A short reflection for a Service of Morning Prayers on 16th January 2026
Jesus said; Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” 21 They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:19-22
A Trap Turned Into a Teaching
In this brief but striking exchange, Jesus is handed a coin and asked a question meant to trap him.
Instead of being cornered, he redirects everyone’s attention to a deeper truth.
Seeing Beyond the Surface
“Whose image is this?” he asks.
The coin bears Caesar’s image, so it must belong to Caesar, Jesus says
We Bear God’s Image
But the unspoken implication is far more profound: we bear God’s image, and therefore we belong to God.
Jesus told them “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
Living from Our True Identity
Morning Prayer invites us to begin the day by remembering this very thing.
Before we step into our responsibilities, our work, our obligations — all the “Caesar” parts of life —
Jesus reminds us that our truest identity is rooted in God.
We are not defined by what we produce, what we earn, or what we owe.
We are defined by the One whose likeness we carry.
So as we offer our prayers this morning, we might hold this question in our hearts:
What Will We Give to God Today?
What would it look like today to give to God what is God’s?
Perhaps it is our attention, our compassion, our willingness to be shaped by grace.
Perhaps it is simply the quiet intention to live this day as someone stamped with God’s image.
Maybe today will be a day of reorientation — a reminder that while we navigate the demands of the world,
our lives ultimately belong to the God who created us, sustains us, and calls us into freedom.
