The Way of Caesar and the Way of Jesus
21 June 2026
By Revd Prince Devanandan
Genesis 21:8–21; Romans 6:1b–11; Matthew 10:24–39
Following the way of Jesus involves conflict. Jesus warned his followers: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” He speaks of division within families— “a man against his father… a daughter against her mother… one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”
Our immediate reaction may be: why would Jesus divide families?
We live amid many divisions. This is an election year, and we see political divisions—left and right—running through every level of society. Opinion polls can, in some ways, shape rather than reflect independent decision-making.
I was present at the Auckland Interfaith Council anniversary last Monday, where Race Relations Commissioner Dr Melissa Darby was the speaker. She highlighted the divisions we face, including racism, anti-migrant rhetoric, and the imported conflicts that some communities carry with them into New Zealand.
I asked whether it might be possible for immigrants to commit themselves to rejecting hate linked to those divisions, and how we might counter the anti-migrant rhetoric that is growing locally. Dr Darby responded that we are a democratic society in which freedom of speech is assured to everyone. However, harmful words often exist between the lines, and it is difficult to raise the legal threshold to punish hate speech. As a result, we must, to some extent, live with these divisions.
Jesus does not create these divisions—they are human-made. The division Jesus brings is of a different kind: it is the distinction between the standards of Caesar and the standards of the kingdom of God.
The way of Caesar is different from the way of Jesus. This is where real division arises. When allegiance to God conflicts with allegiance to worldly powers, even families and households may be divided. The Christian life we have chosen is, in many ways, a form of resistance to godless powers. The power of Caesar can be ruthless, and the law can feel insufficient to address deeper injustices such as hate speech. Yet we are called to follow the way of Jesus.
Jesus insists that his followers must love him more than even their closest relationships and must take up their cross, as he did—even at the cost of their own lives. However imperfect we are, God works through imperfect people in complex situations.
Our reading from Genesis shows Sarah’s strategy to secure the covenant through Isaac. To us, her actions may seem harsh. Yet God protects Hagar and her son Ishmael. God’s grace operates differently from human standards—in this case, differently from Sarah’s.
As we reflect on today’s Scriptures, we are invited to set aside human divisions and choose the way of Jesus. Christ has delivered us from the domain of sin and death and shown us how to walk in newness of life.
Paul explains to the Romans that the resurrection of Christ inaugurates a new reality. Through baptism, we leave the way of Caesar and enter God’s liberated order. We are called to live in the present as people who make the reality of Christ’s kingdom visible.
Baptism is a doorway into a new kingdom—a people who are distinct in the world. It is not merely an outward symbol of faith. Paul teaches that national, political, and ethnic divisions no longer define us because, in Christ, we are united. What is true of Christ Jesus is now true of us.
To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is to declare that, through the power of Easter, God has overcome the way of Caesar with the way of Jesus. The way of the world is replaced by a way that blesses the poor, comforts those who mourn, and calls us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. It is a kingdom that belongs to those who bear crosses—not to those who build them.
Allegiance to the way of Jesus will always place us in tension with the ways of the world. We cannot walk both paths. There is no middle ground between the way of Caesar and the way of Christ.
So the question before us is not theoretical—it is deeply personal: Whose way will we follow?
Will we align ourselves with power, security, and the expectations of the world?
Or will we take up the cross, trust in Christ, and walk in the newness of life he has given us?
Today, Christ calls us again—to choose his way.
And in choosing his way, we do not lose our lives—we find them. Amen.
Our immediate reaction may be: why would Jesus divide families?
We live amid many divisions. This is an election year, and we see political divisions—left and right—running through every level of society. Opinion polls can, in some ways, shape rather than reflect independent decision-making.
I was present at the Auckland Interfaith Council anniversary last Monday, where Race Relations Commissioner Dr Melissa Darby was the speaker. She highlighted the divisions we face, including racism, anti-migrant rhetoric, and the imported conflicts that some communities carry with them into New Zealand.
I asked whether it might be possible for immigrants to commit themselves to rejecting hate linked to those divisions, and how we might counter the anti-migrant rhetoric that is growing locally. Dr Darby responded that we are a democratic society in which freedom of speech is assured to everyone. However, harmful words often exist between the lines, and it is difficult to raise the legal threshold to punish hate speech. As a result, we must, to some extent, live with these divisions.
Jesus does not create these divisions—they are human-made. The division Jesus brings is of a different kind: it is the distinction between the standards of Caesar and the standards of the kingdom of God.
The way of Caesar is different from the way of Jesus. This is where real division arises. When allegiance to God conflicts with allegiance to worldly powers, even families and households may be divided. The Christian life we have chosen is, in many ways, a form of resistance to godless powers. The power of Caesar can be ruthless, and the law can feel insufficient to address deeper injustices such as hate speech. Yet we are called to follow the way of Jesus.
Jesus insists that his followers must love him more than even their closest relationships and must take up their cross, as he did—even at the cost of their own lives. However imperfect we are, God works through imperfect people in complex situations.
Our reading from Genesis shows Sarah’s strategy to secure the covenant through Isaac. To us, her actions may seem harsh. Yet God protects Hagar and her son Ishmael. God’s grace operates differently from human standards—in this case, differently from Sarah’s.
As we reflect on today’s Scriptures, we are invited to set aside human divisions and choose the way of Jesus. Christ has delivered us from the domain of sin and death and shown us how to walk in newness of life.
Paul explains to the Romans that the resurrection of Christ inaugurates a new reality. Through baptism, we leave the way of Caesar and enter God’s liberated order. We are called to live in the present as people who make the reality of Christ’s kingdom visible.
Baptism is a doorway into a new kingdom—a people who are distinct in the world. It is not merely an outward symbol of faith. Paul teaches that national, political, and ethnic divisions no longer define us because, in Christ, we are united. What is true of Christ Jesus is now true of us.
To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is to declare that, through the power of Easter, God has overcome the way of Caesar with the way of Jesus. The way of the world is replaced by a way that blesses the poor, comforts those who mourn, and calls us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. It is a kingdom that belongs to those who bear crosses—not to those who build them.
Allegiance to the way of Jesus will always place us in tension with the ways of the world. We cannot walk both paths. There is no middle ground between the way of Caesar and the way of Christ.
So the question before us is not theoretical—it is deeply personal: Whose way will we follow?
Will we align ourselves with power, security, and the expectations of the world?
Or will we take up the cross, trust in Christ, and walk in the newness of life he has given us?
Today, Christ calls us again—to choose his way.
And in choosing his way, we do not lose our lives—we find them. Amen.