Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost 2023

Matthew 22:15-22

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

For the last weeks, we have been following Jesus’ actions in Jerusalem where he has entered with great authority and has been received as a prophet by the people. However, his prophetic actions have aroused opposition and persecution from the political and religious elite in Jerusalem. While Jesus teaches and heals people in the temple, the religious leaders confront him, and in response, Jesus has addressed them with a series of parables that denounce their corruption and hypocrisy.

            Today, we read that Jesus’ adversaries continue seeking the opportunity to bring him down. Matthew tells us the Pharisees and the Herodians have come together in a common cause to entrap Jesus, expecting him to provoke the Roman authorities or to lose his popularity among the people. This is the first of three attempts from various allies to entrap him. The plan is for Jesus to fail so they have a reason to arrest him. Herodians and Pharisees were political rivals: Herodians supported the Roman regime and paid taxes to Rome; the Pharisees, on the other hand, were nationalist and resisted paying taxes, thus being popular among the people. Both, in an alliance against Jesus and with undisguised hypocrisy, come to Jesus and say: “Teacher, we know that you are sincere and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” (Matthew 22, 16-17). The question is designed to trap and allows only two answers, “yes” or “no”. Either of these answers would condemn Jesus.  If Jesus agrees that it is lawful to pay the tax to the emperor, he would be accused of religious blasphemy; if he says it is not lawful to pay the tax, he would be accused of political sedition. His adversaries patiently wait for Jesus to fall into the trap, but his response will leave them silent and amazed!!

Today, it is not surprising to find these scheming alliances (like Herodians & Pharisees), between evil people who seek to obstruct justice. They devise “legal traps” to perpetrate injustices against the righteous and innocent.

Matthew tells us that Jesus was aware of his adversary’s malice, so he did not begin with an answer. Instead, he responded by calling them hypocrites, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?” and asked them to show him the coin they used to pay the tax. They brought him a denarius, which was the most common Roman coin with the emperor’s image.  “Whose head is this and whose title?” Jesus asked and they answered, “Caesar’s” (Matthew 22, 17).  It is very likely that the denarius had the image of the Roman Emperor Tiberius and a Latin inscription that read, “Tiberius Caesar, the son of the divine Augustus”. Augustus was Tiberius’s predecessor who had been deified after his death. With his image on the coins used for taxes, Tiberius made clear to the people who was the ruler, the god of the Empire.

With these facts on the table, Jesus gives his answer, “Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.”  Jesus’ adversaries now have to interpret his response on their own!! What does it mean to give the emperor the things that are the emperor’s? What does it mean to give God the things that are God’s? They know what Jesus means; however, if they are explicit, they will be the ones to fall into the trap. So, Jesus’ adversaries leave him. Wisely and cleverly, Jesus has avoided the Herodians & Pharisees’ scheming trap!! And his adversaries are left with interpreting his response depending on whose side they choose.

Jesus’ answer has been interpreted in different ways and has even supported anti-tax or pro-tax positions. However, his response goes beyond; it questions which kingdom we participate in and to whom we owe our allegiance. Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God and the Empire, and leaves us with the questions, “What are the things that are the emperor’s and what are the things that are God’s?” Psalm 24, 1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it [including the god of the Empire].” So, what things are the emperor’s?  Only his denarius!

Sisters and brothers, Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God and asks us our total allegiance to God. The early kingdoms today try to usurp the Kingdom of God, these kingdoms and their rulers are voracious and seek to control everything: people, justice, economy, nature, the planet and beyond. To which kingdom do we pledge our allegiance? Jesus’ allegiance was to the Kingdom of God, and he resisted the evil alliances in Jerusalem. Today, he tells us that the god of the empire has no right to take what is God´s.

 May we follow Jesus’ steps. May we resist the evil alliances that today try to obstruct justice and peace.  May we leave for Caesar only the things that are Caesar’s. May we give to God all that is God’s!

Amen.