He shows us how much more powerful and mighty God is compared to all earthly rulers and kingdoms...without encouraging us to disregard and disrespect earthly authority.
(Matthew 22- especially the question about whether Jews should pay taxes to a heathen-Roman-occupying-coloni
The powerful way he emphasizes that the Emperor should ONLY get what ONLY TRULY belongs to him
("his coins") MUST remind us that in reality everything the State has and the Emperor claims, all commitment, duty and loyalty the State asks us to give whole-heartedly is in God's hands.
It is only truly God who deserves utmost allegiance and we must choose Him above the State.
Remember, Jesus died at the hands of the "powerful" Roman empire - in reality gave himself up- but now Jesus lives as King and that Roman empire is non-existent.
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