A 29 Sun 14 (Mt 22:15-21)

A 29 Sun 14 (Mt 22:15-21)

The question about paying the census tax to Caesar is the first of four consecutive questions in this section of Matthew’s gospel, each with a different focus. This first question focuses on a point of law, and creates what appears to be an inescapable dilemma for Jesus.  It appears that no matter how he answers the question, Jesus is going to run afoul of the law, either the Roman law or the Mosaic Law.

On the one hand, if Jesus answers that the tax SHOULD NOT be paid, his response violates Roman law.  This might win approval from the Israelites who oppose the tax, but his answer renders Jesus an enemy of the state.  The fallout for Jesus can only be imagined.

On the other hand, if he answers that the tax SHOULD BE paid, his response violates Mosaic Law.  This violation would stem from a scripture passage found in the Book of Deuteronomy that prohibits using one's wealth to serve other gods (8:17-19).  Since Caesar was viewed by Roman society as a divine being, paying the tax would violate this passage from Deuteronomy.  Any interpretation of scripture that Jesus provides, however, only raises the further question of whether he had the authority to interpret scripture at all (Mt. 21:23-27).  

According to the custom at the time, the authority to interpret scripture belonged only to an ordained Rabbi (Daube pp. 207-11).  Since Jesus did not enjoy this official status, if he claimed that scripture prohibited payment of the tax, his claim would be viewed as coming from a false prophet, and therefore not worthy of belief.

Thus, no matter how Jesus answers the question about paying the census tax to Caesar, he is not going to fare well according to the law, or so the Pharisees thought.  In fact, however, Jesus unravels this dilemma by responding with a question to the Pharisees.  Rather than answer them outright, Jesus asks the Pharisees about the image that appears on the coin.  The image in turn becomes the basis for his claim that one should give to Caesar what belongs to him, and to God what belongs to God. 

The key in this strategy is the function of the image.  If Caesar’s image marks out what belongs to him, it follows that the image of God marks out what belongs to God.  The crowds were amazed at this response because they knew very well that the whole human race bears the image of God.  For, they would have known from the Book of Genesis alone that each of us is made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26).  Thus, we all belong to God, including—of all ironies—Caesar himself.    

This response, however, leaves open the question of what precisely we are to give to God.  If our entire selves already belong to God, how can we give ourselves to God?  One way to answer is to say that our true identity, our true selves, indeed our true happiness, lies in our willingness to mirror the image of God in the way we live our lives.  To put it another way, since God is holy, we are called to mirror the holiness of God in our daily lives.  But, is this doable? 

There are those who claim that “the term ‘holy’ in the proper sense is appropriate only to God.  It designates the absolute otherness of God. God is utterly different from the world and from anything in the world, cannot be defined by any human idea, cannot be measured by any worldly standard, cannot be controlled by any human desire” (“The Idea of the Holy” pp. 25-30). In other words, God is so different from us that we cannot possibly understand his holiness, and therefore cannot mirror his holiness in our lives. 

Jesus would likely respond that this idea misses the mark entirely.  Jesus himself speaks of God in very human terms, even calling him “daddy” and suggests that we do the same.  If we could not understand the holiness of God, there would be no sense in the instruction that God gives to his people:  “Be holy because I am holy” (Lv 20:26; 1 Pt 1:16).

Jesus adds insight to this instruction when he says to his followers, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). Jesus spoke about the perfection of God in the context of love.  From this perspective, to say that God is holy is to say that God is always true to himself, or in human terms, is a person of integrity.  That is, God is always and never anything but God, and all that God does is always and completely consistent with who God is, namely, love.  I AM who I AM, God tells Moses (Ex 3:14). God always loves, always tells the truth, always does good, always creates beauty, is always joyful and faithful because God is love, God is truth, God is beauty, God is unity, God is good, God is Holy. In short, we can understand the holiness of God as the principle of love.   

Because God is holy and since we share in the image of his nature, God invites us to be holy as well.  We are not alone in our response to the invitation of the one true God, however.  For, when we say in our Profession of Faith, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” we are saying that we believe the Holy Spirit is a powerful creator who intervenes in the physical nature of human beings, and helps us do things that we cannot do alone. 

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Great Inspirer, the Great Nudger, if you will, to live the life that Jesus would have us live.  This is nothing other than life in the Spirit.  If we live in the Spirit, as St. Paul says in his letter to the Galatians, then let us follow the Spirit’s lead so as to live a holy life (5:25).