Mark 12:13-17
Chapter 12
13
About Paying Tribute to Caesar
They sent some Pharisees and members of Herod’s party to Jesus, planning to trap him with his own words.14
They approached and said:
“Teacher, we know that you are truthful; you are not influenced by anyone, and your answers do not change based on who is listening, but you truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”
15
But Jesus saw through their trick and answered:
“Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin and let me see it.”
16
They brought one to him, and Jesus asked:
“Whose image is this and whose name?”
They replied: “Caesar’s.”
17
So Jesus said to them:
“Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”
And they were completely astonished.
Commentaries
About Paying Tribute to Caesar.
The Pharisees and Herodians take their turn. The question hints at hypocrisy and dangerous deception. If Jesus answers yes, he will look bad to the Jews, and if he answers no, the Romans will see him as a rebel. Jesus, who knows their intentions, asks them for a coin, one from the Roman Empire of that time; it bore an image of the emperor (Tiberius) and an inscription affirming his divinity. Jesus asks them to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, acknowledging the authority of civil power but rejecting its deification. “Render unto God what is God’s” means that God does not identify with any particular political project but with all those who choose life and serve the needs of the people.