Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor or not?
We are a people that are obsessed with rightness and wrongness. If we can categorize something and pick a side than we can feel more comfortable. It lowers our anxiety. When something is ambiguous it causes us stress. We are much more comfortable having a right side and a wrong side. It makes things easier for us to know what to do if we can simplify it down to such clear options. But life and most things are complicated. And having things not clear cut can cause us anxiety.
We all handle our anxiety differently. Some get on the phone and want someone to tell them what to do. They may want or need to discuss it with many others and take a poll even unconsciously to see what the consensus is among their peers and may go with whatever the majority thinks, therefore not really having to take a position themselves. Going along with the majority and/or those who are your friends can be comforting and we therefore are not required to put a lot of mental or emotional energy into thinking through the issues ourselves.
We are also increasingly becoming a society where diverse opinions are not thoughtfully considered, but rather opposing ideas or thoughts are immediately ridiculed instead of thoughtfully processed, or the attack moves to the person and skips entirely over the idea being discussed. Our politics have become focused on trying to find the fault in our candidates rather than actually discussing issues.
Finding fault or weakness in another instead of discussing and finding out where the other is coming from is what is going on in our Gospel text today. The Herodians and the Pharisees didn’t actually have any desire of discussing issues or getting to the heart of who Jesus actually was, (the Pharisees already knew he was doing miracles and showing preference to no one — they knew the people loved him-they knew something was different about this teacher), rather they wanted to trick him in some way to turn others against him.
The Pharisees were devout Jews who were scrupulous in their observance of God’s laws and their understanding of them. The other group mentioned here in this text are the Herodians. We know little of the Herodians from history, but from their name we can surmise that they were followers and devotees of Herod, those who supported the local ruler, Herod Antipas. Herod was unpopular with the people and his supporters were probably unpopular as well. They most likely were viewed as Roman collaborators and they differed from the Jewish people on several issues, one of which was whether or not Jews should pay taxes to the occupying power.
The fact that both of these differing groups were working together or agreeing to entrap Jesus tell us the extent that both groups felt threatened by Jesus, the rabbi who was among them.
Clearly, it was lawful to pay the tax by Rome’s standards; and the Herodians would be glad for all to do so, the question is whether it was proper for a Jew to do so, as their allegiance lay elsewhere.
If Jesus speaks against the tax, it would anger the Herodians and could lead to a charge of treason, if he speaks in favor of the tax, it would alienate most of the crowds that followed him.
Matters of church and state have never been clear cut issues. Wrestling with conscious and what God is requiring of us, and who and with what our loyalties lie have always been issues with which societies have struggled.
The coin used for the Roman tax was a silver Denarius with the image of Caesar on one side, and on the reverse, the image of a woman named Pax or personified peace. The coins were against Jewish Law, which prohibited graven images.
Whose head or whose likeness is on the coin is how Jesus turns the conversation, whose title? He asks, “Whose likeness or image is on the coin?”t If it is the Emperor’s likeness, give it to him. The things that are in the likeness or image of God, give to God.
Jesus’ reference to the image of God refers back to Genesis 1:26-27, which says, “And God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness,’” and goes on to state “God created humankind in his Image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
We are made in the image and likeness of God. We, who are made in the image of God, belong to God.
We, who are made in the image of God, belong to God.
It is not just one of us, or some of us, that are made in God’s image — it is all of us. And being made in the image and likeness of God is not something that we should take lightly.
Being made in the image of God should be humbling to us. It should be an awareness that we carry with us daily. We, being made in the image and likeness of God, we were created so that we make God’s glory visible in the world, to the world. We aren’t pieces of art resembling God’s presence. We are living, moving beings, with free will who were created to live in a harmonious relations with God and one another. Our lives and our being should reflect this. And the question is, is do they?
The Herodians, nor the religious Pharisees, reflected this in their actions today. They were both trying to trick Jesus. Their line of questioning was not to resolve a genuine question, but rather to discredit Jesus. Discrediting a person, without thoughtful consideration of the merits of their position is an age old method of deflection.
Part of being made in the image of God means that we have choices. We have a free will to act as we want. To make our own decisions. We choose who we marry, where we work, who we love, how we spend our time and money.
Being made in the image of God describes who we are, what we are capable of, why we have value, and gives us insight into our purpose here on earth.
Our lives are to be given to God, for we are God’s. We have value because we were made in God’s image.
Debbie Wesley’s niece tragically took her life on Friday. My heart breaks for this family and this girl, who didn’t realize her value and didn’t understand her worth. Whose depression offered her no hope.
Let’s be careful to not forget whose image we are made in. It can lead to despair and hopelessness.
As we move through our days, our words, our actions, how we process things and how we handle anxiety should look different from the world around us. We should reflect whose image we are made in.
We are reflections of God. We are God’s children on earth. Let’s make sure our words and actions reflect this and show this.
We need to be different then the world around us. We don’t operate trying to trick people or one up those around us. We remember in whose image we are made and we let this knowledge of whose image we are reflecting daily guide us.
Jesus taught that a critical interpretation of the world was required. We are constantly required to wrestle with the things that are required or asked of us in our lives, and the things that we know God has asked and requires of us.
It would be so easy if things were black and white. “Give to Caesar, what is Caesar’s, render to God what is God’s,," and then told us what those things were. Which He has. We are God’s.
We are to engage with the world based on what we believe is true. The goal of life is not to just defeat the empire or to live in opposition to the world in which we find ourselves, but to love people, including our enemies and those with whom we disagree, to strive after God’s kingdom and righteousness, and live in hope for the future.
As Paul shared to the Thessalonians,
Paul gave thanks to God for their (the Thessalonians), work of faith…and gave praise, that “…you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known,”
May it be so with us. May our work of faith be an example to the world. May our lives be different, reflecting the image of the God who made us and gave us our being. May we wrestle with the things that are hard, and reflect God daily in our interactions. Amen.
We all handle our anxiety differently. Some get on the phone and want someone to tell them what to do. They may want or need to discuss it with many others and take a poll even unconsciously to see what the consensus is among their peers and may go with whatever the majority thinks, therefore not really having to take a position themselves. Going along with the majority and/or those who are your friends can be comforting and we therefore are not required to put a lot of mental or emotional energy into thinking through the issues ourselves.
We are also increasingly becoming a society where diverse opinions are not thoughtfully considered, but rather opposing ideas or thoughts are immediately ridiculed instead of thoughtfully processed, or the attack moves to the person and skips entirely over the idea being discussed. Our politics have become focused on trying to find the fault in our candidates rather than actually discussing issues.
Finding fault or weakness in another instead of discussing and finding out where the other is coming from is what is going on in our Gospel text today. The Herodians and the Pharisees didn’t actually have any desire of discussing issues or getting to the heart of who Jesus actually was, (the Pharisees already knew he was doing miracles and showing preference to no one — they knew the people loved him-they knew something was different about this teacher), rather they wanted to trick him in some way to turn others against him.
The Pharisees were devout Jews who were scrupulous in their observance of God’s laws and their understanding of them. The other group mentioned here in this text are the Herodians. We know little of the Herodians from history, but from their name we can surmise that they were followers and devotees of Herod, those who supported the local ruler, Herod Antipas. Herod was unpopular with the people and his supporters were probably unpopular as well. They most likely were viewed as Roman collaborators and they differed from the Jewish people on several issues, one of which was whether or not Jews should pay taxes to the occupying power.
The fact that both of these differing groups were working together or agreeing to entrap Jesus tell us the extent that both groups felt threatened by Jesus, the rabbi who was among them.
Clearly, it was lawful to pay the tax by Rome’s standards; and the Herodians would be glad for all to do so, the question is whether it was proper for a Jew to do so, as their allegiance lay elsewhere.
If Jesus speaks against the tax, it would anger the Herodians and could lead to a charge of treason, if he speaks in favor of the tax, it would alienate most of the crowds that followed him.
Matters of church and state have never been clear cut issues. Wrestling with conscious and what God is requiring of us, and who and with what our loyalties lie have always been issues with which societies have struggled.
The coin used for the Roman tax was a silver Denarius with the image of Caesar on one side, and on the reverse, the image of a woman named Pax or personified peace. The coins were against Jewish Law, which prohibited graven images.
Whose head or whose likeness is on the coin is how Jesus turns the conversation, whose title? He asks, “Whose likeness or image is on the coin?”t If it is the Emperor’s likeness, give it to him. The things that are in the likeness or image of God, give to God.
Jesus’ reference to the image of God refers back to Genesis 1:26-27, which says, “And God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness,’” and goes on to state “God created humankind in his Image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
We are made in the image and likeness of God. We, who are made in the image of God, belong to God.
We, who are made in the image of God, belong to God.
It is not just one of us, or some of us, that are made in God’s image — it is all of us. And being made in the image and likeness of God is not something that we should take lightly.
Being made in the image of God should be humbling to us. It should be an awareness that we carry with us daily. We, being made in the image and likeness of God, we were created so that we make God’s glory visible in the world, to the world. We aren’t pieces of art resembling God’s presence. We are living, moving beings, with free will who were created to live in a harmonious relations with God and one another. Our lives and our being should reflect this. And the question is, is do they?
The Herodians, nor the religious Pharisees, reflected this in their actions today. They were both trying to trick Jesus. Their line of questioning was not to resolve a genuine question, but rather to discredit Jesus. Discrediting a person, without thoughtful consideration of the merits of their position is an age old method of deflection.
Part of being made in the image of God means that we have choices. We have a free will to act as we want. To make our own decisions. We choose who we marry, where we work, who we love, how we spend our time and money.
Being made in the image of God describes who we are, what we are capable of, why we have value, and gives us insight into our purpose here on earth.
Our lives are to be given to God, for we are God’s. We have value because we were made in God’s image.
Debbie Wesley’s niece tragically took her life on Friday. My heart breaks for this family and this girl, who didn’t realize her value and didn’t understand her worth. Whose depression offered her no hope.
Let’s be careful to not forget whose image we are made in. It can lead to despair and hopelessness.
As we move through our days, our words, our actions, how we process things and how we handle anxiety should look different from the world around us. We should reflect whose image we are made in.
We are reflections of God. We are God’s children on earth. Let’s make sure our words and actions reflect this and show this.
We need to be different then the world around us. We don’t operate trying to trick people or one up those around us. We remember in whose image we are made and we let this knowledge of whose image we are reflecting daily guide us.
Jesus taught that a critical interpretation of the world was required. We are constantly required to wrestle with the things that are required or asked of us in our lives, and the things that we know God has asked and requires of us.
It would be so easy if things were black and white. “Give to Caesar, what is Caesar’s, render to God what is God’s,," and then told us what those things were. Which He has. We are God’s.
We are to engage with the world based on what we believe is true. The goal of life is not to just defeat the empire or to live in opposition to the world in which we find ourselves, but to love people, including our enemies and those with whom we disagree, to strive after God’s kingdom and righteousness, and live in hope for the future.
As Paul shared to the Thessalonians,
Paul gave thanks to God for their (the Thessalonians), work of faith…and gave praise, that “…you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known,”
May it be so with us. May our work of faith be an example to the world. May our lives be different, reflecting the image of the God who made us and gave us our being. May we wrestle with the things that are hard, and reflect God daily in our interactions. Amen.