Questions for Jesus: Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?

There's no Wednesday night Bible study this week, because our Bible Drill team is having their local drill in the sanctuary today in order to qualify for regionals, and all our Bible Study folks (including me) are judges.

So here is a short* thought on one of the most famous questions that Jesus answered...

Mark 12:13-17

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.

"Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?  Should we pay or shouldn't we?"

I think this question has added relevance in modern times when many Bible-believing Christians also identify strongly with conservative "Tea-Party" politics, but I will get to that later...


The first thing we need to recognize is that this was a trap question.  The Pharisees were there to represent the populist people, those who hated Rome and resented being subject to pagan Rome when they were God's holy people.  Some Jews believed that if they simply asserted their independence in faith, God would back them up (some did so - violently - they were called "Zealots").  At the very least, among the Pharisees and most of the crowds, to give any indication of being loyal or even submissive to Rome was to cast doubt on your faith and holiness.  You would be seen as a compromiser, like the power-hungry Sadducees and traitorous tax collectors.

Also there were the Herodians.  For the Pharisees and the Herodians to work together in anything shows how desperate both groups were to get at Jesus.  The Herodians believed the influence of Greek culture on the Jews was a good thing, and they believed that the Messiah would come from the line of Herod (needless to say, the Pharisees and Herodians despised each other).  The Herodians were sure to report Jesus if he said anything seditious in regard to the Jews' duty to pay taxes.

So Jesus was set up - or so they thought.

Jesus begins his answer by asking for a Roman coin that would be used to pay taxes.  This visual was an important part of his answer, because he asked them to look at the picture and inscription that was on the coin.  Both of these things came from Caesar, so Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's."

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's

Jesus was pointing out that the coin was of this kingdom, minted by Caesar for use in the empire.  He used this truth to illustrate that Caesar was only asking for earthly things.  Jesus taught his disciples all the time not to get caught up in earthly things.  Paying taxes to Caesar did not demand anything that was theirs to keep, anyway.  Giving earthly things to earthly powers should not upset the people of God, because these things do not have our heart.

The Tea Party movement, by the origins of its name, is very anti-tax.  I don't like paying taxes, and no one really does.  There are good arguments to be made that a government should impose as few taxes on its people as possible and should not treat the income of its citizens as if it were its own money to take as needed.  But these are political/economic arguments, not matters of the Christian faith. 

I have read arguments from some people that say taxes violate the commandment "Thou shall not steal."  This is an absurd, thoroughly unbiblical argument.  Besides Jesus' affirmation of the right of the government to tax here, there is the example of Joseph in Egypt taxing the people to prepare for famine, which was directed and blessed by God.  There are other examples as well.  The passion against taxes by some American Christians come from two places, neither of which is the Bible.

One is a long-time allegiance with political conservatism.  It was economic conservatives like Ronald Reagan who took up some moral/social issues that concerned Christians a few decades ago, and the political alliance was formed.  Christians can and should think about political and economic issues and vote and argue for the point of view they deem best.  But the ingrained habit of voting for political conservatives for their stance on social issues has, I think, confused many Christians as to what is revealed biblical truth (life belongs to the Lord and is sacred, for example) from what is a political argument (lower taxes are better).  This confusion, I think, has been detrimental to the church in many ways we won't discuss in this blog, but it is not as detrimental as the heart attitude that I believe is the second place from which many American Christians' anti-tax passion comes.

This second place is our allegiance to earthly things and money.  Jesus was not arguing that Caesar's tax was just or unjust.  He was saying we shouldn't really care.  It is similar to the attitude that Jesus had toward the oppressive action of a Roman soldier making a Jew carry something for a mile.  He said to carry it two miles.  This action asserts incredible freedom: I carry the first mile because I must; I carry the second mile by my own free choice, out of love for my enemy.  In the same way, we pay taxes (high or low) with a level of indifference, because we don't consider anything we own as ours to keep anyway.  This perspective brings incredible freedom.

Unfortunately, most of us have a hatred of taxes that is similar to the Jews of Jesus' day, all the more so with the rise of the Tea Party in all its zeal.  Like the with these Jews, this hatred is a negative indication of whether we are truly obeying the second part of Jesus' directive.

... and to God what is God's

One of the other questions Jesus answered at this time was, "What is the greatest commandment?"  Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  This answer gives us an indication of what belongs to God and must be offered back to him: our hearts, soul, mind, and strength.

God deserves our soul and our worship.  When Caesar later demanded worship from Christians, they died rather than to "render unto Caesar" that which belonged to God alone.  But today, while we (grudgingly) give to Uncle Sam what is due him, we do not give to God what rightfully belongs to him.  And this is reflected in our attitude toward possessions.

A tax increase is stressful and can create worry, and it is annoying to give such a large chunk of your income to a government that does not manage money well and often uses it for purposes which you may oppose.  While these attitudes are natural, they are not part of the freedom that Christ offers in his kingdom.  The more we set our minds and hearts and energy on what is unseen, letting a spiritual/eternal perspective guide our decisions, the more these concerns about petty things like dollars and cents will fade away.  Further, it will free us from much of the animosity we might feel  toward our government, allowing us to live at peace, both financially and politically.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's

The Bible tells us they were amazed at Jesus' answer.  They had tried to trap Jesus, but they only gave him another chance to display his brilliance to the crowds who observed them.  The Herodians had nothing to report; Jesus had told the people to pay their taxes.  The Pharisees had no hook with which to turn the crowd against him, either; Jesus' demands for what you must give God could not be any higher.

We are also left to be amazed at the teaching of Jesus.  And we are reminded that our attitude toward "rendering under Caesar" is a good indication of whether we are truly giving God all that he deserves.

*Wow... I had more to say about that than I thought I would.  So much for a "short thought"!