Taxation of the Jewish people by the Roman colonizer-state was a burning issue among the Jews of Jesus’ day. The Pharisees were bitterly opposed to taxation by Rome and they bring the subject up to Jesus.
Jesus points out to the Pharisees that the coin bears the head of the Roman emperor, Tiberius Caesar. “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” he tells the Pharisees, “and to God what belongs to God.” He’s telling them in effect: The Romans are here because originally you invited them. You’ve benefited from their protection and rule and peace. You use their coinage. You have an obligation to pay taxes to Rome.
Jesus’ answer, however, is not absolute, in the sense that it’s not applicable to all such situations. For example, a few years later it definitely would not be applicable. For the Roman emperors would begin to think of themselves as gods and would demand worship. Therefore, Christians could no longer give to the emperor what the emperor claimed. Giving to the emperor what belongs to him does not therefore mean that Christians should isolate their political and civic lives from their faith.
Every political act has a moral dimension. The Christian has to judge the morality of these acts.
