Image Bearers
When asked about paying taxes to Caesar, Jesus exposes the trap, reminding us that while money bears Caesar’s image, we bear God’s—so give coins to the empire, but give yourself to the Lord.
12:13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
The Pharisees, desperate to trap Jesus, call in reinforcements—this time teaming up with the Herodians, their unlikely political bedfellows. Normally these two groups couldn’t stand each other, but nothing unites enemies quite like a common foe. They approach Jesus with smiles and sugary words: “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity… you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” It’s the kind of flattery that drips with sarcasm. They’re buttering him up, but Jesus smells the trap before the words even leave their mouths.
Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
Then comes the setup. They lob the question they’d probably spent weeks polishing: “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” This wasn’t just a question about money—it was a landmine of politics, religion, and national identity. To say “yes” would make Jesus look like a Roman sympathizer, a traitor to his oppressed people. To say “no” would mark him as a revolutionary, ripe for arrest. It was the perfect gotcha question—or so they thought.
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.
Jesus, unfazed, asks them to show him a coin. As they fish one out, the irony is already thick: these Pharisees, who prided themselves on piety and separation from Rome, were carrying around Caesar’s money in their own pockets. Jesus asks, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they reply. Then comes the masterstroke: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” With one line, Jesus sidesteps their trap and sets down a kingdom principle that still shakes us today.
The brilliance here isn’t just in avoiding a political snare—it’s in the deeper claim underneath. Coins bear Caesar’s image, so give them back to him. But what bears God’s image? You. Me. Every human being. Jesus is saying: sure, give Caesar his coins, but don’t you dare give him your soul. Money belongs to the empire, but your very life belongs to God. The crowd may have been hoping for a political manifesto, but Jesus gave them something far more disruptive: the upside-down kingdom where the currency isn’t coins but people, remade and redeemed in the image of God.
No wonder, as Mark tells us, his opponents were amazed. They thought they were cornering him. Instead, Jesus cornered them—and revealed once again that his kingdom plays by a different economy altogether.
Reflection Question
Where might you be tempted to give your loyalty to earthly powers instead of to God?
