Wanting to trap Jesus on a religious-state issue, the joint forces of the Pharisees and Herodians gang up on him with a question, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” “Show me the coin that pays the census tax… whose image is this and whose inscription?” Jesus replies.
Here we see one of the smartest moves of Jesus in confronting his opponents. Someone even says that his response is nothing short of majestic. By his answer Jesus turns the tables on his adversaries and unveils their hypocrisy, without disclosing his own position, thus extricating himself from the dilemma.
Jesus answers the question with a dual ‘Render’ call. Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and render to God what belongs to God.
To better understand the meaning of the first call (to render to Caesar), it helps to note that in ancient times the use of coins had a strong political significance. Kings would issue coins with their image and inscription stamped on them. The implication was that the coins were the king’s personal property. Hence, the king held political power over the people who used the coin. Coinage indicated a strong link between the person on the coin and the person holding the coin.
Thus, Caesar’s image and inscription on the coin signify that the coin belongs to Caesar and so does anyone using it. By showing the coin in their possession, the Pharisees and Herodians manifest that they belong to Caesar which is affirmed by their actual collaboration with the Romans.
An aside. To this day, the coins and bills of every denomination continue to bear the image of their country’s presidents, heroes, and patriots, who gave the people their freedom and national identity. In gratitude, the government immortalizes their memory by stamping their faces on its currency. Like the image of Caesar on the Roman coin, the images of our patriots on our bills manifest our intimate link with them. In a certain sense, they own us since they own in fact our hearts. That is why I can’t understand why their revered faces have been removed from our bills and substituted with pictures of birds and shells.
Jesus however intends to convey a more important message than to dwell on the petty political issue of taxation. His second call (to render to God) elevates the discussion to a higher plain and places the responsibility of civil obedience within the larger and loftier context of obedience to God. “Render to God what belongs to God.”
And what belongs to God?
The whole world. “The Lord’s is the earth and its fulness.” (Ps 24:1)
And we, in particular. “Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock.” (Ps 100:3)
Like the Roman coin, we too have been stamped – with the image of God, no less. We are created in his image and likeness. We rightly belong to God not only because we are created in his image, but even more so because we are redeemed by the precious blood of his only begotten Son.
While the first reading provides a fitting introduction to the gospel theme of duty to the state and to God, it also presents a peculiar message regarding secular authority. God raises the Persian Cyrus to power and uses him as an instrument to liberate Juda from their captivity. After conquering Babylon, Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their city with his help. It is interesting to note that God calls this pagan conqueror his anointed one.
In the bible we see many instances wherein God uses rulers as instruments for his own purposes, whether redemptive (like Cyrus) or punitive (like the many conquerors of Israel). Sometimes it makes me wonder if God has a direct hand in putting up today’s tyrants and populist leaders who make the lives of their people miserable. Without going too far, let us take our own situation. Could it be that our present leaders are God-sent?
… I’m not too sure. What I’m sure though is that in all this God must have a message for us. Could it be a wake-up call from our complacency and indifference? Or could it be that we need a radical change of mind and heart individually and as a people? God-sent? I don’t know. What I know is that we put them there. As an old trite expression goes, we deserve the leaders we choose. Come to think of it, election time is here again.