“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s” has been for centuries the Christian guideline for peaceful coexistence with a world that finds them strange and alien. We “give to Caesar” so long as obedience to him does not mean disobedience to God who alone deserves our total commitment. In Jesus’ encounter with the school of Pharisees and Herodians, the delicate balance between living under the Emperor and living under God is exposed: Jesus had already said that a disciple cannot have two masters because he will love one and love the other less. So how does one live as a Christian in a way that he/she is also a productive member of a human society?
Relevant Links
Give to God what is God’s
Sunday Thoughts: A Coin and the Demands of Justice
The Fathers of the Church: Give to God what is God’s
Guide for Reading
Jesus’ encounter with the Herodians and the group of the Pharisees appears in all three Synoptic gospels with a few modifications. While Mark writes that the Pharisees and Herodians approach Jesus, in Matthew, the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians are mentioned. In Matthew, there is a clear intent to prepare the scene for the pronouncements of Jesus over the “scribes and the Pharisees” in Matthew 23.
- Identify the parts of the narrative in Matthew 22:15-22 and pay attention to the details of the story
- Do some research on the following:
- Who are the Herodians? What particular interest could they have with Jesus?
- How much is the tax payed?
- Study the question raised to Jesus: in what way is it a trap?
- The above question was prefaced with a statement meant to gain Jesus’ sympathy (a sort of
- captatio, a rhetorical device used at the time. It was meant to draw the attention of the hearer or hearers.). Does the statement reflect the questioners’ regard for Jesus? In what way?
- Read this short article about taxation during the time of Jesus. Why would it have been more to a Jew’s benefit NOT to pay the taxes to Caesar? Why should a Jew pay taxes?
- Below is the text of the Amplified Bible for Matthew 22:15-22. Make your sentence flow of the text based on the version you have and compare it to the text below for possible interesting highlights
15Then the Pharisees went and consulted and plotted together how they might entangle Jesus in His talk. 16And they sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians, saying,
Teacher, we know that You are sincere and what You profess to be and that You teach the way of God truthfully, regardless of consequences and being afraid of no man; for You are impartial and do not regard either the person or the position of anyone. 17Tell us then what You think about this: Is it lawful to pay tribute [levied on individuals and to be paid yearly] to Caesar or not?
18But Jesus, aware of their malicious plot, asked,
Why do you put Me to the test and try to entrap Me, you pretenders (hypocrites)? 19Show me the money used for the tribute.
And they brought Him a denarius.
20And Jesus said to them,
Whose likeness and title are these?
21They said, Caesar’s.
Then He said to them, Pay therefore to Caesar the things that are due to Caesar, and pay to God the things that are due to God.22When they heard it they were amazed and marveled; and they left Him and departed.
Comparing the Readings
The theme of the liturgy for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time is dictated by the reading from Isaiah 45:1,4-6. The selection itself shows that those who prepared the liturgical text would like us to concentrate on those verses where the Lord is the source of the might and power of Cyrus of Persia. All authority and power derives from the Lord; empires rise and fall because of Him. This vision of the Lord’s power and majesty (see the Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 96:1-10) — for even emperors are in His hands — puts into perspective Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and Herodians in the Gospel reading. Jesus does not say give to the Emperor and to God as if both were co-equals; they each have their due although one is subordinate to the other. The interest of Jesus — and especially here in Matthew’s Gospel — is the demands of righteousness.
“Give to God what is His due…”. In 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 this is characterized by the “work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What Paul describes here is a Christian community where the members are beginning to give back the fruits of faith, hope and love that they have received in baptism.
Suggestions for the Lesson
The intent of the Gospel is that we make Jesus’ answer as a guiding principle for the way we live the Christian life. We Christians are IN the world though we are not OF the world. Since we are IN the world, we are held by the demands of justice to give to all what is due to them. And justice demands that what the legitimate requirements of human laws asks from us should be obeyed, lest be disobeying we may turn out refusing to do God’s will. The conviction expressed some hundred years ago by Pope Leo XIII still holds: “The good Christian makes a good citizen.” Good citizenship is not based on mere good human values, since we know that values can be ambivalent (the Mafia runs on family values). Good citizenship is based on morality. And when morality is rooted in the Word of God, and is a response to its invitation, then good citizenship is secured. I would then suggest the following
- Begin with the conviction that all human authority is derived ultimately from God, and all “reasonability” based on His LOGOS
- Based on this first idea, obedience to God is not made in a vacuum; obedience is rendered to Him through the legitimate authorities He has set over us, e.g., parents, teachers, government leaders, etc. (cf. CCC 1900)
- However, in cases of conflict (e.g., where a parent begins to “sell” his child like chattel, or a government leader sells a whole nation for his/her family to profit), one should give first place to God (see CCC 1902-1904, CCC 1951,1976). The demands of justice requires us to maintain the right order of things: God above all, man under God and all the rest under man.
Pope St. Clement of Rome provides the Church's most ancient prayer for political authorities: "Grant to them, Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, so that they may exercise without offense the sovereignty that you have given them. Master, heavenly King of the ages, you give glory, honor, and power over the things of earth to the sons of men. Direct, Lord, their counsel, following what is pleasing and acceptable in your sight, so that by exercising with devotion and in peace and gentleness the power that you have given to them, they may find favor with you."
A human law has the character of law to the extent that it accords with right reason, and thus derives from the eternal law. Insofar as it falls short of right reason it is said to be an unjust law, and thus has not so much the nature of law as of a kind of violence.
Alone among all animate beings, man can boast of having been counted worthy to receive a law from God: as an animal endowed with reason, capable of understanding and discernment, he is to govern his conduct by using his freedom and reason, in obedience to the One who has entrusted everything to him.
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