To stand for the gospel of Christ in a world filled with conflicting interests requires divine guidance. Enmity is built on ignorance. The relative nature of human knowledge is evident when two arch-enemies or two different people with opposing views become friends overnight simply because they want to fight a common enemy. That is what happened in today’s gospel narratives.
Two enemies becoming friends to trap Jesus.
It is strange seeing the Pharisees and the Herodians coming together to trap Jesus into error. The Pharisees were very religious people who didn’t like paying taxes to a foreign king because they believed it went against God’s will. On the other hand, the Herodians supported Herod, the ruler of Galilee, who got his power from the Romans and closely cooperated with them. Having flattered him with praises, they asked him,
“Tell us your opinion, then. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
The reply of Jesus was rude shock to them. He simply said, “You hypocrites! Why do you set this trap for me? Let me see the money you pay the tax with.’ They handed him a denarius, and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ ‘Caesar’s’ they replied. He then said to them, ‘Very well, give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God.”
Our Dual Citizenship
There is no simple way to answer that question. It takes wisdom to sail through their trap. If the Lord says, it is good to pay tax, those people who resented tax would be unhappy. If he says it is not good, it would be counted as an offence against the government. He wisely avoided the grip of their trap, thus establishing a fundamental truth that, as Christians, we are people of dual citizenship. We are responsible to the government; we must take seriously our civic duties and responsibilities. We are also citizens of heaven. We must always do the will of God.
Hence, a simple approach to ““give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God” ” is to remember that as we fulfill our roles as responsible citizens, we should also recognize our citizenship in heaven. We should support government policies that are in line with God’s will and be cautious about those that may harm our relationship with God.
As we play our roles in the society, may we not lose our place in Christ. Amen.
Isaiah 45:1,4-6, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, Matthew 22:15-21
