Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away. Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭II Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

We see here the Pharisees and teachers of the law try to “kiss up” to Jesus, playing nice as they lay a trap for him. He sees right through it. “Should we pay taxes to Caesar?”, they say. Yet they know the people will be arrested if they don’t. Will Jesus show himself to be an anti-government revolutionary, or will he be a follow-along to get along.

Jesus surprises them here and gives a great answer that is not totally definitive one way or another, but makes sense. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God’s.

His point is this: A heart after God has no time to scheme and try to entrap people. Instead, righteous people serve others, speak truth, and act in God’s will. I must get beyond myself and my petty grievances and focus on building the kingdom of God by loving and serving others. There is also an implied warning to these false teachers: take care of your obligations on this earth, but focus on serving those God has put under your care. Don't lead them astray or get prideful about your self-righteousness or positions of power.

Lord, teach me to keep it simple, stay pure, focus on your kingdom work, and serve others well.