And he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They answered him, “Caesar’s.”
In these two verses Jesus, asking for the tax denarius, poses a simple yet deeply meaningful question about to whom the image and inscription on the denarius belong. By this He compels them to speak the truth themselves, which, as we will see, will become the answer to their own question. On the denarius was the emperor’s portrait and his name, which meant that the coin belonged to the emperor and was used under his authority. This question, which seems simple, in fact reveals Jesus’ divine wisdom: first He draws from their own mouths the confession that the tax money is connected with the emperor’s authority, and thus prepares them for His concise answer that astonishes with its wisdom.