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Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21
The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion,
for you do not regard a person’s status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
“Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax.”
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?”
They replied, “Caesar’s.”
At that he said to them,
“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Imagine how surprised, even divided, this community might become if I started preaching about Donald Trump, Joe Biden, ICE, immigration, Iran, guns, taxes, data centers, mail-in ballots, or any other political hot potato.
It’s not my role as a preacher. Nor is it why we gather here on Sunday. We come to build community, to worship God, and to make disciples.
When the backbone of a sermon is political in nature, it becomes an immediate lightning rod, fanning tension within a congregation, and losing its intended effect.
I have no interest being in the hot seat.
And neither did Jesus.
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Jesus did not enter this world in order to divide and conquer until he bore an earthly crown, whose leaves would fade like the evening sun.
He came in peace, to reveal the face, the voice, and indeed the very heart of God. A heart that beats with unimaginable love, compassion, and mercy for all of his creation.
The Lord’s mission was meant to transcend politics, yet his life was still subjected to it.
This was not only true at his birth – when Herod feared the arrival of a newborn king – but also throughout his ministry, and even to his death.
We see this tension unfolding in today’s Gospel.
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The Pharisees and Herodians – two groups usually opposed to each other – unite under a single purpose: to throw Jesus into the hot seat, trapping him in his speech.
“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth,” they say. “So, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
This question was as partisan as picking a political party is today.
If Jesus opposed paying the census tax, then they would turn him in to the Roman authorities for being a revolutionary or an insurrectionist, and the Romans would have him crucified.
But if Jesus supported paying the census tax, then he would be seen as no real supporter of the Jewish cause; taxes directly supported Caesar, who occupied Jewish land.
It’s a catch-22. The Lord was in trouble either way.
But no one could ever trap Jesus; he was always in control of his destiny. Outsmarting his opponents, he asked them for a coin, which not only bore the image of Caesar, but it also proclaimed Caesar to be divine.
No pious Jew could carry such a coin because it broke the first and second commandments – to have no God but God alone, and not to bear false images. Yet where else do the Pharisees draw this coin from? Their very own pockets!
This not only revealed that the Pharisees paid their taxes; they also routinely broke the Commandments. Adding to their hypocrisy is the fact that this scene unfolded on Temple grounds, God’s house.
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“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” Jesus says, “and to God what belongs to God.”
We’ve all heard these words before. Many interpret them as an affirmation separating the Church from the state. But Jesus is not just giving us permission; he is also challenging us to give to each what belongs to each.
So, what does it mean to give to Caesar?
In America, this means paying our taxes and voting. Yet how many people cheat, search for tax breaks, loopholes, or evade paying their taxes at all? How many others choose not to vote?
“Give to Caesar,” Jesus says. Pay your taxes. Vote.
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Of course, the more challenging part is to give to God what belongs to God.
In the book of Genesis, we’re told that humanity was made in the image and likeness of God. And if we bear God’s image – just like a metal coin bore Caesar’s – then we must give God our very selves.
Yet, like paying taxes, how many struggle to do this? We can all suffer from the temptation to hoard what we believe to be our own – not only our money, but also our time.
Indeed, even our very lives.
Yet when God created the universe and everything in it, he wrote a law into all of creation; everything and everyone is ordered to give itself away.
For example, the sun does not shine on itself; its rays warm and brighten the earth. Rivers do not drink their own water. Trees do not eat their own fruit; they offer it for the nourishment of others.
When we do the opposite, when we hoard what we have – or worse, who we are – then we become less than the stars in the sky.
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May God give us the grace to live like the sun and the stars, giving whatever we have away – passing things to Caesar, and our very lives to God.
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Image credits: (1) Biblepure.com (2) The Politics Page, Facebook (3) Pinterest