April 15th is not a day that most Americans look forward to. It’s the deadline for filing our taxes; a day when Uncle Sam comes to take what is his. Whether we should pay taxes to the government or not has been a debatable issue from the beginning of our nation and that is a topic for another day. Jesus gave his opinion concerning this question in his day when the Jews were under Roman rule.

Lk 20:20-26: Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Hidden in this passage is an amazing revelation. Jesus in the Spirit of wisdom that dwelt in him, answers his adversaries in a way that they did not expect. “Whose image and inscription are on it?” And they easily responded, “Caesar’s”. His next statement was what shocked them more, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”