Tag Archives: Render To God and Country

Matthew 22- Render to God and Country

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Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.  Matthew 22:15-22

Again we see the religious leaders testing Jesus again, this time it was about taxes. Now this was a trick question, if Jesus said the Jews didn’t have to pay taxes to the Romans, then the Romans could arrest Christ. However if Jesus told the Jews to continue to pay their taxes to the Romans, then the Jews would turn on Jesus. So the religious leaders believed they had Jesus in a no win situation, however they underestimated who Jesus truly is, God in the flesh

Jesus answered the question with another question “Whose image is on the coin” Of course the answer was Caesar, so Christ told them “Render to Caesar what is Caesers and Render to God what is Gods” Christ was telling them to Pay your taxes to your country  and Pay your tithes to God. We as Christians are to be good citizens, to be a good example for other people. We must remember that we are just temporary citizens of this world, our Kingdom is not of this world, we are citizens of Heaven through our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20)

When the Jews heard Jesus say this they were marveled or amazed, why? Because many had the wrong idea of who The Messiah was to be. Many Jews were hoping Jesus came to setup his Earthly Kingdom and destroy the Roman Empire, but that was not Christ’s mission. Jesus came to save the sinners , including the Romans, Christ came so we can become Born Again, and set free from sin and death

I’m sure many Jews at this point, decided to reject Jesus Christ, because God was not fulfilling their will. Many people are still like this today, they create a God in their own image to fulfill their own will, this is idolatry. Even if we don’t fully understand Gods will, we must be obedient to Christ. Jesus came to gather his elect, to gather his lost sheep, to set the captives free!

Even today, we are oppressed by our governments, however we as good Christians, we pay our taxes and try to follow the Laws of the government. However if the laws of the government defy the law of God, then the Bible is clear we are to “Obey God rather than Man” (Acts 5:29) A good example is abortion, God hates those who shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17) therefor we as Christians will never support and comply with any abortion laws set by the governments.

Render to God and to Country,  Strive to live in peace with everyone (Romans 12:18) Pay your taxes to the government and pay your tithes to God, but live in obedience to your Lord and King Jesus Christ, Amen!

Luke 20- Render to God and Country

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And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? Luke 20:20-22

Again we see the religious leaders trying to test and trap Jesus, but again their ignorance and pride makes them blind enough to think they can trick the Son of God. Not only did they try to trap Jesus with a theological question, but they used a more political subject to get the Jewish people on their side. The used the topic of taxes, as we know the Roman Empire oppressed the Jewish people by making them pay extremely high taxes and leaving mostly all of them in poverty or debt to Caesar

So they asked Jesus “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar”? Now the religious leaders believed they had Jesus trapped, if he answered Yes, then the Jewish people would revolt and turn on him. If he answered No, then the Roman Empire would throw Christ in prison. They believed they had a bullet proof plan to finally eliminate this Jesus of Nazareth

But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s.And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace. Luke 20:23-26

Jesus being the Son of God and Christ, he knew the hearts and minds of these wicked religious leaders, so he responded with a question “Whose image is on the denarius” A denarius was the Roman coin used during this time period typically for a day’s wage. The crowd of course answered Caesar’s image on the coin. Then Jesus responded “ Give to Caesar what is Caesars and give to God what is God’s” basically Jesus was saying “pay your taxes and pay your tithes”

This response was so perfect , nobody could come up with a response. It also shows us Gods sovereignty as he is the one who establishes governments and allows them to operate (Romans 13) We as Christians are to be good citizens, we are to obey laws when they don’t conflict with God’s moral law and pay our taxes. The religious leaders had no response for Jesus, so they held their peace. Again Jesus wins another theological round with the religious leaders.

Render to God and to Country, while we are here on Earth, we are to be the salt of the Earth, we are to live as good citizens. If the salt is no longer good, what use is there for it? (Matthew 5) With that said , we are also to “Obey God and not Man” (Acts 5:29) when it comes to issues that conflict with God’s moral Laws. Give to your country what belongs to your country and give to God what belongs to God Amen!

Mark 12- Render To God and Country

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And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. Mark 12:13-15

 Here we see two groups , the Pharisees and the Herodians, and they are ganging up to try and trick Jesus. But Jesus saw their hypocrisy, and knew this was a trap. Now realize Israel was being oppressed by the Roman empire at this time, they were looking for the Messiah to be a military warrior, and start a revolt against Caesar.

However this is not why Jesus came to Earth, he didn’t come to defeat the Roman Empire, he came to defeat Satan, and defeat sin and death forever! The Pharisees and Herodians knew if they can trick Jesus into saying “Don’t pay your taxes” then they could have the Roman Empire charge him with a crime. But as stated Jesus knew the hypocrisy of the religious and political leaders, he knew the hardness of their hearts

And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him. Mark 12:16-17

Jesus asked them for a coin, and asked them “Who’s image is on the coin”? They answered Caesar, then Jesus told them to “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and Render to God , what is God’s “ This response by Jesus was so brilliant that nobody had a response to it. It was simple “Pay your taxes to Rome and pay your tithes to God” 

Jesus gives us a glimpse as Christians how to live in this temporary evil world. We are to live as good citizens, pay your taxes, honor the laws, and serve the community. While Israel wanted a revolution , Jesus was building Gods eternal Kingdom. A Kingdom that would have dominion forever!

We as Christians are to be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World (Matthew 5)  to preserve justice and righteousness and to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel of Christ. Render to God and to Country in Jesus Name Amen!