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“Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17).
“Render therefore unto Caesar the thing which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
The Jewish leaders thought that this question would be impossible for the Lord Jesus to answer, but the Lord used great wisdom in His answer, and also reached their consciences. When they showed Him the tribute money, it had Caesar’s image on it, just as our money has the image of our leaders on it. Since the Romans were in power, it was only right that they had to pay taxes to Caesar.
But why were the Jews in that position? Why did the money have Caesar’s image on it, and why were the Romans ruling over them? It was because they had not rendered unto God the things that belonged to God. The Israelites had been unfaithful to the Lord, and for this reason He had allowed them to be under the rule of foreign governments. Now the Lord Jesus was there as their Messiah, and once again they were not rendering to God what belonged to Him. The Lord Jesus was the Son of God, and they would not recognize Him for who He was.
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