The Image We Bear

Date: Monday, August 17, 2026

The religious leaders keep firing questions at Jesus, hoping to trap Him, and He keeps answering with wisdom and authority that blows their minds. The most famous exchange is the coin question: "Whose image is on it?" Caesar's, they say. "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." It sounds like a clever dodge, but it's actually a revelation. If the coin bears Caesar's image and belongs to Caesar, then each of us, made in the image of God, belong to God; owned, in the best possible sense, by love itself.

This is the same Jesus who, according to Psalm 40:6-8, put an end to sacrifices and offerings, saying: "Here I am, I have come to do your will." The author of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:5–7) tells us this psalm is Christ's own voice; the eternal Son stepping into human history to put an end to empty sacrifices, and opening the way for us to be who we were created to be: reflections of God's love to a broken and distracted world.

We spend so much energy today curating identities: job titles, résumés, and online profiles. None of these are truly who we are. It's just scaffolding at best. But behind it, is the true identity Jesus keeps trying to hand back to us. We are not defined by what we produce or how we perform. We belong to God: claimed, loved, and free to stop pretending.

Devotional Prompts:

What "coins" (roles, achievements, opinions) do you find yourself assigning the most value?
How does knowing you bear God's image change the pressure to prove your worth and free you to be who you are?

Prayer: Lord, You have stamped us with Your own likeness before we ever did a single thing to deserve it. Free us from proving our worth, and teach us to give ourselves back to You gladly, the way Christ did. Amen.