This story appears in the Gospel of St Matthew. A group of Pharisees (represented in the New Testament as a particularly narrow-minded and intolerant Jewish sect) went to talk with Jesus to try and trip him into saying something compromising. They approached him as being the son of God, and not bound by human laws; and asked him whether it was lawful for a religious man to give tribute to Caesar or not. (Judea was then under Roman domination, which was resisted by many Jews.)
He asked to see a sample of tribute money, and they brought him a coin. He asked whose picture was on the coin; they replied that it was Caesar's. Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and render unto God the things that are God's." The story is sometimes viewed as an indication that, unlike many of his followers, Jesus was not interested in earthly rebellion, but only in changing people spiritually.
He asked to see a sample of tribute money, and they brought him a coin. He asked whose picture was on the coin; they replied that it was Caesar's. Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and render unto God the things that are God's." The story is sometimes viewed as an indication that, unlike many of his followers, Jesus was not interested in earthly rebellion, but only in changing people spiritually.