To read the texts click on the texts: Isa45:1, 4-6; 1 Thes 1:1-5b; Mt 22:15-21
There
are times when we wish that certain incidents narrated by the evangelists, in
which Jesus speaks, would have been omitted. The Gospel text of today is one
such incident. This is because, if taken out of context, the saying of Jesus to
the Pharisees and Herodians “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”, can be used to justify the
clear division that some are wont to make between the sacred and the secular
and to divide these into two autonomous realms. Others may interpret the saying
as a call to unswerving loyalty and obedience to “secular” authority.
The
first reading, however, makes clear that loyalty and obedience are always to
the Lord though it may seem, at first glance, that it is a human being who is
responsible for the salvation of people. Thus, though it was through the
Persian king Cyrus that the Jews in Babylon were given their freedom, he was
but an instrument in the hands of the Lord. It was God who guided him to disarm
other kings and to open the gates of freedom by “grasping his hand”. The whole
world must be made to see that it was the Lord and the Lord alone who brought
liberation.
This
is why, in his response to the Pharisees, Jesus goes beyond the question asked
by the Pharisees and adds that what is God’s must be given to God. This does
not mean a separation of religion and politics, but rather that the kingdom of
God embraces every aspect of human life. Ultimate loyalty is always to God and
the kingdom rather than to narrow and parochial political interests.
The
question of the Pharisees is not a general question. That they intended to trap
him through his answer is clear when one realizes that the tax referred to was
the “census”. This was the Roman head-tax which had been instituted when Judea
became a Roman Province. Payment of the tax was a burning issue and the tax
could be paid only in Roman coinage. A “Yes” answer on the part of Jesus would
alienate the nationalists who were against paying the tax. A “No” answer would
probably lead to the arrest of Jesus by the Romans. Ironically the Pharisees,
who considered the image and inscription on the coin idolatrous, have a coin
and that too in the sacred precincts of the Temple. In principle, that
Pharisees resented and rejected the payment of the tax but would not go so far
as to physically oppose it. Though Jesus’ answer is an indirect “Yes” .he makes
clear by the addition “and to God the things that are God’s” that God always
has first place. While material things may be given to the Caesars of this
world, the human person belongs only to God. If one rendered to the state its
restricted due, all the more was one to render to God his unrestricted due,
namely, the totality of one’s being and substance, one’s whole existence, was to
be rendered to God. Loyalty to Caesar must always be set in the larger context
and thus be relativized by the full submission of the self to God. The bottom
line for the disciple of Jesus is to “render to God the things that are God’s”
Since the human person bears the image of God he/she cannot be given to Caesar,
but only to God.
The
Psalmist reiterates this theme in his invitation to all peoples to give glory
and honour only to God, since he alone is God. He is the one who made the
heavens and is king of all peoples. The Lord alone must be worshipped and no
one else. The worship offered to the Lord is one offered in holiness. His
governance is a governance of equity.
When
we are aware that we are made in God’s image and that everyone we encounter is
made in God’s image we may feel less inclined to separate ourselves from each
other. Yet it is equally important that we retain our identity as children of
God whether we are functioning as members of our household, our workplace, our
neighbourhood, or our city or nation.
As
committed Christians we are also obliged to look into the faces of our
neighbours and see God, especially when we are tempted to see those neighbours
as aliens. The Holy Spirit can work with us and through us when we do not
separate ourselves from that image, as he did in the life of Paul and the
Christians of Thessalonica. We then render to God our very selves in obedience
and service, which will in time touch all we have and own.
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