Is Jesus Really Lord of Your Life? - Matthew S6E4

In the Gospel of Matthew, when the Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar, they hand him a denarius. On one side is Caesar’s image and the inscription “divine.” On the other, the words “high priest.” Jesus looks at the coin and says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The word “render” is not the same as “give.” It means to bring back what is owed. And the deeper question Jesus is pressing is not about taxes or church-state relations. It is about identity: whose image do you bear?

The Trap and the Question of Lordship

The episode begins with the religious leaders—Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians—conspiring to entangle Jesus in his words. Each group represents a different distortion of authority. The Pharisees were legalists who created man-made traditions that eventually nullified God’s Word. The Sadducees were theological liberals who rejected the resurrection and the supernatural. The Herodians were political collaborators who served Roman interests. Despite their disagreements, they united against Jesus. Their question about taxes was a double-edged sword: if Jesus said pay, he would betray Jewish resentment of Rome; if he said don’t pay, he would commit treason. But Jesus sidesteps the trap by exposing the deeper issue. The coin bears Caesar’s image, so it belongs to