What Would Jesus Do... about Taxes and Taxation?

By Michael David Riggs

If Jesus were on earth today in the flesh what would He say about taxes—about taxation? Is it possible that He said far more than "...render unto Caesar?" Is it possible that Jesus' words in the Bible hold the answers to the economies and fiscal crises of the world's governments. Find out in "What Would Jesus Do... about Taxes and Taxation?"

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9780985959319

Book preview

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Chapter 1

Jesus, the Wisest Person Who Ever Lived

It is widely known that Solomon has been called the wisest man who ever lived. He chose wisdom, and God granted it to him. This is proven in passages like 1 Kings 4:29–34, 1 Kings 5:12, and 2 Chronicles 1:7–12. Yet Jesus said of Himself that a greater than Solomon was here, on earth. Jesus spoke that of Himself twice, in Matthew 12:42 and in Luke 11:31. He was the greater than Solomon. Jesus was the wisest man to ever live.

The book of Colossians says of Jesus that in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2 & 3). Jesus is the Righteous One in whom Proverbs 2:7 says wisdom is hidden. Jesus is the One in whom the wisdom of God from the foundation of the world is hidden. I Corinthians 2 explains that the princes of this world crucified Him because they could not see and recognize this wisdom in Him. This was the foundational wisdom that God used in creation, and God has hidden it in Jesus. When Jesus entered time and space, He came as the One who was/is the wisdom of God in creation. He was the Word of wisdom which spoke creation into existence that we read of in John chapter 1. Whatever Jesus had to say about any subject, He said it from a position of complete wisdom and infinite knowledge.

Whatever Jesus said about taxes and taxation, He said from a mind of complete wisdom–from God’s mind. I’ve heard two life-changing statements about the Biblical book of Proverbs: the first was that it is important to read the book of Proverbs because when you do you’re reading God’s wisdom and you’re learning to think like God thinks. I don’t remember who I first heard say that but it was decades ago and obviously has had a lasting impact on my thinking. The second profound statement about the book of Proverbs that impacted me was from the spouse of a former employee, who stated that you should read the book of Proverbs with the idea that Jesus is narrating, because He is the personification of wisdom and Proverbs is the book of wisdom. We were specifically speaking of Proverbs, chapter 8, which indicates in verses 30 and 31 that wisdom was God’s playmate. The two verses read, Then I was by him, [as] one brought up [with him]: and I was daily [his] delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights [were] with the sons of men. The Hebrew root word for rejoicing is translated many different ways, but it actually means to laugh, play or sport according to the Gesenius Lexicon at www.blueletterbible.org, and that is how it is most often translated.

Jesus is the Living Word of God, so all the scripture regarding the abundant life of God that we possess in Christ is captured in the life of Jesus—it is a part of His life. So we see that Jesus on earth was the embodiment of God’s wisdom, the wisdom He used when He made all things.

Whatever Jesus had to say about any subject, He said with God’s complete wisdom fueling His words and backing Him up with credibility. And, as we will see in the next chapter, that includes what Jesus had to say about taxation.

Chapter 2

Jesus’ Teaching About Taxes and Taxation

(Taxation is bondage. It is enslavement!)

Here’s an interesting question: What would Jesus do, regarding taxes?

What was Jesus’ opinion of taxes and taxation?

If Jesus is the Son of God, if He really was God in the flesh while on earth, if He is the Living Word of God, then that’s a pretty important question. It’s important because when He spoke, He was speaking truth from God’s throne. When He spoke, He was speaking the wisdom and the mind of God. I completely believe He is all the above and that what He had to say about taxation is the very mind of God for us today. It is eternal truth.

So what was Jesus’ perspective on taxes and taxation? That question is worth a serious look. It becomes more serious when we see what He really did have to say on the issue.

Until recently I would have thought I was fairly aware of what Jesus said regarding taxes. After all, we can all quote it. You know what He said to the Pharisees who were trying to trap Him; render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s (Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25). That, by itself, seems like a broad, cut-and-dried statement. Three times God included it in Scripture for us. It appears that Jesus is simply telling us to pay our taxes, give the government what it demands, and make sure we also obey God. We may think that was all Jesus had to say on the matter, or at least that’s all I’ve ever heard taught or talked about.

Further, the terms good, God-fearing, law-abiding, and tax-paying have all been used in the same sentence for years to describe those who are noble and patriotic citizens. However, when we really see what Jesus said about taxation we may have a different attitude.

In Matthew 17:24–27, Jesus described taxation as a form of bondage or slavery. To the very disciple He was instructing to obey the command talked about above, He describes those who must pay taxes as being slaves, in bondage. Here’s the conversation between Jesus and Peter:

And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute [money] came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

There are several key statements in the above Scripture. When Peter was asked if his master paid taxes he said, Yes. Then, when Jesus saw Peter again, knowing what had just taken place, He asked Peter if the kings of the earth (or the world’s governmental rulers) take taxes of their children or of strangers. Peter replied that they took them from strangers. Jesus’ response was truly amazing, and shattering to most modern economic structures if we take His words to heart. He said, Then are the children free. In other words, those who are not taxed are free people, leaving those who are taxed as slaves. No matter how you twist, invert or ignore Jesus’ words this is contained in what He said.

A close word study will confirm the same. The word children or sons comes from the Greek word huios. Huios is translated as son or child. However, it is also used to describe one who depends upon another or is his follower.¹ This is the perfect match for the word Jesus used in Matthew 17:25 as kings. He used the Greek word basileus.² This word is translated first as leader of the people, but it is also translated as prince, commander, lord of the land, king.

The word strangers is a very strong word. It is from the Greek word allotrios and means belonging to another, foreign, strange, not of one’s own family, alien, an enemy. It is also translated Biblically as stranger, alien.³

Finally, the word used for free is the Greek word eleutheros.⁴ It is translated as freeborn, as in a civil sense one who is not a slave, one who ceases to be a slave, freed, manumitted [to let go or release from slavery⁵], free, exempt, unrestrained, not bound by an obligation, in an ethical sense: free from the yoke of the Mosaic Law.

It is obvious from the above word studies that Jesus is saying that the leaders of the world’s governments don’t take taxes of their followers or citizens, but rather take them of strangers or aliens, and the result of this is that their own followers or citizens are free citizens, exempt from taxation.

WOW! Based upon the words of the Son of God, what an antithesis of freedom we have allowed to develop in the United States of America. I’m sure the same is true in many nations of the world.

Jesus was saying that governments that demand taxes on citizens are treating them as enslaved people and not as free people. I believe Jesus was God in the flesh, and when He spoke He was releasing the wisdom of God into the earth. We