Matthew 22:15-22

“So tell us what you think: Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” – Matthew 22:17 CEB

On the heels of the State of the Union address, we often find ourselves trying to pick sides – right or left? Hot or cold? Healthy or satisfying? But choosing sides isn’t always quite so cut and dry.

In today’s passage, the religious leaders think they’ve finally cornered Jesus. If he says pay taxes to Caesar, he alienates his own people. If he says don’t, he risks trouble with Rome. It’s a trap dressed up as a polite question. But Jesus asks for a coin and points to the image stamped on it. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” 

With one sentence, he sidesteps the snare and shifts the conversation. The coin bears Caesar’s image. You bear God’s. Suddenly this isn’t just about taxes; it’s about allegiance.

We spend a lot of energy arguing about what belongs to which “side.” Faith or politics. Sacred or secular. Church life or real life. Jesus refuses to play that sorting game. Yes, there are practical responsibilities in the world as it is. Bills get paid. Systems exist. But there is something deeper that can’t be reduced to transactions. 

If a coin stamped with Caesar’s face belongs to Caesar, then a life stamped with God’s image belongs to God. That includes our loyalties, our values, our compassion, our courage. It’s harder to trap someone whose heart is already fully given over to love and justice.

Maybe the invitation today isn’t to solve the tension between heaven and empire, but to examine the imprint on our own lives. Whose image is most visible in the way we speak, spend, vote, forgive, serve? Jesus doesn’t offer a tidy political platform. He offers a re-centering. Everything may not be God’s in the same way—but you still belong to God. And when we remember that, even the most loaded questions lose their power to define us. - Allison