What belongs to Caesar

Tuesday, June 6, 2017
9th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Tb 2:9-14
Gospel: Mark 12:13-17
Jewish leaders sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod’s party, with the purpose of trapping him in his own words. They came and said to Jesus, “Master, we know that you are true; you are not influenced by anyone, and your answers do not vary according to who is listening to you but you truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”
But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin and let me see it.” They brought him one and Jesus asked, “Whose head is this, and whose name?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said, “Return to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they were greatly astonished.
THE GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE:
Since 6 A.D., a census tax has been imposed on all inhabitants of Israel. A political group called Zealots vehemently opposed this. They refused to recognize the rule of the Romans because they only acknowledged God as sovereign power. The Pharisees, on the other hand, tolerated the tax system because the Romans allowed them to hold on to their positions of power as religious leaders of Israel.
The Pharisees framed an issue involving tax payment in order to embarrass Jesus. They asked, “Is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar?” If Jesus answered in the affirmative, he would court the ire of the nationalists. If he answered in the negative, The Romans would charge him for inciting people to rebellion. Jesus escaped the trap by focusing on the sovereignty of God over all human powers. He asked them to bring out a coin used for tax payment. It had the image of the emperor with this inscription: “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, the high priest.” His answer was at once witty and unimpeachable: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” The jaws of the Jews dropped. The coin had the head of the Emperor, anyway, so it must be due to him.
Jesus was effectively laying down the principle that there is no necessary conflict between one’s legitimate obligation to the State and to God. We must, however, admit that in the last analysis everything really belongs to God. If there is anything due to the State, it is because the State is there to save the interests of the people of God. In the past, this was the overriding principle that sustained the practice of offering to God the first fruits of the land.
The sound doctrine we hold on today is to be good citizens of earth by paying our taxes, even as we recognize that everything we have belongs to God. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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