Hypocrisy of the Pharisees exposed
Sunday, October 22, 2017 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 2nd Reading: 1st Thessalonians 1:1-5Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21
The Pharisees went out and took counsel on how they could trap Jesus with his own words. They then sent their disciples with the members of Herod’s party for this purpose.
They said to Jesus, “Master, we know that you are an honest man and truly teach God’s way; you are not influenced by others nor are you afraid of anyone. Tell us, then, what you think: is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus understood their evil intent, and said to them, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me? Show me the coin with which you pay the taxes.”
They showed him a denarius, and Jesus said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose name?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus replied, “Therefore, return to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
A group of children was asked to define hypocrisy. Here is the winning answer: Hypocrisy is when my elder brother investigates me about the missing onion cookies, when in fact his mouth is still sugary because he also helped himself of my booty because he also loves onion cookies”. This takes us to the core of today’s Gospel message. Expecting Jesus to be a faithful taxpayer the Pharisees were sure they could pin him on the issue of patriotism, for in paying taxes to the Romans he was siding with the colonizers. But when they naively took out from their pockets a Roman coin used for paying taxes, they admitted being taxpayers too.
Hypocrisy is the opposite of sincerity. Sincerity comes from the Latin compound “sine” (without) and “coera” (wax). “Coera” in Latin is pronounced like “tsera”. A waxed person is a hypocrite. But waxes can melt under heavy pressure and high temperature. Pressured by Jesus’ wit, the wax of the Pharisees melted eventually exposing their hypocrisy.
Sincerity is an issue of justice. If we have to give to God what belongs to God and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, then we just have to be as we are. The texting generation will like this slogan: “B S U R S I M I M” (read: Be as you are as I am I am). In a word, let’s shun hypocrisy, especially as the child described it in relation to his favorite onion cookies. Ah you can even forget about the cookie and just remember the onion. No matter how you skin an onion, it is still an onion, and it remains an onion down to its core. Like onions not masquerading as cookies, let us be as we are down to the core: creatures after the image and likeness of God. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email:[email protected].
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