Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's stature but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?"
Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brought one to him and he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied to him, "Caesar's." So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." They were utterly amazed at him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
"Hypocrisy" is feigning to be what one is not.
The Pharisees were opposed to the tax; the Herodians [followers of Herod] were in favor of the tax. If Jesus answered to pay the tax, the Jews would be outrage. If Jesus answer not to pay the tax, he would be reported to the Romans as a revolutionary. What could Jesus say.
Jesus asked for a denarius. the coinage was the property of the Emperor. So, to have a denarius, indicated that you were on the side of the emperor. Jesus asked, "Whose image and inscription is this?" "Caesar's". So, Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. And further, implied, in whose image are we made? In the image of God. So the answer continues, and "[Repay] to God what belongs to God." We belong to God.
The Shema: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole strength and mind and heart and soul. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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