I think the use of "before" is debateable.

My dissertation chair wrote a book partially on this subject. He pointed out that the Qamranites (like John the Baptist) preached that everything in the holy land belonged to god and nothing belonged to caesar. In that vein, "render unto caesar that which is caesar's and render unto god that which is god's" translates to "fuck caesar". Personally I have no dog in the fight, but this interpretation is a lot more fun.