Morality Of Rendering Unto Caesar What Is Caesar

@gewcew23 (8007)
United States
March 17, 2010 2:23pm CST
Matthew 22:21 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. Since this is a response to a question about taxation Jesus is giving an answer that say that he supports paying taxes to Caesar. Here is how unmoral that statement is. This Caesar that the Bible is speaking about is none other than Tiberius Caesar, a man who was a pedophile, a murderer, claimed to be a god, a dictator and oppressed and enslaved millions of people. The Jewish people, mind you who are the people Jesus is speaking to were among these people that Tiberius oppressed. One of the ways Tiberius force the people who he oppressed was for them to pay taxes, even though they had no voice nor say in the matter, to pay for his lavish lifestyle. Jews had objections to such taxation, just like the American patriot who screamed no taxation without representation. One of these men was Judas the Galilean, who is spoken about in Act 5:37. I contend that there is nothing moral about paying taxes, but for the sack of an argument I will concede the point. My question is how is it moral to be force to pay someone to enslave you?
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AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
19 Mar 10
In this saying "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render unto God the things that are God's" Jesus is drawing a distinct line between two distinct realms - that of the physical world and that of the spirit. The question was meant to be a trap for Jesus, because the Jewish authorities were involved and in line with Roman rulers and supported the taxes. Some other groups of Jews resisted Roman rule. Refusing to pay tax would be used against Him by one group and paying the tax would be used against Him by the opposing group. Instead of either, He asked for someone to produce a coin. The coin had an image engraved upon it, and Jesus asked them whose image it was. Of course, it was Caesar. Therefore, the coin was Caesar's and so render unto Caesar that which is his. However, the more important point is to render unto God those things that belong to God. Not anything of that government and world, not anything of our worldy existence, but the heart and the spirit must be rendered unto God. Had Jesus been the Messiah that some expected - one who would free them from Roman rule and become King - He would have answered differently, spread sedition and encouraged them to defy the rulers by not paying taxes. But this is not the mission Jesus came to accomplish. Yet, they accused Him of spreading sedition and unrest and proclaiming Himself King anyway. Can't win with some people, I guess.