Giving to Caesar… Giving to God

Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:21

As I’m sure you know, today is tax day in the US. And for as much as we gripe and complain about it, it’s worth noting that both Jesus and Paul called us to be obedient to the laws of our respective governments, including paying taxes.

But it’s the second part of Jesus’ statement that I want to call your attention to. And it’s this statement that I think gets overlooked–and to God the things that are God’s.

Give to God what is God’s.

Remember that Jesus made this comment just a few days before his arrest. He knew he was in Jerusalem to die. His giving to God what was God’s was about to cost him his life.

His obedience to God was going to take a brutal turn. And so when he made the oft-quoted statement above, I don’t think Jesus was just thinking about paying taxes or obeying government leaders. He was thinking about the implications of giving to God what was due him.

We need to do the same. In this Passion Week, we need to think about the implications of giving God what is due him—praise, honor, thanksgiving, confession, the best of our time and resources, and our very lives.

Jesus was telling us that our respective Caesars may get a small piece of our earthy wealth, but God gets all of us. He gets everything.

And the sad part is sometimes Caesar gets more from us, albeit begrudgingly, than God does.

You have an opportunity this week to give to God what is God’s, and Jesus is your example of what giving to God really looks like.

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