Matthew records for us that Jesus, a second time cleansed the temple area. The enemies of Jesus came to challenge Him on the issue of authority. He placed them on the hot seat by asking where John got the idea to baptize people in water for the remission of their sins (Matt. 21:23-27). Following this Jesus gave two parables, one about the wicked husbandmen and the other about the wedding feast (Matt. 21: 33- 22: 14). The enemies try a different way at this point. They come to Jesus on the issue of taxes. Not the temple tax from which they derived benefits but rather the taxes paid to Rome. They thought they could get Jesus into a word trap with no way out. If He said yes, the Jews would be mad at Him and if He said “no” the government would see Him as an enemy to the state.
Jesus asked for a coin with a question to His enemies about whose image was on the coin. The facts are it was Caesar’s image on the coin. Jesus then said you give to Caesar’s what is his and to God what is His (Matt. 22:21). He in effect switch the tables on them forcing them to answer about taxes. Their dilemma was the same as they tried to put Him into. If they said “yes” the Jews would be angry and if they said “no” the Romans would be. The next verse just has them leaving without making a reply.
Jesus in this setting did not endorse the life style of Caesar or of any of the Caesars. He was saying by the use of the image on the coin that certain things belong to government by which honest people are to be protected from the evil ones (Rom. 13: 1-5). In an election year we cast our votes for the candidate which we believe will best serve the interest our nation. It is not about popularity nor the lifestyle of the candidate by itself. We cast our votes to say what we believe is in the best interest of our country, that is the kind of government we want. The life of the candidate is of vital concern to us in as much as we are not like Rome but have the right to vote. We should exercise our right to vote and at all times pray for those in authority.