29th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A
ALL BUT A TRAP
Throughout history,
Christians have been baffled by the relationship between their faith
and their life context, between faith and reason, between loyalty to
the state and fidelity to the church. Today's gospel (Mt 22) revisits
what is now a very relevant topic for reflection. In the gospel, the
Lord Jesus, replying to the disciples of the Pharisees, says: Give to
Cesar what belongs to Cesar, and to God what belongs to God!
Cesar or the emperor
represents the earthly power that governed Israel at that time. The
Lord clearly tells the people that they must positively contribute to
society by becoming good citizens. If it means paying taxes, which
are just and needed for the welfare of all, then by all means, give
it to Cesar. In that way, followers of Christ will be known as
supporters of whatever is good that is found in human and social
relationships. From the time of the apostles to our time, Christian
faith encouraged believers to be salt of the earth and light of the
world, living on this earth as flavor and ferment.
But the Lord's words do
not end with the advice to cooperate with the good intentions of
civil and temporal power. He also says that we must give to God what
belongs to God. And to what has God claim over us? The answer is –
everything! All that we have and all that we are are gifts we
received from the Lord and therefore, we must render thanks and
offering by willingly giving back to him all! While Cesar represents
the legitimate power to which we must give cooperation for the good
of society, God signifies the sovereign power to whom every knee must
bend, in heaven and on earth (Ph 2:10), even Cesar himself.
Today we hear
politicians, commentators, and even purveyors of fake news all talk
about separation of church and state. This gives rise to the claim
that people of faith should not interfere in the decisions and
actions of the people in temporal power; that religious and moral
views have nothing to do with state actions; that the vision of God
must not enter the arena of politics. But this is a “fake”
distinction. The earthly and the heavenly are not opposed. In fact,
when this question was asked of Jesus, it was not intended as a
serious quest for truth. Instead, it as a trap. The Pharisees wanted
to trap Jesus by making him commit a mistake in judgment. But they
failed miserably.
So give to Cesar what
belongs to him. Give to God, well, everything!
