Editors note: This is part six of an eight-part series exploring the eight Jesus questions all of us must face, highlighted in Jim Wallis's new book Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus (HarperOne), available now. These next eight weeks will help us go deeper than the headlines, to find our way back to Jesus in the midst of this intensive and exhausting news cycle. 

Want to hear this in an audio format instead? We just launched an eight-episode podcast series called Reclaiming Jesus Now that features Allison Trowbridge and William Matthews speaking with Jim Wallis about these questions and their relevance today.

When Jesus answers the Pharisees’ trick question in Matthew 22:21 by saying “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” the text says they were amazed and went away, not having a good counterargument to offer.

But this famous teaching from Jesus inspires some logical follow-up questions. What belongs to Caesar, and what belongs to God? How do we discern what belongs to whom? What level of allegiance, loyalty, or obedience do we owe government? When does obedience to God demand disobedience to government? These have long been important questions for followers of Jesus and feel particularly potent in this political era, when we often contend with those who misrepresent or abuse this text in an attempt to put the power of the state over the power of faith.

The truth of Jesus’ life and ministry is just the opposite: Jesus was and is a deeply revolutionary figure, a threat to the status quo — it’s this understanding of who Jesus is that desperately needs to be reclaimed.

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