God Vs. Caesar

" The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might trap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to Him, with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the Truth. . . . Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?' Knowing their malice, Jesus said, ' Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax.' Then, they handed Him the Roman coin. He said to them, 'Whose image is this and whose inscription?'  They replied, 'Caesar's.' At that, He said to them, 'Then, repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.' " -- [Matthew 22: 15-21].

[In this Scripture verse, the Pharisees were Old Testament scholars of the Law, who were deeply suspicious of Jesus' radical new way of knowing God. The Herodians were followers of Herod, the Roman Emperor of Judea, who would have been threatened by Jesus' claiming to herald the Kingdom of Heaven].

Most of us Christians-- especially Catholics-- have been in situations where someone has tried to trap us verbally. This situation that Jesus is in, where people are trying to trap him with trick questions, happens just as often, today!

One man, who is Catholic,  reports that a boss at work confronted him, saying, " C'mon! You are too smart to be Catholic." The questioner actually waited for a response. . . .

Consider those who argue FOR abortion, confronting others by asking, 'How many kids have YOU adopted?"

Or, consider those who confront Catholics saying, 'How can you be Catholic, when all the priests do is to abuse children and then lie about it?' As if, literally, "all priests" are child abusers!!

How I wish that I could come up with the perfect snappy response, to silence the religious critics. In this verse, and in many others in the Gospels, Jesus does just that!

The question posed by the Pharisees and the Herodians may be a "trick question". But Jesus' answer contains a crafty side, as well. For what does belong to God, except everything we have and everything we do? We owe everything to God! What else is left to pay to Caesar! Very little . . . .

Some commentators on this Scripture have said, that this argument of God vs. Caesar is an artificial conflict, arguing,  'Well, if we are true Christians, there is no conflict between Caesar and God, because as Christians, everything we do is out of Love and so must be, by definition, legal!

Now there, I disagree. As Christians, everything we have belongs and comes from God. But sometimes, "Caesar" requires from us something ungodly. In fact, as Christians, we face daily challenges in navigating the conflict between God and Caesar.

I am thinking now of my dear son, when he goes to school. When he was age three, and I sent him to school for the first time, he was eager and energetic and excited. I gave him this advice: "Use your gifts and energy for the good. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Help others.  Love others."

I thought that this was simple advice for a basically caring world, right?

But, in elementary school, my son's classes included some students with emotional and learning disabilities. Taking my advice, my son befriended these children. He called them "friend". At the end of first grade, one of his fellow students commented, "He plays with students that no one else will play with."

The next year, my son began to get into a bit of trouble at recess. I asked him what was going on? He told me, some other students were tripping the special education students  -- his friends.

 My son would see another student trying to trip his friends, and he would push the other student away. He was trying to save his friends. But my son was the one getting in trouble. I warned him,  "They only ever see the second punch."

But here is the Truth about this situation:  We are ALWAYS Christians. You cannot cut yourself into two, and be secular sometimes and religious at others. You cannot be Christian on Sundays in church, and also expect to be secular in the playground.

Pope Francis has said, " We cannot be part-time Christians! We should seek to live our faith at every moment of every day."

Yes, my son disobeyed "Caesar's law" in his school: No Pushing.

But he obeyed the law of Love in God's Kingdom. He loved and saved his friends, without regard to how popular or "perfect" they were. He was even willing to risk getting into trouble at school, for his Love.

My son was a Christian everywhere, and in all circumstances. At that moment, with his friends getting hurt, he disregarded Caesar's law and followed God's command.

And, I am so very proud of my son!

[Related Posting: "Give To God What Is God's", October 15, 2100].

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