Carry and Circulate the Image of God

Jesus answers a trap about taxes by exposing a deeper question of belonging. The Pharisees and Herodians are bitter enemies, yet they join forces to discredit him. A yes would make Jesus look loyal to Rome at the expense of his own people. A no would give his enemies grounds to accuse him of rebellion. Their plan seems foolproof, but they fail to recognize who stands before them.

Jesus calls out their hypocrisy and asks for the coin used to pay the tax. Caesar’s face and title mark it as his currency. Caesar determines its value, and it circulates within his empire. Giving Caesar what belongs to Caesar does not diminish loyalty to God. Believers are called to obey the laws of the land and set an example for others.

God’s claim, however, reaches far beyond a few coins. The whole world belongs to God, including the people made in his image. Caesar’s image is stamped on money; God’s image is carried by his treasured possession. Giving God what belongs to God therefore means giving him whole lives, not merely spare change.

Money buys food, clothing, and other earthly goods, but it cannot buy God’s love, grace, or mercy. These cannot be touched or traded, yet human survival depends on them. God wants more than people held under rules. He calls his people to become imitators of his love.

The image of the circulating coin becomes a picture of Christian service. Believers circulate God’s image wherever they go, serving as his agents, partners, and coworkers. God supplies the talents and abilities needed to build up his church. Their gifts, resources, time, and energy belong in that work, making his forgiveness, kindness, compassion, generosity, and love visible.

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s Claim Reaches Beyond Caesar’s Coin. Caesar’s image identifies the coin, but God’s image identifies the people who belong to him. Civil obedience need not diminish loyalty to God, yet God’s claim cannot be reduced to a tax or payment. His treasured possession is called to offer the whole life, not simply what remains after earthly obligations. [29:30]
• 2. Money Cannot Purchase What Sustains Life. Coins have a practical place in buying food, clothing, and other necessities. They have no purchasing power when it comes to God’s love, mercy, or grace. What cannot be touched or traded is nevertheless invaluable, exposing the limits of material wealth as a measure of a life. [34:23]
• 3. God’s Image Calls For Visible Love. Bearing God’s image raises a searching question about what a person actually carries into daily encounters. Love, grace, and mercy are not merely words to affirm; they are qualities believers are called to imitate. God’s likeness becomes visible as his people reflect the love of the Son sent into the world. [35:33]
• 4. God’s Gifts Are Meant To Circulate. A coin circulates from hand to hand, and believers carry God’s image wherever they go. God supplies talents and abilities for maintaining and building up his church, rather than leaving his people without what the work requires. Gifts, resources, time, and energy become ways of spreading his kindness, compassion, generosity, and love. [37:49]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [22:56] - Jesus’ Authority and His Opponents
• [25:01] - Bitter Enemies Join Against Jesus
• [25:56] - The Trap Behind the Tax Question
• [27:21] - Caesar’s Image on the Coin
• [28:49] - Giving God What Belongs to God
• [30:30] - Recognizing the Images on Coins
• [34:23] - What Money Cannot Buy
• [35:53] - Carrying God’s Love, Grace, and Mercy
• [37:49] - Circulating God’s Image Through Service
• [38:39] - Doing Good and Spreading God’s Love

Bible Reading

Matthew 22:15-22
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” 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.” [18:26]

Deuteronomy 7:6
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” [30:10]

Genesis 1:27
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” [29:55]

Observation questions

1. What did the Pharisees and Herodians each hope to gain from the tax question, and how would either a “yes” or a “no” have been used against Jesus? [26:23]
2. In Matthew 22:15–22, how does Jesus expose his questioners’ motives before drawing their attention to the coin? [27:21]
3. How does the contrast between Caesar’s image on the coin and God’s image on people connect Matthew 22:15–22 with Genesis 1:27? [29:55]
4. What gifts and resources are named as ways God’s people can serve him and build up his church? [38:10]

Interpretation questions

1. How does Jesus’ answer show that paying taxes need not compete with loyalty to God? What makes God’s claim on a person greater than Caesar’s claim on a coin? [29:21]
2. Deuteronomy 7:6 describes Israel as God’s treasured possession. How does belonging to God help explain why giving to him involves a whole life rather than just a financial contribution? [30:06]
3. Money can buy necessities but cannot purchase God’s love, mercy, or grace. How does this challenge the way a person might measure success or security? [34:43]
4. What does the picture of believers “circulating” God’s image suggest about the purpose of their abilities and their everyday encounters with others? [37:49]

Application questions

1. When you think about your schedule, spending, and relationships, where is it easiest to acknowledge that you belong to God? Is there an area you find harder to place in his hands? [35:58]
2. Is there a civic responsibility or law you find frustrating? What might honoring God look like in the way you fulfill that responsibility and speak about it? [29:21]
3. When have you had enough materially but still needed something money could not provide? How might remembering God’s freely given love and mercy shape a concern you are carrying now? [34:47]
4. Think of a recent difficult conversation. What did your words and actions carry into that encounter? What might reflecting God’s grace or mercy look like the next time you speak with that person? [36:29]
5. What ability, resource, or bit of time could you offer to meet a specific need in your church? What would help you take a realistic next step without overcommitting? [38:10]
6. Where will you go this week that someone might need kindness, compassion, or generosity? What is one practical way you could make God’s love visible there? [39:12]