Render to God what belongs to God

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

“I am the Lord and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:6). This invocation of God’s divine majesty serves as an apt summary of our first reading and Gospel this Sunday. God’s supremacy includes even the ability to use other, subordinate authorities (for example, governmental or societal leaders) to further his own divine purpose. These lesser authorities exercise legitimate dominion within their appropriate spheres of influence. Everyone, however, must always recognize God’s supreme Lordship over all; despite whatever loyalty we may owe to Caesar, rendering “to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21) must always be our first priority.

Our first reading is taken from the book of the Prophet Isaiah. In this passage, Isaiah refers to the Persian king, Cyrus, as “the Lord’s anointed.” This title was reserved by the Jewish people for their own kings, and ultimately, for the coming Messiah. To apply it to a foreign, Gentile ruler was shocking; in fact, even Cyrus would have been surprised to hear himself labeled as the “anointed” of the Hebrews’ God. And yet, Isaiah legitimately attributes the title to the Persian ruler because Cyrus, while not knowing it, had served as God’s instrument in the life of the Hebrew people. It was Cyrus who ended their captivity in Babylon and allowed the Chosen People to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple after nearly 50 years of exile. The All-Powerful God was able to use this powerful pagan leader to further his own purposes.

Like Isaiah, Jesus also testifies to the legitimacy of civil rulers, provided they recognize their subordination to God, in this Sunday’s Gospel reading. The issue at hand involved payment of a head tax. Imposed by the Roman authorities around 6 BC, the head tax amounted to one denarius (equivalent to one day’s sustenance) for every man, woman, and child between the ages of 12 and 65. The tax had to be paid with a Roman coin on which the head of the Emperor, Tiberius Caesar at the time, was stamped, along with the inscription, “Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus, High Priest.”

While the Roman authorities and their sympathizers looked upon this as simply the price of enjoying the cache and protection of the Roman Empire, the religious Pharisees were deeply offended. First of all, their sense of being subordinated to a foreign power was inflamed. Second, and more deeply troubling, the design of the coin violated the Hebrew ban on graven images. For a religious Jew to possess and handle a coin with the Emperor’s picture and claim of divinity was itself a terrible insult. Having to hand over the coin to a pagan ruler as tribute made the insult that much worse.

The Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus with the seemingly innocent question, “It is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17). Jesus immediately recognized their bad faith; if he answered yes, he would offend many religious people as well as the common folk for whom the tax was a heavy burden; if he said no, he would offend those of his followers who were sympathetic to the Romans and perhaps even open himself up to arrest for inciting rebellion against the Emperor.

Jesus asked for a coin. They presented him with a coin bearing the emperor’s head and inscription. Jesus asked his questioners, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” (Mt. 22:20). When they replied that these were Caesar’s, Jesus concluded the exchange by saying, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” This response neither angered the crowd nor branded Jesus as a political subversive.

Jesus’ response was not an endorsement of the Roman political structure. He simply recognized the fact that the coin was the property of the Imperial Roman government which had the right to demand it back. The Roman Emperor existed, had a legitimate role to play, and should have his due. Jesus did not want to come out against civil authority, recognizing that his Heavenly Father could just as effectively use the Roman Emperor as well as anyone else to accomplish his plan. This is really the point which Isaiah is making in this Sunday’s first reading; even though Cyrus was a pagan king, Isaiah calls him “the Lord’s anointed” because he released the Hebrews from their exile. God can use anyone to accomplish his purpose.

The message that comes down to us is a recognition that we have many legitimate responsibilities – to our governments, communities, families, employers, and so on. We must do our best to meet these responsibilities, to act justly toward all who have a claim upon us. Even though some or even many of these competing claims can seem more important, or especially more urgent, the point of these readings is that our first responsibility is always to render “to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21). By recognizing and meeting this supreme responsibility, may we find that we are become better able to genuinely fulfill all our other duties as well.

Msgr. Fell is a Scripture scholar and director, diocesan Office for Priest Personnel.