“Give to Ceasar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God”
Being Good Christians and Honest Citizens
In many aspects of his public life Jesus seems to be a rebel. He blatantly disobeys the Sabbath law (Jn 5:1-19; Lk 13:10-16; Mk 3:1-6). Not only did he break the law but allowed his disciples to do the same (Mt 12:1-14). Jesus questioned the rationale of the Law of Moses and offered a new interpretation (Mt 5:1-7:29), even though he claimed, “I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Mt 5:17). Jesus challenged the powers-that-be: the priests, the lawyers, the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And yet, in the gospel reading of today Jesus tells the Pharisees and the Herodians to continue ‘to pay taxes’ to the Romans. What is he up to?
Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. We need to pay attention to the vocabulary used in the conversation. The question put to Jesus is in terms of, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” In other words, is it lawful from the perspective of our faith – in the rule of Torah – to pay taxes to a pagan king? But Jesus’ answer to this is, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Firstly, Jesus does not want to separate one’s religious faith from fulfilling one’s duty towards the state. And after all, God can work even through a pagan king like Cyrus as he did in Babylon – the focus of our first reading of today (Is 45: 4-6). Secondly, Jesus does not see this act as ‘paying’, but only as ‘giving back’. Jesus’ main argument in persuading his interlocutors is based on the image engraved on the denarius. The Jews considered all graven images as idolatry; therefore it would be wrong even to touch a Roman coin which had the image of Caesar – the King of Rome. (That is why, the Roman coin was not used in the temple offerings, but the Jews used it in daily transactions.) But Jesus’s own view seems to be: “After all, you carry around this coin and trade with it without feeling any qualms of conscience, why then do you make fuss about paying tax? Give back to Caesar the benefits that you enjoy in using this coin. Why would you evade paying tax in the name of your faith?” Jesus does not want them to use their religious faith to escape from their duty towards the society and state. A good lesson to some people in our own time who may be very generous to the church but evading paying taxes!
Give back to God what belongs to God. But Jesus goes beyond their question about the duty towards the king. He uses this occasion to invite them to contemplate a very deep spiritual reality. “Give back to God what belongs to God.” What belongs to God? Everything! And in whose image are you? In God’s image (see Gen 1:27). Therefore give back to God everything that you possess and above all, your own self. Don’t evade that. Are we ready to be challenged by the Word of God on this Sunday and give our whole self to God?