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Render to Caesar, but Yield Your Heart to God

May 26, 2025
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Daily Scripture

Matthew 22:15-22; John 18:3-11, 33-40

Matthew 22
15 Then the Pharisees met together to find a way to trap Jesus in his words. 16 They sent their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are genuine and that you teach God’s way as it really is. We know that you are not swayed by people’s opinions, because you don’t show favoritism. 17 So tell us what you think: Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 Knowing their evil motives, Jesus replied, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used to pay the tax.” And they brought him a denarion. 20 “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked.
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” 22 When they heard this they were astonished, and they departed.

John 18
3 Judas brought a company of soldiers [Or cohort (approximately six hundred soldiers)] and some guards from the chief priests and Pharisees. They came there carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus knew everything that was to happen to him, so he went out and asked, “Who are you looking for?”
5 They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
He said to them, “I Am.” (Judas, his betrayer, was standing with them.) 6 When he said, “I Am,” they shrank back and fell to the ground. 7 He asked them again, “Who are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you, ‘I Am.’ If you are looking for me, then let these people go.” 9 This was so that the word he had spoken might be fulfilled: “I didn’t lose anyone of those whom you gave me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus told Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?” 

33 Pilate went back into the palace. He summoned Jesus and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others spoken to you about me?”
35 Pilate responded, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your nation and its chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.”
37 “So you are a king?” Pilate said.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Whoever accepts the truth listens to my voice.”
38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked.
After Pilate said this, he returned to the Jewish leaders and said, “I find no grounds for any charge against him. 39 You have a custom that I release one prisoner for you at Passover. Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?”
40 They shouted, “Not this man! Give us Barabbas!” (Barabbas was an outlaw.)

Daily Reflection & Prayer

Jesus could likely have pursued political power if he’d wanted to (cf. John 6:15). But in Matthew 22, when his enemies tried to trap him with a political question, he replied with an option they hadn’t thought of: dual citizenship, accepting the ruling authority, but giving ultimate loyalty to God as king. On trial for his life, he baffled Pontius Pilate, a Roman politician, who asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus calmly asserted his kingship, but said it came from and ruled over a totally different realm.

  • “The coin may belong to Caesar, but human lives belong completely to God. Jesus’ answer doesn’t call for the revolutionary overthrow of the empire, but neither does it support Roman authority…. it identifies one’s most basic and essential allegiance as belonging to God.” * What are your main human loyalties (e.g., family, school, company, maybe political party)? How can you remember that God’s Kingdom is ultimately real, beyond earthly borders or bureaucracies?
  • When armed men came to arrest Jesus, Peter reacted as if Jesus were an earthly ruler. He’d said he was ready to die for Jesus, to “go down fighting” (cf. John 13:37). But Jesus’ kingdom’s values meant Peter’s life, lived by those values, would do more to defeat evil than his sword ever could. Have you ever, in a political dispute, had a sense that God had to tell you, in effect, “Put up your sword”? When has God’s Spirit led you to a more Christ-like way to handle an issue?
Prayer

Dear God, your kingdom is not of this world, but lots of my day-to-day life is. Keep my heart attuned to your still small voice, the voice of my model and my true king. Amen.

GPS Insights

Picture of Katy Nall

Katy Nall

Katy Nall serves as the Program Director of Missions for Resurrection West. She is a mom of two and loves to be outside in the sunshine, especially if it involves mountains or ocean. She loves hiking, reading, learning, and connecting.

Conflict is an inevitable part of life. Some people naturally shy away from it… and I am not one of those people. When I see things in the world that feel wrong or unjust, I feel an overwhelming compulsion to speak up. Sometimes it’s over something relatively small, like feeling like my daughter isn’t getting fair playing time on her softball team. Other times, it’s far more serious—like witnessing widespread suffering caused by the actions, or inaction, of others.
 
In these moments, staying silent doesn’t feel like an option. I want to make things right. Like, now. But the question I must wrestle with is: How? How can I speak out against injustice, hate, or harmful actions in a way that still honors the humanity of those I disagree with?
 
When someone confronts me with a viewpoint I strongly disagree with, my instinct is to get defensive—to argue, to prove them wrong, to list all the reasons why their perspective doesn’t hold up. But I know deep down that this kind of reaction rarely leads to real understanding, and it definitely doesn’t invite connection.
 
What I’ve come to realize through stories in Scripture is that Jesus offers a very different way of handling conflict—one that is both disarming and deeply respectful. When he was questioned—often by people looking to trap or challenge Him—he didn’t immediately launch into a rebuttal. Instead, he asked questions.
 
This might seem simple, but it’s profoundly powerful. Questions can transform the tone of a conversation. They show genuine interest and respect. They invite the other person to explain more fully, revealing not just what they believe, but why they believe it. This helps us better understand their motivations—and sometimes, helps them understand those motivations too.
 
Asking a thoughtful question first can be disarming. It breaks the cycle of defensiveness and opens space for dialogue. When people feel heard, they are more likely to listen in return. Jesus modeled this so well—seeing each person as more than their opinion or behavior, and choosing to engage them with wisdom and compassion.
 
Conflict isn’t always bad. In fact, when navigated with love and humility, it can be a doorway to deeper connection and understanding—even when we still don’t agree. I pray that I will continue learning to follow Jesus’s example: to ask questions before raising my voice, and to use the inevitable conflicts of life not as walls, but as bridges toward others.
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References

* Eugene Eung-Chun Park and Joel B. Green, study note on Matthew 22:21 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 48 NT.