“Well, then,” [Jesus] said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” His reply amazed them, and they went away. (Matthew 22:21-22)
I once visited an older couple and asked them what they thought was the secret to their happy, long marriage. The husband didn’t hesitate. “I learned early on to end every conversation with ‘Yes, dear.’”
His wife immediately disagreed and proceeded to explain why that wasn’t really the secret at all. When she finally finished, her husband smiled and said, “Yes, dear.”
The last word.
I think many of us can relate to the desire to have the final say. We see it in everyday conversations, family disagreements, and especially on social media, where people can go back and forth endlessly, each determined to prove a point. Sometimes winning the argument seems more important than understanding one another.
As it turns out, the desire to get the last word isn’t anything new. Jesus encountered it, too.
The religious leaders wanted to trap Jesus with a question about taxes. Should God’s people pay taxes to Caesar, the Roman emperor? It was a clever trap. If Jesus said yes, he risked angering people who resented Roman occupation and the heavy taxes imposed on them. If he said no, he could be accused of challenging Roman authority.
They thought they had him!
But Jesus saw through their plan. He asked them to show him a coin and identify whose image was stamped on it. When they answered, “The emperor’s,” Jesus replied, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
With that, he turned their question into something much bigger.
The coin bore the emperor’s image, but what bears the image of God? According to the creation story in Genesis, we do. Every human being is created in the image of God. Our lives are gifts from the One who created us.
So, what does it mean to give to God what belongs to God?
Well, it means that our ultimate allegiance belongs to God.
And if we call ourselves Christian, it means following the ways of Jesus.
This matters, especially in a time when political disagreements can feel so personal and divisive. It’s easy to become so invested in a political party, a particular leader, or the need to prove ourselves right that we completely lose sight of what matters most.
We want the last word.
We want to win.
We want others to see things our way.
But what if our faith calls us to something different?
Just a few verses later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus identifies the greatest commandment:
Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Maybe rather than getting the last word, we ask ourselves, “Am I loving God and my neighbor in the way I respond?”
That doesn’t mean agreeing with everyone or remaining silent in the face of injustice. Love sometimes requires speaking up, challenging harmful ideas, and standing alongside those who are being hurt.
But we can do those things without surrendering our compassion or forgetting that every person bears God’s image.
Our hope for a better world is not found in political parties or our own desire to be right, but in the God who calls us to lives of faithfulness and love – Love for all.
Amen?
“Yes, dear!”
