HW Reflection for Tuesday
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him
Mark 12:
Jesus spent part of Holy Week teaching and preaching in the Jerusalem Temple, the very place he had caused disruption by overturning the tables of the money lenders and driving out the animals. Some of that time was spent answering the questions of the religious authorities.
To say that those in authority were angry with Jesus is an understatement. They wanted him dead, but didn’t dare arrest him in the open because they were afraid of a riot by Jesus supporters that would get them in trouble with their Roman masters. But if they could turn the people against Jesus.......
That is the motivation behind the question, “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
If Jesus said that the tax shouldn’t be paid, then he laid himself open to immediate arrest and execution by the Roman authorities as a rebel. Whilst Jesus knew his destiny was the cross, it would be at a time of his choosing.
If Jesus said the hated Roman tax should be paid then the people would desert him and he would very possibly be one the target of Jewish rebels, murdered as a warning to others.
It was a seemingly impossible situation, with seemingly no way out; but Jesus found one and gave an answer that was actually deeply subversive without seeming to.
Jesus responded brilliantly. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus first of all exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herodians who were present, or at least one of them, because they had in their possession the Roman coin which was only used for paying the tax.
Then he suggested that because the coin bore Caesar’s image it belonged to him and should be given to him. Many, if not all, listening to him would have interpreted this as supporting paying the tax.
But if we reflect a little deeper......
Jesus says, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
First, God created the whole universe, every single atom of matter owes its existence to God. If God is Creator then all creation belongs to God and nothing belongs to Caesar.
P
Second, if the coin belonged to Caesar because it bore his image then we belong to God because we are created in the image of God.
Yet God does not force his ownership upon us: rather he gives us the free will to choose to belong to him. God desires us to love him but he never demands that love, he seeks it through Jesus who came to bring us all back to the love that God showers upon us freely and abundantly.
What is your response to the love of God freely offered by grace, you who bear the image of God?
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