October 19, 2014
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
Psalm 96
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b
Matthew 22:15-21
"Lord, we know you teach God's way sincerely."
Although the Pharisees and the Herodians said this statement in bad faith, "Lord, we know you teach God's way sincerely," the Lord used it as a wedge to teach the wisdom of God. And God's wisdom sometimes presents a solution that eliminates any conflict of interest, in this case between paying taxes to the Roman emperor or not.
The Hebraic Law, which the Pharisees uphold, emphasizes the following of numerous and complex legalities. And much of the ministry and apostolic works Jesus performed went against many of them. So the Pharisees always sought occasions to trap the Lord in His speech. This Sunday's gospel presents one such occasion.
We read in the gospel how the Pharisees asked Jesus: "Is it lawful to pay tax to the emperor or not"? Jesus gave a simple solution. He did not quote any law of the Roman Empire nor any law of their Jewish religion to solve the conflict of interest. This would only complicate the matter all the more. So He simply asked for a coin used to pay the taxes. This coin is a concrete object with text and an image inscribed on it that everyone can see plainly. Then Jesus questioned the Pharisees: "Whose head is this inscription"? When the group of Pharisees and Herodians answered, "Caesar's", the Lord replied:
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's."
Jesus teaches from a perspective and a context that is beyond the worldly understanding of the Pharisees and the Herodians of His time. He preached about God's Kingdom and its spiritual treasures. And He taught about this Kingdom and its treasures to the people in a format they were all familiar with: like the previous Sundays' parables. Those parables describe familiar situations:
- a father with a vineyard and two sons (26th Sunday of the Year),
- a father with a vineyard who sent his son to obtain the harvest where the tenants worked for pay (27th Sunday of the Year),
- and a father-king who organized a wedding feast for his son and invited both those who have and those who have not (28th Sunday of the Year).
The people naturally listened more to Jesus because He spoke about family, vineyards, tenants, kings, and servants. Plain everyday realities that His people easily understood. The Pharisees naturally became hostile to His leadership. They were not only threatened because Jesus challenges their legal experitise and authority, but because Jesus presents, in its nascense, what will be "universally" right, true, and good for all cultures and time.
But since Jesus was born, lived, and worked in a specific time and culture, He complies with what is required of taxation laws by the Roman authorities over the Jewish people. And this is what amazed the Pharisees with His reply: He juxtaposes both the requirement to pay taxes and obedience to the will of God in a manner that, as it were, resolves the issue.
The gospel this Sunday also presents the theme of a people subject to a foreign governing power: of the Jewish people under the Roman Empire. When Christ said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's", He brought clarity to an issue concerning their Jewish religion and the laws of the Roman Empire. This is similar to present laws separating the Church and the State. With many aware of the laws separating Church and State, Catholics know that practicing a moral balance in obeying these two institutions is the right thing to do. And respecting the laws of both institutions is also cultivating respect for oneself as well as for others.
Both the laws of the Church and the laws of the State are meant to bring order, peace, and harmony to all individuals, families, communities, institutions, and nations. The order implemented by both intersect and bring about a creative tension that produces the basic services needed by all: food, clothing, housing, essential services, and security from the State, and the life of the human spirit and moral standards from the Church necessary for ethical conduct in the management of these goods and services for themselves and the common good.
God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to save both the individual and societal structures from the sinful state and situation they find themselves in since time began. Jesus became man to heal both personal sin and social sin that causes darkness, lack, and disorder in the life of any individual or society. This mission of Jesus is continued since biblical times to this day by the Church and her missionaries to heal all cultures and generations from the causes and effects of sin. And the Church works in coordination with the international order to heal families, communities, and nations from any social structure that deprives them of life, dignity, respect, and especially, justice.
The Church is brings healing to a world wounded by sin in many ways: through apostolic works, educational institutions, parish/diocesan structures, and through the Sacraments. She provides a rich treasury of spiritualities that bring order to personal lives and to all social structures. And the strength comes from Heaven. God's grace helps the Church to persevere in this mission even with the sinfulness her own members also have to contend with. It happens and succeeds one day at a time, one Sunday Mass at a time, one religious consecration at a time, one ordination at a time, one mission at a time, one parish community at a time, one school building at a time. Conscientization takes time. But they do happen. It is the work of God's Spirit in the Church. When there is healing from sin, all can see that order, justice, and peace have their ultimate source in a God who entered human history and became part of it.
Scripture quote:
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's." (Matthew 22)
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