Luke 20:20-26
Give Caesar What Is Caesar's
Read the passage
20So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.
21“Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
22Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them,
24“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they answered.
25So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
26And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people. And amazed at His answer, they fell silent.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The scribes and chief priests watch Jesus and send spies who pretend to be sincere. They want to catch Him in something He says so they can hand Him over to the governor.
They ask whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus sees their craftiness and asks them to show Him a denarius. He asks whose likeness and inscription it bears.
They answer, “Caesar's.” Jesus tells them to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. They are unable to catch Him in His words before the people, and they marvel at His answer and become silent.
The coin bears Caesar's image. Genesis 1:26–27 tells us that human beings bear God's image, giving us a further way to reflect on what belongs to God. Jesus does not make the state divine, nor does He use religious language to erase ordinary civic responsibility. He keeps the claims distinct and refuses the trap.
Questions
1 What do the spies pretend to be?
AnswerThey pretend to be sincere while watching Jesus for a statement that can be used to hand Him over to the governor.
2 What object does Jesus ask them to show?
AnswerHe asks them to show a denarius, then asks whose likeness and inscription are on it.
3 What does Jesus tell them to render?
AnswerHe tells them to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.
4 What does the answer refuse to do?
AnswerIt refuses both the trap of making political resistance the whole faith and the error of treating Caesar as if he were God.
What This Means for Us
Jesus rejects manipulative questions without avoiding the moral issue. A household can respect legitimate civic responsibility while remembering that every authority remains beneath God's claim.
The coin's image invites a deeper question: whose image do we bear? Public obligations matter, but no government, party, or leader owns the conscience that belongs to God.
Prayer
God, give us wisdom when public powers demand divided loyalty. Teach our household to fulfill honest responsibilities, resist idolatry, and remember that our deepest identity and conscience belong to You. Amen.