think of this: Caesar went to a lot of trouble minting these coins so that conquered subjects could buy them, only to give them back to him in some symbolic gesture that was meant to reinforce the fabricated narrative of him as the supreme ruler and a god.

So Jesus' question was simple for the Pharisees and Herodians to answer. 

Whose image is this? That's an easy one! It's Caesar's.

And here comes the line we all know so well: Jesus replied, "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

And this is the point where I always heard the explanation about Christians submitting to earthly authority or paying their taxes.

But what about Jesus' question: Whose image is this? What does that have to do with his response?

What if what Jesus is really saying goes more like this:

A coin? You're getting all fired up about a coin??? Listen, Caesar went to all this trouble to make these tribute pennies with his picture on them. Now he wants you to give them back to stroke his own ego. Go ahead! . . . But what has God's image on it? . . . Give that to Him because that's what He is truly interested in.

What has God's image on it? 

Us! 

Don't we refer to ourselves as image-bearers of God? We are living, breathing "pictures" of the Most High. We are His Kingdom of Priests, called to put him on display for the whole world to see.

It's our whole lives that God wants us to give to Him. Not some coin. Not some measly tribute penny. Everything we are. Everything we do. Our thoughts. Our relationships. Our care for the hurting and marginalized. All of it.

I don't know about you, but I find this view of the story a whole lot more inspiring than a reminder to submit my taxes by April 15th every year.

So take a moment and reflect. Are you putting God on display? Are you actively seeking out ways to bring Shalom into the Chaos of this world? Are you carving out more square inches of the Kingdom for God to come and fill? 

Examine your life.

Whose image is on it?