July 24, 2026 · David Farmer
Paying Tribute
“So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.”
Luke 20:21-26 →
## Taxes
So the false disciples sent in by leaders of the people try to lead Jesus to say something against the government’s tax demands. “Lawful” can also be understood to mean “legitimate obligation”. “Give tribute” simply means “pay taxes”, and some of your translations plainly say it this way. Attaching their question to the phrase “Way of God”, they’re asking, “Does God really legitimately obligate us to pay taxes to human governments?” Paul includes taxes when teaching submission to the authorities (Romans 13). Governments have been instituted by God. Resisting them is resisting God. “Pay taxes, for the authorities are Ministers of God” (13:6).
## Likenesses
This is one of my favorite sections in Scripture. Jesus’ answer is easy, genius, and profoundly implicative! Luke 20:24 “‘Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” “Likeness” here is the basically the word “icon”. A study in ancient coinage shows that different nations minted their coins with icons/images of what was important to them. Minting within a culture became standardized to show what nation it belonged to. The Lydian king, Alyattes of Sardis, is credited with producing the first coins. He
used a lion image. The Celts used runes, while Chinese and Islamic coins carried much writing as opposed to images. Still, the Romans used likenesses of their emperors. So if the coin has Caesar’s image on it, give it to him. According to Jesus, it is the Way of God to pay taxes with the money of the world to the government who produced it. If they hadn’t made it, you wouldn’t have it. So the trickle down implication of the second part of Jesus’ Comment...
## Self-Check
Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after
## Our likeness...’”
Show me a man. Whose likeness does he have? Then render to God the things that are God’s. According to Jesus, it is a legitimate obligation to pay tribute to God. If God hadn’t made us, you wouldn’t have life at all.
## Inscriptions