They sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give?” (12:13-15a)
The Pharisees and the Herodians were very unhappy with my teaching. It was challenging all their authority. The Herodians were trying to show that Herod was a good Jew, and therefore the king of the Jews that was there by God’s will. The Pharisees were trying to prove that the people needed to follow the way they taught them, in order to please God. Both were trying to show how they were representing God, and both were very frustrated that I was representing the Father on earth in a way that they could not match. The Father was doing beautiful miracles of His love through my faithful obedience. They tried to have me do miracles at their request, a distorted attempt to show that I respected their authority. Yet, I could not accept that, because they were not leading people to the Father, but to their human authority and to their many rules. I came to show the simplicity of faith, to guide many to the love of the Father. This has a price, and the Pharisees and the Herodians were trying to trap me, like a hunter traps an animal. Ultimately, they would catch me in their trap and I would die on the cross. Yet, this would happen to show that the Father’s love in me would break the trap of death and release me after three days.
Pharisees and Herodians wanted to prove they had a real authority, yet they were submitting with frustration to the Roman authority. They knew that the Romans had more authority than them, that they could be crushed or killed by this power which was above their own power. They wanted to get rid of the Romans, but they did not know how. Therefore, they tried to trap me with their question, in the very trap where they were themselves trapped. They asked me if the Jews should pay or not pay taxes to the Romans.
If I would answer yes, they could tell to the people that I was submitted to the Romans and discredit me as not being the Messiah, since many believed that the Messiah would deliver them from the Romans. That was a wrong idea, but the Father asked me not to contradict this openly, so that many would come to me and discover the real deliverance that I came to offer, this good news of the deliverance from sin and all its consequences.
If I would say no, I could be denounced to the Romans as an agitator and be imprisoned. They knew that either way, my answer would give them an important help, either to discredit me in front of the people, or to have me arrested. At a logical level, that looked like the perfect trap to stop me.
But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.” They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (12:15b-17)
Yet, they forgot that the Father himself had created the logic, and that he could lead me to find a path even in this valley of the shadow of death where they were leading me. The Father led me, through His word in me, by speaking to me, to avoid the trap. As I had lived in the presence of the Father, saying what he told me to say, I followed his direction to get out of this conundrum.
I asked them to bring me a denarius, the coin used to pay the taxes to Caesar, the Roman emperor. By bringing me a denarius, they showed that indeed they were using Roman money, thus following at a practical level the Roman authority. Their ambiguity and contradictions could then be illustrated, this dispelled the impression that the Pharisees were not submitting to the Roman authority.
Then, I asked them about the writing and the inscription, about Caesar’s, so that they would be giving themselves the answer to the question they had asked from me. I told them to give back to Caesar what was his. These coins were belonging to Caesar, therefore we could give them back to him. It could look like a childish answer, yet it was a deep answer to their question, plainly recognizing that the human power in Israel in this time was the Roman empire. I did not say whether it was a bad thing or a good thing that the Romans ruled in Israel, mostly because this was not the focus of my ministry.
My task was not to overthrow the Romans, it was to overthrow the power of sin and death on the people. My name is Jesus, Yeshoua, and it means that God delivers, delivers from sin and from death. that is the deliverance that I came to offer to Israel and to the whole humanity and creation. I did not come for a temporary victory on a temporary enemy. I came to bring God’s eternal victory against evil, to bring the people back to God.
That is why I added that we should give back to God what is God’s. Each human has been created in the image of God. This image had been seriously damaged by sin, yet the Father sent me to renew His perfect image in humanity, first in me, then in my disciples. So, each human belongs to God, and should return to God, your creator. That was the purpose of my coming, that was the way that John prepared when he preached in the wilderness. He came to bring the children of God back to their Father, so that they could experience the tender love of the Father. The Father did not send me to judge the world, but to save the world. I came to deliver humans from sin and death, to lead them to a living relationship with the Father.
The Father was in me, speaking and acting through my obedience, so that anyone who saw me could see the Father. This was first not clear to my disciples, but after my death and resurrection they understood it. I came to show God’s love in this world, so that people would return joyfully to Him. The good news is that God loves the world so much that he send me to give my life as a sacrifice for them, to reopen the way to his love and tenderness, a way that had been closed by sin, selfishness and lies.
The Father is not forcing you to return to him, we are not pushing you but inviting you to this life of love and peace. It is true, you have to renounce to be your own master and judge. You have not been created to judge but to love, to welcome our love and to share it with the world. You have not been created to control your environment, and humans attempts are futile, because you have been created to be guided by the Father’s love. Return fully to the loving Father, let him show His love to you, let us show how much we love you and come to experience a renewed fellowship with us, this good news of God’s love. You have been created to bear in you the image of God and his kingdom of love, to be a kingdom bearer. Come to us and listen to me so that I can lead you back to the Father of love. This was my ministry on earth, that is still the purpose of my presence in those who welcome me through the Holy Spirit, that is the key purpose I want my Church to accomplish on earth. Be renewed in the image of God, learn to carry our love in all you do and all you say, be a kingdom bearer.
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