Matthew 22: Give to God What Belongs to God

Introduction

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Everyone knows this sentence by heart, Antonio Di Passa remarks. Whether we manage to put it into practice is another matter. In this Sunday service of the Baptist Church of Florence, he preaches on Matthew 22:15-22, after the reading of Psalm 99 and 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.

To enter the text, he starts from a seemingly ordinary 2004 film, Sideways, meaning "to the side," "crooked." In it, two friends look for the meaning of life by taking side roads. The preacher sees in it an image of the way Jesus moves through this passage: at an angle, outside the usual patterns, without falling into the trap set for him.

The message follows this thread: the trap set for Jesus, his answer that unmasks hypocrisy, what the Church has done with this word over the centuries, and what it means today to give to God what belongs to God.

Outline of the Message

1. Thinking Outside the Patterns, Like Jesus

In Sideways, we also discover the world of wine: bottles age lying at an angle and are turned regularly to refine their quality. The Santa Ynez Valley in California runs crosswise, from north to south, which gives its wine its particular aromas.
The preacher mentions the German expression Querdenken: thinking crosswise, outside the patterns. "It means moving along side roads."
That is exactly what Jesus does in Matthew 22. He sides with no one, he "veers across" and escapes the trap.

2. An Unnatural Alliance to Trap Jesus

After a series of accusations, the religious leaders strike back. When you cannot dismantle the truth of a position, you discredit the person. "We Italians are very good at that game," the preacher slips in.
The Pharisees send their disciples along with the Herodians, supporters of Herod Antipas, who reigned thanks to the Romans. Normally these two groups hate each other: one seeks purity and separation, the other collaborates with Rome. But "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Before asking their question, they "sugarcoat" their intention and put on a little theater: you are sincere, you teach the way of God according to truth, you do not look at people's appearance. "A fine confession," the pastor notes.
Then comes the trap: is it lawful or not to pay the tribute to Caesar? This head tax was owed to the emperor by anyone living in occupied Roman territory. If Jesus says to pay it, with a coin bearing the image of Tiberius, declared a god, he goes against the first commandment. If he declares it illegitimate, he becomes a rebel who pushes people to revolt against Rome. He has to answer "on a razor's edge."

3. The Coin That Unmasks Hypocrisy

Jesus does not soften their malice: "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?" In antiquity, the hypocrite was the actor who, behind a mask, played what he did not feel.
"Show me the coin for the tribute." Here, the preacher explains, Jesus reveals their contradiction without their even realizing it. Roman coinage could not enter the temple, hence the money changers in the courtyard. It was unclean, with its human image and its inscription declaring the emperor divine. Yet they have it in their pockets and must pull it out.
The first hypocrisy lies with those who separated the pure from the impure. As the Romans said, money has no smell: pecunia non olet.
They asked whether it was lawful to "pay." Jesus does not use the same verb: he says "give back," return. "If you do not want its benefits, be consistent."

4. Give to God What Is God's: Obedience in the Service of the Person

Then comes the heart of the answer: "and to God what is God's." Jesus refuses Caesar's lordship over the economy of the kingdom and acknowledges God's.
This "crosswise" thinking always brings to light obedience to God, his will, his intention over everything we do.
When a conflict arises, whom should we obey, Caesar or God? Should power prevail, or the good of the person? "It is not a question of Caesar dominating religion, or of religion dominating political power, but of obedience to God in the service of the person."
This message, the preacher says, we must hear again and again. It is a word that guides us every day, if we enter into its essence.

5. When the Church Confused Caesar and God

"Over the centuries, the Church gave to God what belonged to Caesar, and to Caesar what belongs to God." It seized temporal power and let the Caesars dictate its agenda. Who convened the councils? The emperor. Because commanding religion meant commanding people.
Around the year one thousand, the Church tried to reverse the relationship. It was a great struggle, and it did not always succeed. The preacher cites Boniface VIII, who wanted to assert "we are superior" and who came to a bad end. The problem remained the same: power. "And where there is power, there is always corruption."
Since Constantine, the Church has escorted hundreds of Caesars to justify violent conflicts and the "just war." For about twelve centuries, it relied on a forged testament of Constantine to claim power over other powers.
Even the Reformation was able to move forward because princes had the courage to oppose the emperor. This balance between Caesar and God remains to be discerned to this day.
The preacher, speaking for his own Protestant camp, laments that pastors today side with the ruling dictator, justify him and bless him: "they have understood nothing." Believing that one can impose one's religious ideas and one's vision of the Church on others in this way is "very dangerous."

6. Caesar's Business and the Church's Business

Giving to God what is God's means knowing that God does not say the poor or the immigrant must be crushed or driven out, and that he does not preach nationalism. Jesus' message says there is no skin color or way of thinking superior to another: "we are all brothers and sisters," and welcome matters. The Church is universal, it has no borders.
Caesar's business is power and success, and conflicts that end in profit, domination, war and the destruction of the other.
The Church's business is a life of peace that already opens the kingdom of heaven on earth. It builds from personal relationships, from the bottom up. Every day offers a thousand opportunities to choose peace, understanding and dialogue.
"The believer needs to give to Caesar what is his due, but not to take Caesar's side." The Church must have the courage to stand on the side of the weak. It plants the flag of the kingdom of God here and now, and begins to live it in advance, "even if everything is burning outside." It proclaims Jesus, the Prince of Peace, with no justification for anyone who wants to kill their neighbor, whoever that may be.

7. Standing Across the Current with Courage: The Hands and Feet of the Maimed Christ

The constant theme of Scripture is the Lord as advocate of the dispossessed, refugees, the abandoned, the exploited, exiles, the last. The people of God, from Abraham to Moses, from Jeremiah to Isaiah, lived rejected and as refugees. Hence this reminder from the Old Testament: you were a stranger, remember it and do not do to others what you suffered.
Jesus himself was a refugee from his birth, forced to flee to Egypt. With his first disciples, he always stood across the way of religious and political powers.
The preacher does not want to be naive: legislating on welcome is complex. He cites the example of the Federation of Churches, which brought families from Syria by plane, already knowing where they would have housing and work. Without that, a man who has nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep becomes desperate, prey to crime. Having lived more than thirty years abroad, he saw churches in Germany and Switzerland serve as a bridge and make people feel at home.
"The kingdom of God always has its doors open, because everyone is welcome there, and no passport is needed. It is in Caesar's kingdom that you need one."
Every Sunday morning, as he crosses the train station district on his way to church, he sees dozens of Peruvians eating in the street what women prepare and sell. "It tightens my heart." Where is the sign of welcome? Where could we be a bridge to God's love? "Standing across the current takes backbone."
The preacher tells of Pope Francis' visit to a Colombian crucifix. This crucifix was in a church where 300 people had taken refuge when a bomb thrown by the FARC exploded. Many died, and the crucifix was left without arms and legs.
This maimed Jesus is a powerful image of a Christ broken for this world, whose wounded side is open to the disfigured and the despised. Francis had commented: "I prefer a Church that is bruised by pain and dirty because it has gone out into the streets, rather than a Church that is sick from being shut in and clinging to its own security." For the preacher, this is the reform the whole Church needs.
"We are called to be the arms, legs, hands and feet of Jesus in this world, in order to give to God what is God's."
The first temptation of Jesus was precisely about power: Satan offered him the means to conquer the world. Jesus refused and started from the bottom. His disciples live at his side to serve broken humanity, alongside the afflicted, the abused and the beaten. The crucified and maimed Christ projects his love onto this martyred humanity that does not know how to live together, from Ukraine to the Middle East and Africa. "We are his hands, his legs, where we live."
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's. Let us remember it in this week that begins."

Key Takeaways

Jesus defuses the trap of the tribute without taking sides: he moves "crosswise," outside the usual patterns, and unmasks the hypocrisy of his questioners.
Giving to God what is God's means obedience to God in the service of the person, not the domination of one power over another.
The believer gives to Caesar what is due to him, but does not take Caesar's side. The Church does not let power dictate its program.
The Church's business is peace, harmony, mercy and service to others, with the courage to stand on the side of the weak.
We are the hands and feet of Christ where we live.

Personal Application

In a concrete conflict in your life, what prevails today: power, your own interest, or the good of the person?
Is there an area where you have given to Caesar what belongs to God: your loyalty, your trust, your hope?
What opportunities to choose peace, understanding and dialogue have you had this week?
On your usual route, who are the people you walk past without seeing? How could you be a bridge to God's love for them?
What today asks you for "backbone" so that you stand across the current, on the side of the weak?

Bible Passages Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was the question about the tax to Caesar a trap?

If Jesus said to pay the tax with a coin bearing the image of Tiberius, who had been declared a god, he could be accused of breaking the first commandment. If he declared the tax illegitimate, he could be accused of inciting revolt against Rome. Antonio Di Passa speaks of an answer that had to be given "on a razor's edge."

What does "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" mean?

Jesus does not use the verb "pay" but "give back," to return. He calls his listeners, who carry Caesar's coin in their pockets, to be consistent. But the emphasis falls on what follows: give to God what is God's. For the preacher, the question is not one power dominating another, but obedience to God in the service of the person.

What is the Church's mission toward political power according to this message?

The believer gives to Caesar what is due to him, without taking Caesar's side. The Church does not let power dictate its agenda. Its "business" is peace, harmony, mercy and service to others, with the courage to stand on the side of the weak.