The answer of Jesus: V. 23. But He perceived their craftiness and said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? V. 24. Show Me a denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it?
They answered and said, Caesar's. V. 25. And He said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
V. 26. And they could not take hold of His words before the people; and they marveled at His answer, and held their peace. Jesus, the omniscient Son of God, noticed their craft, their sly cunning, even before they started to make their request. And He is not wanting in the frankness which they have just praised in telling them what He thought of them. He plainly told them that He knew their thoughts in trying to tempt Him.
He then asked for a denarius, the coin in which the imperial tax was usually paid (value, a day's wage).Then He demanded information as to the picture and the inscription stamped upon the coin.
Note: Instead of explaining to them at once what He told them afterwards, He made them give the information, making it appear that they had led Him to the conclusion, in order to confound them and win the people. Since the coin bore the emperor's picture, it presented irrefutable evidence that the emperor was the ruler of the land, for the coins of a strange country are not legal tender in the homeland.
And so the conclusion of Jesus seemed the only one that was justified under the circumstances, to give the things of Caesar to Caesar and the things of God to God. That is what God demands.
The people of God, the Christians, will, above all, give due honor and obedience to God. In matters which pertain to God, the Word of God, Christian worship, faith, and conscience, they are obedient only to God, and reject all interference of men. But in temporal things, in matters which concern this world only, such as money, goods, life, Christians are obedient to the government of the country in which they are living. The State is not to interfere in the matters of the Church, and the Church is not to meddle in the business and affairs of the State.
This answer of Jesus, while it satisfied the people, completely baffled the questioners. They could find no point at which they might take hold of, and attack, the Lord. At the same time, they could not repress a grudging, reluctant admiration for the clear distinction made by the Lord, and so they quietly withdrew.