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Taxation was an economic burden, but also, at least potentially, it was an opportunity for venerating the Roman emperor who designated himself as semi-divine. The dilemma facing Jesus, then, is to support taxation and thus compromise his talk of the kingdom, or challenge it and face charges of sedition. Circumventing the trap, Jesus allows for the paying of taxes but at the same time calls into question the divine claims of the state and reaffirms the claims of God to ultimate loyalty.