The gospel of Matthew tends to treat the Pharisees rather harshly but they were, in fact, more aligned with Jesus’ style of teaching than other religious groups of the time. The role of the Pharisees was to interpret the Torah – the Law – for everyday people. They were teachers and preachers who often had a group of disciples who were their followers. 

This gospel passage is sometimes interpreted as Jesus’ endorsement of the Christian responsibility to state authorities through the obligation to pay taxes. In fact, Jesus neatly avoided the direct question put to him and never gave a response to the question of paying taxes. Rather, he made the question a much broader one and reminded people that their first obligation was to God, not the state. It is an excellent example of the need for critical interpretation of scripture. A simple, literal reading of this text leads us to drawing simple, literal conclusions about whether or not we should be paying taxes. In today’s world, how can we give to God what belongs to God?