Who likes taxes, but the receiver? Receiving others’ hard-earned income through taxes is good only if not used for self-gratification or honor. Giving taxes is good when a general citizenry has honest collection to build and maintain civil infrastructure. However, the human race has never created a society that is perfect in tax collection and use. Politicians have always stolen from and misused the tax fund for themselves and their families. Even Jesus’ disciples included Judas, who stole money from the general collection.
Misappropriation, fraud, and cheating were as common in Jesus’ day as it is today. The ruins of many buildings and palaces that Herod and his family built with the money forced from the Jews are still easy to see. The Jew’s hatred of Rome, which he represented, can be understood. So can the trap that the jealous religious leaders set for Jesus concerning paying taxes.
Jesus’s answer must have been a great shock to everyone. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” This means that even though fraud, mismanagement, and abuse are greater in my day than in Jesus’ day, I still need to pay taxes. It also means that just because being a Christian, let alone an active and open one, is considered strange and in some cases invokes persecution and harm, I need to continue to give myself to God and his kingdom. After all, if I say I am his, then I must do as Jesus said, give myself to him and his mission for me.
Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)
