CAESAR'S COIN

 The tribute penny was the coin that was shown to Jesus when he made his famous speech "RENDER UNTO CAESAR.."

The Pharisee or "spy" asking Jesus whether to pay Roman taxes/tribute is attempting to entrap him into admitting his opposition to doing so. So upon seeing that the coin is a "tribute penny", Jesus avoids the trap by saying to give it back to Caesar, because it is his anyway.

The Greek text uses the word dēnarion, and it is usually thought that coin was a Roman denarius with the head of Tiberius. The inscription reads "Ti[berivs] Caesar Divi Avg[vsti] F[ilivs] Avgvstvs" ("Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus"), claiming that after death Augustus had become a god. The reverse shows a seated female, usually identified as Livia depicted as Pax.

However, it has been suggested that denarii were not in common circulation in Judaea during Jesus' lifetime and that the coin was more probably an Antiochan tetradrachm bearing the head of Tiberius, with Augustus on the reverse. Another suggestion often made is the denarius of Augustus with Gaius and Lucius on the reverse, while coins of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Germanicus are all considered possibilities.

'Render unto Caesar...render to God what is God's'.

This phrase has become a widely quoted summary of the relationship between Christianity, secular government, and society. The original message, coming in response to a question of whether it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar, gives rise to multiple possible interpretations about the circumstances under which it is desirable for Christians to submit to earthly authority.

H. B. Clark writes,

 "It is a doctrine of both Mosaic and Christian law that governments are divinely ordained and derive their powers from God.

 In the Old Testament it is asserted that "Power belongs unto God," (Ps 62:11) that God "removes kings and sets up kings," (Dan 2:21) and that "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will" (Dan 4:32). 

Similarly, in the New Testament, it is stated that "...there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom 13:1). Paul also states there that Christians are obliged to obey all earthly authorities, stating that as they were introduced by God, disobedience to them equates to disobedience to God.

Mohandas Gandhi wrote:

'Jesus evaded the direct question put to him because it was a trap. He was in no way bound to answer it. He therefore asked to see the coin for taxes. And then said with withering scorn, "How can you who traffic in Caesar's coins and thus receive what to you are benefits of Caesar's rule refuse to pay taxes?" Jesus' whole preaching and practice point unmistakably to noncooperation, which necessarily includes nonpayment of taxes.

Tertullian, in De Idololatria, interprets Jesus as saying to render "the image of Caesar, which is on the coin, to Caesar, and the image of God, which is on man, to God; so as to render to Caesar indeed money, to God yourself.

Jesus's primary message to his followers in the Gospels was that the Kingdom of God was beginning to emerge now, and they could choose to live as if they were already in the Kingdom of God. It is all how you see the world. The old age is still in place. Caesar is still there. But a new age is emerging for those who will see it and live it.

It is not an exhortation to meekly obey an unjust government, but neither is it a call to armed rebellion. He is stating his version of reality - that God is in charge, and we should be about the business of making this a reality in the way we see the world, in the way we treat each other, in the way we share our possessions with those less fortunate, and in our table fellowship.

Jesus was basically saying, “For goodness' sakes don't get yourself killed over a matter of taxes, but you can pay your taxes and still acknowledge that Caesar is not god.” But in a clever way that the Jews understood and the Romans couldn't accuse him of speaking against Caesar.

So give what is Caesar's to Caesar (the taxes he claims by right of rule) and give to God what is God's (the worship that should only belong to God.)

People claim this text as a reason to always obey the rule of the land, no matter what. But they often miss how clever Christ is actually being.