Render to God What Bears God’s Image

The question about paying Caesar’s tax is a trap. The unlikely partnership between the Pharisees and Herodians shows how badly they want Jesus out of the way. A refusal to pay could get him arrested. An agreement could split his followers, a diverse bunch with very different ideas about Rome. Either answer looks like trouble.

Jesus knows what they are doing. Jesus asks for the Roman coin required to pay the tax, a coin he does not have on him. His question sounds simple: whose image is on it? His answer seems simple too. If the emperor’s face is on the silver, give it back to him. But the next part changes everything: give to God what is God’s.

The image and likeness question reaches back to Genesis. God made humanity in God’s image and likeness. The emperor can demand a lump of silver, but God lays claim to the human being holding it. That “idol of silent smelted silver” cannot give Caesar the kind of claim that belongs to God. Even the emperor bears an image that is not his own.

Jesus also turns the trap into a question about divided loyalty. The Herodians’ bargain with Rome keeps them in power. The Pharisees’ grudging compromise promises to keep the peace and safeguard the people. That same argument will soon help justify putting Jesus to death. Keeping the peace can become a reason to resist what God is doing.

God’s claim reaches into pockets and hearts, into “the whole residue” of a life, souls and bodies included. Jesus gives no easy answer about how that claim works in a compromised society. His answer neither orders a retreat into the desert nor gives permission to capitulate because life in the world is complicated.

The image of God presses the question into a culture of lies, shenanigans, and children shooting other children. God’s love, shown in creation and in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, gives that image its shape. Faithful stewardship means discerning what such love requires here, not somewhere easier.

Fear of getting it wrong can bring that discernment to a standstill. But the answer is love, “without compromise, without hesitation.” The question “Dare we?” names the fear of actually living that way. Jesus’ call remains plain and unsettling: give God what bears God’s image, what is crafted after the heart of God’s love, and see what happens.

---

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:54] - An Unlikely Partnership Sets a Trap
• [27:03] - A Tax Question Designed to Divide
• [29:26] - Jesus Asks for the Coin
• [30:41] - God’s Image and Caesar’s Silver
• [32:35] - The Problem of Divided Loyalty
• [34:39] - God’s Claim on the Whole Life
• [36:10] - Discernment in a Culture of Violence
• [38:28] - Fear and Love Without Compromise
• [39:28] - The Subway Question: Dare They?
• [42:11] - Give God What Bears God’s Image

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.” [26:09]

Genesis 1:26-27
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” [30:53]

John 11:48
“If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” [34:14]

Observation questions

1. What two outcomes did the Pharisees and Herodians hope to achieve by asking Jesus about paying the Roman tax? [28:14]
2. In Matthew 22:15–22, how does Jesus use the coin to shift the conversation from the emperor’s demands to God’s claim?
3. What connection does Genesis 1:26–27 make between humanity and God, and how does that differ from the connection between the coin and Caesar? [30:53]
4. What concern appears in John 11:48, and how does it connect with the desire to keep the peace described in the tax dispute? [34:07]

Interpretation questions

1. If every human being bears God’s image, what limits does that place on Caesar’s claim—even over the emperor himself? [32:35]
2. Why does belonging to God involve more than setting aside a religious portion of a person’s money or time? What would that misunderstanding leave untouched? [35:03]
3. When does a desire to protect people and keep the peace become a reason to resist God? How can a church distinguish genuine peacemaking from protecting its own position? [33:40]
4. How does God’s love, shown in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, help a believer discern what faithfulness requires when there is no easy answer? [37:23]

Application questions

1. God’s claim reaches into our pockets, hearts, and bodies. Which part of your life are you most tempted to keep separate from your faith? What might offering that part to God look like this week? [35:13]
2. Can you recall a time when keeping the peace meant staying quiet about something you believed was wrong? Looking back, what might a response shaped by both love and courage have looked like? [34:07]
3. Think of someone whose political views or loyalties make it difficult for you to love them. How might remembering that they bear God’s image change your next conversation with them? [32:48]
4. Where do dishonesty or violence touch your workplace, neighborhood, or family? What is one practical way you could care for those affected rather than withdrawing or accepting things as they are? [36:28]
5. Where has fear of getting it wrong kept you from doing something loving? What small step could you take before you have every uncertainty resolved, and how could this group support you? [38:40]
6. Loving without compromise can cost comfort, approval, or security. As you consider a particular relationship or decision, what cost makes you hesitate? What would it mean to entrust that cost to God? [42:02]