In Luke 20:25, Jesus responds to the question of whether God wants us to pay taxes to Caesar or not, by saying "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's". An interesting and clever statement.
Again in Matthew 17:25-27, this conversation occurs:
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
"From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Very interesting. Kings should not tax their own people? He pays the tax anyway so that he will not cause offence, but would he have done it if Peter had never told the tax collectors that Jesus would pay? Who knows.
In the Luke 20:25 passage, I note that Jesus does not say "Give to Caesar whatever he demands", but rather "whatever is Caesar's", implying "whatever he is entitled to". What does this imply for us today? Are we permitted to apply this to our current government? Can we in good conscience before God withhold money which the government demands, if we judge them not to be deserving of it? I actually don't know. Jesus did pay the tax, although Luke 20 implies it was not with any great measure of enthusiasm, but rather to not cause a load of unnecessary scandal (or perhaps to be aware not to damage the weaker faith of others - See 1 Cor 10 & Rom 14).
It seems that in these two passages, Jesus made it clear that just because a government requires money of you, does not mean that God expects you to give it. Titus 3:1 and Romans 13:1 reinforce the importance of submitting to governing authorities, and recognizing that an orderly and policed society is God's will (at least that's how I understand it), but this must be taken alongside the two gospel passages examined above, so that Jesus appears to suggest an exception, as long as it does not cause offense. Jesus does not, however, promise that you won't get arrested and stuck in prison if you get caught not paying your taxes!!!! So don't be an idiot.
Again in Matthew 17:25-27, this conversation occurs:
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
"From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Very interesting. Kings should not tax their own people? He pays the tax anyway so that he will not cause offence, but would he have done it if Peter had never told the tax collectors that Jesus would pay? Who knows.
In the Luke 20:25 passage, I note that Jesus does not say "Give to Caesar whatever he demands", but rather "whatever is Caesar's", implying "whatever he is entitled to". What does this imply for us today? Are we permitted to apply this to our current government? Can we in good conscience before God withhold money which the government demands, if we judge them not to be deserving of it? I actually don't know. Jesus did pay the tax, although Luke 20 implies it was not with any great measure of enthusiasm, but rather to not cause a load of unnecessary scandal (or perhaps to be aware not to damage the weaker faith of others - See 1 Cor 10 & Rom 14).
It seems that in these two passages, Jesus made it clear that just because a government requires money of you, does not mean that God expects you to give it. Titus 3:1 and Romans 13:1 reinforce the importance of submitting to governing authorities, and recognizing that an orderly and policed society is God's will (at least that's how I understand it), but this must be taken alongside the two gospel passages examined above, so that Jesus appears to suggest an exception, as long as it does not cause offense. Jesus does not, however, promise that you won't get arrested and stuck in prison if you get caught not paying your taxes!!!! So don't be an idiot.
