“Then he said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” (Matthew 22:21-22)
In response to Jesus’ rebukes, the main ruling political-religious sects of the Jews banded together to oppose Him. They tried to trip Him up with controversial questions in the hope that He would make a statement that would cause Him to lose favor with the people, or incriminate Himself under either the Mosaic or Roman law. Their attempts failed because Jesus exposed their evil intentions with a demonstration of His own divine authority that forced them to answer their own question. Because they stood opposed to God, these religious politicians failed to see the truth. They failed to believe in Him. They lacked the spiritual insight, courage and wisdom to answer Him properly.
When we look at Jesus’ answer we see that He commends the paying of taxes to government as well as respecting its authority and obeying its laws, a teaching timely both then and now. These days many people disrespect the government because many of those elected to govern are as foolish, inept, and self-centered. Many of them reject the standards of godly righteousness, in fact they reject the Word of God entirely and so are devoid of true wisdom. Regardless, we must still render respect to the government by living according to its laws and statutes except where they conflict with God’s commands.
But people must also render to God what is His. And that includes all who govern or administer the law. And this we do only by faith in Jesus. We all owe God a debt we cannot begin to repay for we all fall short of His holiness and perfection. This is because what the Lord requires of us is perfect faith, love, and obedience, qualities which we are incapable of displaying without His wisdom and grace. Jesus went to the cross to make us righteous in God’s sight. He became sin for us; He extended mercy toward us while we were His enemies. This is how we render to God what is His, extending mercy, love, and compassion to all people.