Keeping a close watch on him, [the teachers of the law and the chief priests] sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?" "Caesar's," they replied.  He said to them, "Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."  They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent. (Luke 20:20-26)   The swords of the Romans were keeping watch over this scene from the Antonia fortress above the Temple walls.  The Jewish Zealots within the Temple Courts were looking for a fight too.  Caesar's occupation of Judea led to deep political tensions between Roman sympathizers and rebel patriots.  The tax paid to Rome was no small thing.  This question from the spies was a death trap.  But Jesus sees through to the motives of our hearts.  He's not duped by flattery, nor ignorant of the broader political setting, nor unaware of the ways in which this question rhymes with one the devil asked him back in the wilderness of his temptation.  "Just bow the knee to me," the devil said, "and all the kingdoms of the world will be yours."  But Jesus did not confuse his allegiance then, nor does he confuse it now.  Instead, Jesus responds briefly and profoundly, navigating a way out of this political trap that silences his opponents.  His brief words here—which are his first and only political pronouncement—gives us plenty to chew on too.   "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."   It goes beyond just taxes, down to a matter of Christian political principle.  There is a proper "due," a proper rendering that we rightly give back to government for the work they do on behalf of the common good—things like: governing, providing infrastructure, defense, standards in health, education, and much more.  This is a corrective and a Christian challenge for those who are disengaged, discouraged, or who simply dislike government and following rules.  Jesus commands us to give the proper respect due to government.  Yet at the very same time, Jesus also limits government.  There are things that don't belong to Caesar—our total allegiance among them.  We are not to be imprinted with Caesar's image (blue, red, orange, green, or a giant red maple leaf), because we have already been imprinted with God's image.  No national identity, political party, position, policy, leader, or solution can stand as an absolute, lest it become an idol.  But even more than that, there is an invitation to consider something deeper here.  Just because Caesar, our country, or a political party puts its picture or inscription on something doesn't necessarily mean it belongs to them.  Our world belongs to God.  So we serve, participate in, and give back to the State and the political process not for its own sake, but as an act of obedient submission to God who commands us to do this as part of honouring the authorities He's given us.  But our trust and allegiance are always firstly to God through Jesus Christ. I hope this also starts to answer a question that came to me from youth group last night about political discipleship. :)  

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