For the last three weeks, Jesus has been on the attack with the scribes and pharisees as he calls them out for their hypocrisy and legalistic view of religion. The Lord’s words seem harsh; we might have thought in the back of our minds, “Jesus, I know you needed to say something, but did you have to be so aggressive?” It helps if we remember Jesus is not being crabby or unkind; he knows his time on earth is quickly coming to an end. The cross is looming and still, the religious leaders of Israel refuse to repent and believe in their savior. Jesus has tried everything: he has healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, taught in the synagogues, even read their hearts and still they do not believe. These last three weeks have shown us Jesus’ last attempts to move their hearts; he pulls no punches, he speaks directly to their pride and hardness of heart in the hopes that this might crack their unbelief.
Today’s gospel shows their response. They are sick of being criticized and exposed as frauds. Instead of humbly repenting and changing their lives, the religious leaders go on the attack, trying to trap Jesus with a question they hope will destroy his credibility with the people and maybe even get him killed by the Romans. The question seems to be a perfect dilemma; “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" If Jesus replies that the tax should be paid, he will lose the respect of the majority of his fellow Jews, oppressed as they are by a foreign, pagan government and army. If he rejects payment of the tax, he will be arrested and executed for instigating a rebellion. We can imagine the faces of Jesus’ enemies as they asked the question, how they looked at each other with smug grins and patted themselves on the back for shutting down this know-it-all carpenter.
In one of the best comebacks of all time, Jesus asks for a Roman coin and answers their dilemma with a simplicity and brilliance that could only come from God: “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” St. Matthew says when they hear Jesus’ answer, they marvel at him, not so much in admiration as exasperation and then they retreat to think of some more questions to trap Jesus.
Two things jump out at me from this encounter between Jesus and the Jewish religious authorities. The first is how much energy they wasted trying to be self-righteous and in control. Jesus had an answer to every excuse, question, and objection they came up with for not believing in him. There was a never a time when the Son of God ran away from them, gave up hope for their conversion, or avoided their disbelief. He met it head-on over and over again. Instead of recognizing what was obvious, what was right in front of their face, that they were dealing with the savior of the world and savior of their souls, they chose to try and come up with impossible questions and outlandish reasons for why Jesus could not be taken seriously.
Are there times where we do the exact same things with Lord? Moments when the truth is right in front of us in terms of what we need to do or how we need to change, and yet we come up with creative excuses as to why we are right and the Lord’s words don’t apply to us?(maybe to other people but not us) Don’t we also spend tremendous amounts of energy and time justifying ourselves and rationalizing our behavior when the simpler, saner, and more obvious response should be humble conversion?
The other truth Jesus proclaims in this encounter is the importance of priorities. Jesus’ enemies set up a false choice: choose Caesar or choose God, one or the other. Jesus begs to differ. It’s about having the right priorities in your life, both with others and with God. You and I have an obligation to honor legitimate authority as Christians living in the United States of America. Giving to Caesar means paying our fair share of taxes, participating in the process of government by voting and being informed about legislation on local, state, and national levels. We are obliged to obey just laws, respect those who enforce them, and live orderly lives. All of this is part of giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
Even more important, however, is our obligation to give to God what belongs to God. Only God should receive our adoration and complete loyalty. It is the Lord who gives us the gift of life and human dignity not a government or person in power. We owe God gratitude for these things every day in prayer and every week here at Mass. 99% of the time, there is no conflict between what we owe Caesar or other people and what ought to be given to God. But when there is, when a government or a person tries to demand the things that belong to God alone, we must always refuse, even if that means personal suffering, penalties, or shame.
Every person who has ever lived bears the image and likeness of God. Each one of is like the coin Jesus uses to teach in the gospel. Depending on our priorities and the choices we make in life, we decide whose image we reflect. Who wants to be a person whose soul shows a distorted image of God or only an image of Caesar? It is an honor and a glory, we are made in the image of God. But it is also an awesome responsibility. When the face of a body is disfigured by self-indulgence, when the face of a soul is twisted by envy or hatred or narcissistic possessiveness, the image of God in that person is warped. When others look at the face of that person, they will see distortion of God’s image.
And so our sins ought to grieve us. Who wants to be a person whose soul, whose life shows a distorted image of God? But this same line of Christ’s that leads to worry and sorrow also gives comfort. Just as Caesar’s money belongs to Caesar, so we belong to God; We are his. The God who made us in his image will not leave us in our sins. Through the redemption of Christ, God will make his image lovely in each one of us as long as we keep our priorities straight and use our energy to move towards God in continual conversion.
