Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
(Imperial tax - levied on subject peoples, not the Romans.)
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I love the plot in this story, really. It’s all the more humourous because it’s supposedly written by Matthew, one of the temple tax collectors. Now, we all know that the one thing we like to gripe about more than the taxes we pay, is the collector who takes the taxes from us. Some things haven’t changed in all these thousands of years.
The Pharisees are most concerned about the affairs of the temple. They have an understanding with the Romans, that as long as they remain docile, they can worship in their own traditions. While they resent the Roman thumb of authority, they are willing to pay to keep peace and have freedom to operate as they wish. In other words they have a vested interest in the status quo.
The other group, the Herodians, are more concerned about the state of political affairs. They, too, have an understanding with the Romans that as long as there is a sense of peace within the territory, Herod’s family can rule by proxy and they retain their prominent political positions of power. They also have a vested interest in the status quo.
Together, Pharisees and Herodians feign approval of Jesus’ ministry. Now, everyone and their Aunt Petunia knows that Pharisees and Herodians simply don’t hang out with each other on a usual day. No one is fooled by this ploy, least of all Jesus. He sees right through them.
So they have come together with a trick, they think (rubbing hands in glee.) They ask “Is it lawful to pay taxes”. ...and here’s the trap: if Jesus says ‘no’, he clearly opposes Rome and they can have him arrested. If he says ‘yes’, he then is agreeing to the oppression of Rome, and will lose support in the opinion polls.
In Jesus' time, at least three languages were spoken: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, just for starters. Nor was there just one legal tender or currency, but at least three different groups which struck coins. There was the Roman silver denarius, equal to ten weights of "as", the principal silver coin of the Empire. There was the Greek silver drachma, equal in value to one denarius; and there was the Jewish silver shekel, equal in amount to 4 drachmas or 4 denarii; but unlike the other coins, the shekel was used exclusively by the Jews.
This was essentially a multi-cultural society with a variety of currencies. But in order for the Jews to do business with others they had to exchange their own Jewish currency into the other's and vice versa. Hence, there were the money changers in the temple courtyard.
And there were at least two taxes: one for the temple, one for the King. The temple tax was paid by one of the twelve tribes of Israel on a rotating basis, so that each tribe paid the expenses for one month a year. The same system was set up for the house of David.
As well, the Romans had their own taxes; one was the “head tax”, a “per capita” tax on each person living in the land. The larger the family, the larger the tax. The Romans collected their taxes through mercenary tax collectors who were allowed to set their own profit margins; but since by this time the tribes of Israel were no longer distinguishable, a “worship tax” was instituted for each worshiping family in Israel, but the “temple tax” was also required of those who lived in far away lands. It was a religious obligation put upon the people in addition to the scriptural mandates.
Now, here’s where the fun started. The Roman tax could only be paid with Roman coins, and the temple tax could only be paid with the Jewish shekel. The shekel was a silver coin, but with no engraved image on it, because the Israelites had a very clear commandment given about graven images. There were only symbols on it, like candles or grain. The graven image commandment was used to interpret the first chapter of Genesis - the statement that we were created in the image of God. That is why murder was wrong in Jewish law - destroying or defacing the image of God.
In contrast, the Roman denarius bore the image of Tiberius Caesar, with the inscription “Son of a God”. To use Roman coins in the temple would have been blasphemy; if they were to use Roman coin, they would have been saying that their oppressor was God.
Naturally the Pharisees were particularly disturbed by the attribution of divinity to Caesar. The coin would be seen by the Torah as idolatrous; this coin and all Roman and Greek coins would have been repugnant to the Pharisees; even having the coin would break Jewish law.
Yet, the Romans occupied the Jewish territories. In Jerusalem, the temple and the Roman garrison were literally across the street from each other. The Romans could look into the temple and see what was going on - and likely they could hear a good deal. The Jews were allowed to continue their own religious worship practices, so long as they gave the taxes Caesar demanded. Herod was allowed to rule - sort of - so long as he upheld the Roman laws, including the paying of taxes. They were between a roack and a hard place, because anything which looked remotely like rejection of Roman authority would mean loss of some freedoms, if not loss of life, for the Israelites.
Jesus, of course, has been fairly consistent in calling out both the Herodians and Pharisees, and drawing attention to their show of religious piety and adherence to law. So they cook up a plan to challenge Jesus on a question which they hope he cannot answer without incriminating himself in some way. “Is it lawful to pay taxes?” Seems simple enough on the surface, but maybe we can sense how much of an indictment it would be for anyone in that crowd to bring out a coin with Caesar’s image on it.
Jesus, however, puts the religious leaders on the spot. He says “Show me the coin.” and what happens? Oops. The religious leaders themselves are in possession of the Roman coins with the image of a man who claims to be son of a God - and Jesus has none.
Then he says give to Caesar those things which rightfully belong to Caesar, and to God those things which rightfully belong to God. The religious leaders are now in the position of defending their own actions, and whether or not they actually follow their own religious teaching. Yet he hasn’t actually accused them of anything, nor committed a crime; even so, all the people standing around also hear and understand - give to Caesar what is rightfully Caesar’s, give to God what is rightfully God’s. Jesus is not saying don’t pay the taxes, he is telling people to make a judgment about the taxes, the coins, the wealth, and what they do with them.
Take a coin out of your pocket, or a folded bill. We have long since accepted the images without thinking of the Ten Commandments; but the Commandments haven’t changed, only our understanding of them. We no longer see these images as idols.
Who really is our God? Who makes the decisions in your life, God or money? How many of us have savings accounts? How many of us have pension funds? How many of us worry about how the bills are going to be paid this month? How many of us put our trust in the bank? or in the stock market? How many of us believe the church should be run like a business? A good look at our lifestyle says a lot - and the question for us, the questions Jesus asks, is where do we draw the line?
Jesus isn’t talking about the separation of church and state in his answer. He is providing a caustic indictment of the entire system, and pointing out to the religious leaders how they have subverted the law of God to protect their own interests. - and he is saying they have taken the gifts of God and used them for political gain in a political system.
What belongs to God is our life. We were created in the image of God. If the image of Caesar belongs to Caesar, then certainly the image of God belongs to God. Do we carry the name of God written on our hearts, or the name of Caesar? Is it God’s name which motivates our lives, or Caesar’s?
God calls us to have compassion and generosity for all the people of the world. How do we express that in our lives? If we are made in God’s image, how have we lived God’s name? God has given us many gifts, including the gift of income and wealth. After giving to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, what do we give to God? Is that the right order?
Today, World Food Day, we have to look at what is God’s, and what is Caesar’s. Do we give freely, and without reservation? Do we look after all the bills and taxes, and then if there is anything left over we give something? Did God call us to parcel out leftovers? One of the enduring truths in our time is that there is more than enough to go around; the problem is its distribution. We placate Caesar by paying up, take care of ourselves, and then give.
And that’s the hidden question in the answer Jesus gave. Whose are we? God’s or Caesar’s? And where do we go next?
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