Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b
Matthew 22:15-21
In the question whether it is lawful or not to pay tribute to Caesar, the adversaries of Jesus thought they had cornered him beyond escape. If he said it was lawful they would say that you have betrayed Israel, you side with its oppressor, you have no backbone, you also fear for your skin. They would say that they had been mistaken in saying that: "that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status." If he said that it was not lawful then they would accuse him to Rome for have disobeyed laws and inciting others to do the same, and Rome would deal with him for them. They saw no other way out of their trap.
In his unique wisdom Jesus not only gives an answers that takes his adversaries by complete surprise, he also gives us a principle by which we must live. We have a double duty to the state in which we live and to God. To society we owe many things: education, electricity, security, social amenities, etc. To society we owe our contribution to the common good. We cannot stand completely aloof from it. As good citizens we need to pay taxes. We have to pray for our leaders. Those of us who can play a political role must do so in a way that edifies others.
At the same time our primary duty is towards God. And what is due to God? Everything! There is nothing we have that we did not get from God (cf. 1Cor. 4:7). “In God we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Today’s other readings show us how we give back to God what belongs to God. The response to the Responsorial Psalm is: “Give the Lord glory and power”. By that is meant acknowledging his glory and power, not giving them to him, and that is evident in the second stanza: “For great is the LORD and highly to be praised; awesome is he, beyond all gods. For all the gods of the nations are things of naught, but the LORD made the heavens.” It is from him that all authority comes, even the authority of great emperors who do not know him. This is what the prophet Isaiah affirms about king Cyrus in the first reading. Nebuchadnezzar had exiled the Jews to Babylon 70 years before. Cyrus the king of Persia granted them freedom of worship and permission to rebuild their temple, and Isaiah affirms that it was by the hand of God that he did all that. “I have taken Cyrus by his right hand to subdue nations before him.”
We give the Lord glory and power when we let that glory and power become manifested in our lives. We do so by submitting to his transforming word. Paul says of the Philippians in the second reading: “We know, brothers, that God loves you and that you have been chosen, because when we brought the Good News to you, it came to you not only as words, but as power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction.” May we too pray for the grace of utter conviction and submission of God’s word full of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
