Who comes First - God or Caesar?

WHICH GIVING TAKES PRECEDENCE? CEASAR'S OR GOD'S?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

One senior youth raised the above question to me after reading my article on Christian giving.

Here is my response.

Matthew 22:21 reads in part "...Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

In simple terms, Jesus is simply saying that believers have a duty to support church ministry and to meet their civic obligations to the state at the same time.

Which authority precedes the other?

To my knowledge, the Bible does not prescribe the order in which we should discharge our civic and religious obligations. However, both authorities are entitled to our faithful giving.

Someone may argue that the order of giving should be derived from the statement by Jesus. This would imply that Caesar comes first!

However, it is instructive to note that the context of the above statement in Matthew 22:21 is that Jesus was addressing the issue of whether or not the Jewish subjects should pay the punitive colonial taxes to the cruel Roman authorities.

Palestine was a colony of Rome at the time of Jesus and the administrative headquarters was in Caesarea (cf. Acts 23:23, 33). Jerusalem was the religious capital of the Jews.

The Jewish religious leaders were trying to put Jesus into conflict with the Roman authorities in the hope that He would be arrested for incitement. Jesus rightly perceived their evil intentions (Matthew 22:18).

Jesus set the record straight.

Whatever the order one chooses to apply, the issue boils down to our faithfulness in discharging our obligations to God through our faithful giving to church ministry and to Caesar [the civil authorities] through our payment of taxes.

I hope this explanation is helpful.



© Ezekiel Kimosop October 2019


For more articles by this writer, visit www.ezekielkimosop.blogspot.com