15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "We know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.
17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius,
20 and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
21 "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
Everything in this world is God's and even Caesar's money(tax) is God's. It's meaningless to say what's God's or not. I think Herodians here are asking a wrong question. Anyway Jesus shows us a right anwser for even this wrong question.
What God really wants us to give is ourselves not any "things". If they asked Jesus "Who do our hearts belong to?", he would show a different answer.
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2 comments:
thanks sungeun for your reflection. again, the pharisees have no answer to the divine wisdom of the Lord Jesus. Jesus says to us, "give to caesar what is caesar's and to God what is God's". as you say, we need to render to God what is rightfully His--our hearts, our lives, our unwavering devotion.
hello Sungeun!
we are in agreement... God wants our devotion, our obedience, our worship, our praise!
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