Tax season is upon us, and with it our annual duty to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” For many, it can be a season of great moral anxiety, since we know the government will use our money not only for purposes we support, but also for those we do not.
The Jews wrestled with this mightily as well. After Judea was annexed to the Roman Empire, the high priest was given responsibility to pay tribute to Rome. This he received from Jewish tax collectors, a class of men despised as opportunists and traitors to their own country. Such taxes were taken from the produce of the land, from sales transactions, and especially from the provincial polls, the tributum capitis, paid with tribute coins bearing the mark of the emperor and his claim to divinity. As this poll tax fell primarily on Roman subjects, it was particularly despised as a badge of slavery, often provoking revolts within the empire, not least the First Jewish Revolt of 66-70 AD.
While Christians despised this tax too (so Tertullian), they came to accept Jesus’s teaching that we are members of two kingdoms, an earthly one and a heavenly one, and that we may, without guilt, discharge our duty to our earthly rulers without jeopardizing our standing before God. That which bears Caesar’s image should be given to Caesar. Likely, Jesus was referring to the denarius, a coin bearing the image of the “Divine Tiberius.” But that which bears God’s image should be given to God, and here he is clearly referring to you and I, we who are made in “the image and likeness of God.”
Jesus’s teaching should be our guide, not only for how we do our taxes, but for what we do with money in general.
As important as money is, it is not the most important of things, for what God wants above all else is our hearts. Some give too little attention to their finances, others too much. And yet, what we do with our money still matters, for Jesus also says “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Some give generously, other little or nothing at all.
“How much?” someone will ask. But clearly we are dealing with an issue upon which no hard and fast rule can be drawn. As Paul observes, it’s largely a matter of conscience: Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (II Cor. 9:7)
May that be our spirit at New Temple Evangel, as we seek to give to Caesar what is Caesars’s and to God what is God’s.
Would He have said the same to us today?
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