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The Politics of religion and the Religion of politics
(Matthew 22:15-22)

The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus on the issue of taxes: “Teacher,’ they said ‘we know that you are a man of integrity and that youteach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes or not?” (Matt. 22:15-22)

We know that Jews were living in an unjust society and how tempting it could have been to answer strongly, taking an antagonistic position against the Roman authorities. But Jesus’ reply to them is enlightening in any society, whatever its condition: “...Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, ‘You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, ‘whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s’ they replied. Then he said to them, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s’...”

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” and to God what is God’s…” on the surface is a fair answer that recognizes and respects both spheres of politics and religion.  But if these verses are thought of as an equation, that is, A = B and B = A, they could lead to great trouble. If ‘give to Caesar what is Caesar’s’ is equal to ‘give to God what is God’s’ it means to inevitably fall into a classic and dangerous mix of politics and religion. If loyalty and allegiance to Caesar means allegiance and loyalty to God, isn’t it an explosive concoction? If devotion and faithfulness to God means faithfulness and devotion to Caesar, isn’t it the recipe for perfect idolatry? How easy it is to confuse Caesar for God and God for Caesar. Let’s be aware!

If “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” is equal to “Give to God what is God’s’” how about rewriting the formula as: ‘Give to Caesar what is God’s’ and ‘Give to God what is Caesar’s’? This is a simple and convenient permutation of data, a rearranging of terms that fits our political/religious agenda. If politics are able to justify their ‘actions’ at all times, with the consent of God, and religion is able to ‘assert’ its faith at all times, with the approval of politics, isn’t this on the part of religion, idolatry at the highest level? Isn’t it on the part of politics, an arrogant shield to defend its inadequacies and incapacity to govern and take care of its own people with a philosophy of bigotry?

Before we try and understand what really belongs to Caesar (remember “give” = ‘render back’), let’s focus on the real point of the hard saying: “Render to God what is God’s.” The question we must ask here is: Is there anything in our possession that we can truly say does not belong to God? Is it our time, our resources, our intellect, our money, our life itself? The answer of course, from a Christian standpoint, is ‘NO’ because everything belongs to God. What can we retain for ourselves that it not already His? For this reason, the Christian willingly and joyfully surrenders – or in the words of Jesus – ‘renders back’ all that he has, to Him!  The Scripture is clear and here are a few verses that shed light on the great wealth of our God:

“Deliverance belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 3:8): our spiritual and also at times, physical liberation from the slavery of sin.
“The shield of the earth belongs to God” (Ps. 47:9): the stability of the universe.
“Steadfast love belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 62:12): loyalty and forgiveness.
“To God, the Lord, belongs escape from death” (Ps. 68:20): the capacity to give eternal life and ensure protection for those who trust in him.
“Power belongs to God” (Ps. 62:11): all of the above.

“Give to God what is God’s” is a ‘simple’ formula for, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give!”

This saying of Jesus is like a naïve artwork. In its simplicity and straightforward meaning, it is a powerful statement that even a child could understand. The statement wasn’t meant to be addressed with a political twist of words, concepts and overtones. The reaction that it should have evoked may have sounded like this: “C’mon, isn’t there anything that we can keep for ourselves in relation to God?”  

But let’s move to the first part of Jesus’ answer, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”

The question we must ask here is: Is there anything in our possession that we can truly say does not belong to Caesar? We mentioned above that our time, our resources, our intellect, our money and our life itself, all belong to God. But, what about Caesar? The answer of course, from a Christian standpoint, is that NOT everything belongs to Caesar. We can keep property for ourselves, manage our time, keep part of our salary, keep our devotion to God, etc. If this were not so, what a restrictive government we would have! The Christian willingly and respectfully renders back what belongs to the State, but it retains what doesn’t belong to the State.

‘Caesar’ cannot redeem us
‘Caesar’ does not keep the universe in place
‘Caesar’ is not always loving
‘Caesar’ does not guarantee eternal life and protection
‘Caesar’ is not all-powerful

This saying of Jesus in its simplicity and straightforward meaning is a powerful statement that even a child could understand. The reaction that should have been evoked by mentioning, “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” may have sounded like this: “C’mon, isn’t there anything that we can keep for ourselves in relation to Caesar?” The answer is, YES! Not everything that we have belongs to the Roman Emperor. And if he unjustly requires something of me, I will willingly refuse to obey his demands. This is what we mean by saying that there is a limit to submission to the authorities. Are we implying with this that Jesus wasn’t aware of all the political twists and overtones this verses would arouse? Of course he knew, but he ‘simply’ stated a concept valid for every age. This concept in its simplicity is as powerful as a naïve painting that, with its pastel colors, evokes images of grandiosity.

When Hitler came to power in Germany, he wanted to unify all the Protestant churches into one national German church. These so-called "German Christians" used Christianity to justify Nazism and anti-Semitism. A struggle ensued between the pro-Nazi "German Christians" and those who refused to comply. Perhaps one-tenth of Protestants resisted. Some Catholics were active in hiding Jews or helping them escape. One of the resistance movements was the "Confessing Church," comprised of Lutheran, Reformed, and Union church pastors and lay people. The "Barmen Declaration" of 1934 stated that the church's proclamation consists only in Jesus Christ, not in Nazism. Confessing Church people engaged in various forms of resistance, ranging from hiding Jews, to training pastors in an illegal seminary, to secret plots to assassinate Hitler. Leaders of the Confessing Church included theologians Martin Niemuller (1892-1984), Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor executed by the Nazis in 1945.

We are to submit to the delegation of authority that God has given men, but if a government or authority steps outside the sphere of delegation and demands an obedience in an area that is not theirs – an area which breaks the higher authority of God himself – then the Christian cannot and must not obey. For example, the three Hebrew men were thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to obey the King’s command to bow down and worship the Golden Image (Daniel 3). This was because King Nebuchadnezzar was transcending his authority and trespassing upon the sphere that belongs to God alone. So also did the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:1-22 when they commanded Peter and John not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Thus the disciples answered: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you ratherthan God.”

This is why Paul tells Titus “to be ready to do what is good.” We cannot obey evil commands. Whenever obedience to man is inconsistent with obedience to God, the Christian must always obey the higher authority of God himself. This should not change a Christian’s heart-attitude, for the principle of submission is still operating in his life – firstly to God and, secondly, to God’s delegated authorities.