By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v15The Pharisees went off and made a plan to trap Jesus with questions. v16Then they sent to him some of their disciples and some members of Herod’s party. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you tell the truth. You teach the truth about God’s will for people, without worrying about what others think, because you pay no attention to anyone’s status. v17Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?” v18Jesus, however, was aware of their evil plan, and so he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? v19Show me the coin for paying the tax!”
They brought him the coin, v20and he asked them, “Whose face and name are these?” v21″The Emperor’s,” they answered. So Jesus said to them, “Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God.” v22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.. – Matthew 22:17-22
The bad boys in the gospel continue to harass Jesus with their dirty tricks. As we recall, the parables in the past weeks were not only Jesus’ explicit explanation about the Kingdom of Heaven but also a skillful fashion of thwarting the religious leaders’ malicious intent. The conspiracy is to put Jesus on the spot by asking him ambiguous questions like in this Sunday’s gospel story. The trolls this time are a joint force of Pharisees and the Herodians to make Jesus stumble in front of His people with a question about paying poll taxes to Caesar. The Herodians were a non-religious Jewish party who supported the dynasty of Herod and the general policy of the Roman government. They perceived that Christ’s pure and spiritual teaching and influence were antagonistic to their interests. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were members of an ancient Jewish sect who believed in the strict observance of oral traditions and the written Law of Moses. They didn’t believe that Christ was the Messiah, despite His many miracles during His earthly ministry. Although Herodians and Pharisees were at opposite ends of the political spectrum, their common hatred of Christ was enough for them to join forces to try to destroy Him. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ finds true example in this unholy alliance.
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Jesus had just returned to Jerusalem for the final time and recently finished sharing several parables with the crowd. Jesus’ enemies saw an opportunity to put Jesus on the spot in front of His followers. In verse 17, they say to Jesus, “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (ESV). It was a trick question, and they knew it. If Jesus answered, “No,” the Herodians would charge Him with treason against Rome. If He said, “Yes,” the Pharisees would accuse Him of disloyalty to the Jewish nation, and He would lose the support of the crowds. To pay taxes or not to pay taxes? The question was designed as a Catch-22, a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions. But Jesus aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. The denarius was a coin used as the tax money at the time. It was made of silver and featured an image of the emperor with an inscription calling him “divine.” The Jews considered such images idolatry, forbidden by the second commandment. This was another reason why, if Jesus answered, “Yes,” He would be in trouble. His acceptance of the tax as “lawful” could have been seen as a rejection of the second commandment, thus casting doubt on His claim to be the Son of God.
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Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” It is a brilliant way of Jesus drawing a sharp distinction between two kingdoms. There is a kingdom of this world, and Caesar holds power over it. But there is another kingdom, not of this world, and Jesus is King of that (John 18:36). Christians are part of both kingdoms, at least temporarily. Under Caesar, we have certain obligations that involve material things. Under Christ, we have other obligations that involve things eternal. If Caesar demands money, give it to him—it’s only mammon. But make sure you also give God what He demands.
The answer of Jesus is layered with so many meanings that could help us settle the dichotomies of life and thus be guided in our faith journey. We have our own legions of loyalty. Sometimes there are so many or even fickle (balimbing) for our own good. Our many loyalties can make or unmake our relationships. We may feel that the strings of power and persuasion tied to us need only to be tugged a bit, and then we have to move as they direct. The company we work for, the government we live under, the political party we pledged to support, the family we belong to, the possessions we own – all these things exercise varying degrees of control over our lives. To a large extent they determine how we spend our time, our money, our energy, our moral decisions and obligations, our whole being. We are all witnesses recently in the confusing lead of the government leaders’ opposing sides relative to the pandemic. The grave issue of health or wealth (buhay or kabuhayan) in setting priorities to combat the pandemic is a life and death concern. The latest brouhaha in the lower house is a serious lesson that Filipinos should not forget comes election 2022. It was a clear display of opposing loyalty among the (dis) honorable representatives of congress, of party loyalty, power and money versus the welfare of the whole nation particularly in this time of unprecedented crisis. Our problem is that there are too many Caesars before which we stand accountable. It’s impossible to please them all. Rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s is more than some folk feel they can handle.
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As Christians, we can’t claim to love God and then ignore the needs of our neighbors. If we claim to be “Christians,” we need to prove it by our behavior. And serving other people by working for justice, charity and truth in our nation’s political life is one of the very important ways we do that. The “separation of church and state” does not mean – and it can never mean – separating our Christian faith from our public witness, our political choices and our political actions. That kind of separation would require Christians to deny who we are; to repudiate Jesus when he commands us to be “leaven in the world” and to “make disciples of all nations.” That kind of radical separation steals the moral content of a society. We can, as Christians, be good citizens in a secular society provided what that society asks of us does not contravene our commitment to Christ. “Render unto Caesar’s the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are of God” cannot mean anything else. For our ultimate loyalty lies with Jesus and our heavenly Father. Michael Green reminds us that in Jesus’ response to the Pharisee, he used the Greek word “apodote” which is translated render or give back.
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“Render that which is Caesar’s to Caesar and to God that which is God’s.” Christians have been trying to figure out how to do that ever since. One Christian said, “I don’t vote. I think about it and can’t see how voting can honor God. So I just don’t vote.” Another Christian said,” I believe it is my Christian responsibility to vote. I try to vote as intelligently as I can. Frequently it means choosing between the lesser of two evils. One humorist described voting as choosing ‘the evil of two lessers.’ I think that is funny, but it still hurts. I believe God wants us to do the best we can in an imperfect reality. One preacher observes that most of us are somewhere in the middle, trying to honor God and trying to be good citizens of our country. Believers under normal circumstances must pay taxes and submit to government authority (Romans 13:17), even though our highest loyalty is to God. We must obey secular government except when it conflicts with the law of God; we must never disobey Jesus’ command to “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” But Jesus is saying something deeper. He ends his response with “render to God what is God’s.” This suggests to us that there are some ultimate citizenship issues. In the scriptures Jesus makes many references to the “Kingdom of God.” We all say that we believe it. In the Creeds we use the phrase “whose kingdom will have no end.” We have never seen this kingdom. There is a sense in us that somehow our ultimate citizenship is not in this world. Jesus is calling us to our true, ultimate, and permanent citizenship. He makes that possible for us through his life, teaching, death, resurrection, and continuing presence with us. Our true citizenship will be at the heavenly banquet. Amen! May it be so.
(References: episcopalchurch.org>SermonsThatWorks; GotQuestions.org; SermonCentral.com; Life in Heaven’s Kingdom, CSS Publishing Company)
Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (ECP-BCP Proper 24 Collect)**
