The Pharisees ask Jesus about taxes
13 Then the leaders sent some Pharisees to Jesus. They also sent some men who were friends of King Herod. They wanted Jesus to say something wrong. Then they could cause trouble for him. 14 These men came to Jesus and they said, ‘Teacher, we know that you only say true things. It does not matter to you what other people think. If someone is important, you do not change your answers to make them happy. You really do teach us what God wants us to do. Tell us, should we pay our taxes to the Roman ruler, Caesar? Is it right to give that money to him, or not?’
12:14Caesar was the most important Roman ruler. He lived in Rome, their capital city. In Jesus' time, the Romans ruled over many other countries.
15 Jesus knew that those men were not honest. So he said, ‘You are asking that question to cause trouble for me. Now, bring me a coin. I want to see it.’ 16 So they brought a coin to him. Jesus asked them, ‘Whose picture is on this coin? Whose name is on it?’
They replied, ‘It is Caesar's picture and Caesar's name.’
17 Jesus then said to them, ‘So you should give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. And give to God the things that belong to God.’
When they heard Jesus' answer, they were very surprised.
