The Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus in Matthew 22.15-22 by asking him a question about paying taxes. Do you hear how ridiculous that is, they are trying to trick Jesus? He turns it on them completely and they walk away learning nothing at all. They marvel that they were outwitted but they seem to have missed the larger message and challenge He gave them. When Jesus asks whose image and inscription are on the coin they say, Caesar's, the Roman king. Jesus says, well then, if it belongs to Caesar give him what he asks of you but render unto God that which is His. What is God's, that which bears His image. How do we give God what is His? Moses, in Exodus 33.12-23 asks God how he can continue to find favor in God's sight and he asks specifically for God to show him His ways so that he(Moses) may continue to find favor in God's sight. Rendering to God what is His is a matter of knowing God's ways and following them. Paul tells the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 1.1-10 that is exactly what he did when he came to them and, to their praise, the Thessalonian Christians have emulated both Paul and the Lord in their own lives. It is easy to know but requires the Holy Spirit to do, which means praying constantly in and for all things.
