Proper 24- Jesus, God, Caesar & Taxes

LECTIONARY READINGS FOR PROPER 24 | PSALM 96; ISAIAH 45:1-7; 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-10; MATTHEW 22:15-22

GOSPEL LESSON

MATTHEW 22:15-22

Common English Bible (CEB)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees met together to find a way to trap Jesus in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are genuine and that you teach God’s way as it really is. We know that you are not swayed by people’s opinions, because you don’t show favoritism. ¹⁷ So tell us what you think: Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ Knowing their evil motives, Jesus replied, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used to pay the tax.”And they brought him a denarion. ²⁰ “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked.

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” ²² When they heard this they were astonished, and they departed.

‘Pay to Ceasar…’

For a child, what does that mean? Most children have no idea what taxes really are…they hear us complain about paying them or our politicians on TV talking about raising or lowering them, but to most, taxes are only something that affects adults. In a sense, this is a very factual statement.

So we have to begin…what did this parable mean in its original context? What was Jesus saying to the people around him in 1st Century CE Palestine?

What the religious leader was trying to do was catch Jesus saying to either obey Caesar (which would’ve angered the Jewish radicals) or to disobey (which would’ve put him as a traitor to Rome). What we find in Jesus’ answer is a radical approach. ’Give to God what belongs to God…’- to many Jewish readers they would immediately understand what He was saying. Everything belongs to God! The whole world, all of you- your money, talents, everything. And what belongs to Caesar- nothing! If everything belongs to God, then Caesar owns nothing, even if he believes he does.

Jesus keeps himself from outright treason against Rome while also being very subversive and cunning.

So what lessons does this teach kids?

Everything belongs to God. Not just what we call ‘religious’ or ‘holy’ but even the mundane things like money, talents and time. God calls for our ultimate allegiance not a country or leader. We respect our leaders even if they are good or evil, but we always remember that God is our King, he owns everything and everything owes its existence to Him.

Now for your thoughts, what does this passage mean to you? What does ‘give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s’ mean in your daily life and context? Any other tidbits that we should teach kids out of this? Respond in the comments and we’ll see where this goes.