Render to Caesar....

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"Render to Caesar what is Caesar's , 

and to God what is God's" (Mt.12:17).

This is one of those quotations that we're so familiar with that it loses its punch. So, when it came up recently as the assigned gospel passage, I went and read it in the Greek. As usual, the effort proved worth it. Here's what I found.

The verb "render" or "give" (apodidomi) is made up of two elements: didomi (give) and apo (back, return). It implies giving to another something that is due in payment of a debt, pay back something owed. This is the case here, with the question of the payment of Roman taxes. Here's a way of seeing the interaction:

Pharisee: Is is lawful for a Jew to pay taxes to the Roman emperor?
Jesus: Well, show me a Roman coin.
[Several people reach into their purses and take out a Roman coin. Jesus accepts one.]
Jesus: So, I see that all of you use the Roman monetary system, which is stable and convenient and well administered. Well, if you're going to use the Emperor's monetary system, then it's only fair that you should pay for the privilege. So, pay your taxes to Caesar; give Caesar what is his due -- but give God what is God's due.

So, reflecting on the meaning of apodidomi as paying back a debt, we  have the question that is posed in Psalm 116: "What shall I render to the Lord, for all the good things he has done for me?" Other translations say "How can I repay the Lord..." Before replying that there's no way I can ever repay the Lord for all the goodness I've received, try phrasing it this way: "What do I owe the Lord?"

The bible is full of answers to that question, so many that it makes your head spin. Jesus sets the example in Gethsemane: "Not my will, but yours be done." 

"Jesus went off by himself to pray."

Or how about this: "Whatever you do to the least of my people, you do unto me. I was hungry and you gave me food."

In Psalm 65 we read "To you our praise is due in Sion, O God."

You can go through the scriptures yourself and find plenty of other answers to the question of "What do I owe the Lord."

Most of us are pretty good at paying our bills and our taxes; it's just the way the system works.
But I wonder how many of us are willing to admit that we really owe God a debt. Some of us seem to want to dispute the charges.

I believe that Jesus is telling us that the way to true happiness is to spend our lives repaying our debt to the Lord by imitating his life of love and prayer and service to others.