Author
Liturgical Date
Readings
It’s very strange that the Pharisees, in today’s Gospel passage, maintain good relations with the Herodians and that the two groups go to Jesus together: “And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians…” (Mt 22:16). Very strange. To better understand this fact, let’s shed some light on the historical context of that era.
I
In that period, the Holy Land was under the rule of the Romans, and from the time of Caesar Augustus onward, the citizens—subjected to the yoke of the Romans—had to pay taxes. The Pharisees, who were jealous for their religious observance, argued that faithful and observant Jews, who paid tithes and first fruits of all their goods, as described by the Law of God, were exempt from the burden of the Roman tax. There was another political party, though, who argued the exact opposite: the Herodian party, whose origins can be explained in this way: Caesar Augustus imposed upon the Jews a foreign king, Herod (known as the Great, the father of Herod Antipas who reigned during the public ministry of Jesus), and since Herod owed his power to the Romans, he remained obedient to them, and collected the tax for them. Therefore, the Pharisees and the Herodians were enemies, and their collaboration to place Jesus in a trap was something out of the ordinary.
Humanly speaking, the only thing that can bring enemies together is the greatest hatred for another enemy. The two groups, therefore, wanted to lay traps for Jesus, to catch him in a trap for the words that came from his very mouth. They laid their snares, a net for his feet. They say with guile: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”(Mt 22:17). If the Lord would have said that one should not pay, then he would have been accused of inciting a rebellion against the Romans; if he would have said that the tax should be paid, he would have taken a stand in favor of the oppressors.
But Jesus, knowing their malice, responds with divine wisdom: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mat 22:21) – and thus his very questioners need to choose, they need to distinguish which things are Caesar’s and which are God’s. And the Lord can say with the words of the Psalmist: “We have escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped” (Ps 124:7).
II
So, here’s the historical context. But, as St. Paul says: “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16). This Gospel passage is useful even to us today, for our progress in the spiritual life. I would like to underline the importance of the coin.
After having asked to examine the coin for the tax, Jesus asks them: “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said: Caesar’s” (Mt 22:20-21). Caesar’s coin, and we should render it to Caesar, and we know which money is his, due to the image stamped on it. But, on the other hand, what about God’s money? Perhaps it works in the same way? We are God’s money. But what is the image printed on our hearts? Sacred Scripture says: “[Christ] is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), bearing the very stamp of his nature (cf. Heb 1:3). In the letter to the Romans, we read this: “he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29).
Therefore, with divine currency, money gets minted according to a model, a form. When money gets minted, the image which is issued is that of the Son of God. Every man (that is, all human beings) is minted in this way, because in the beginning: “God created man in his own image; in the image of God, he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). But the currency has undergone damage, it has become stained, oxidized, ruined—to the point that the image is no longer recognizable.
In the archeological finds, when they discover a damaged coin, there is always a procedure to restore it, to clean it, and to distinguish the image so that they can identify and date it. Christ came into the world to restore his image on the coins tarnished by sin. The entire effort of the Christian life consists in this: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust –the tarnished money—we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven –the clean money” (1 Cor 15:49). St. Paul explains the Christian vocation in these terms: “you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col 3:9-10).
Therefore, our goal, at the end of our spiritual journey, is clear: the renewal of the image of Christ stamped on our hearts. But how? In the procedures of restoring the coins, one must first work to remove the strongest dirt and to scrape off the rust, and then eventually clean it with a special solvent to polish the coin and return it to its initial splendor. In the spiritual life, the scraping of the rust is called “conversion” and the solvent to polish the coin is the blood of Christ. Let’s not forget, my brethren, that we have been redeemed at a great price (cf. 1 Cor 6:20).
Today, if you have a free moment, take out your special coin, the one which you find in the depths of your heart. In what condition is that coin? Is it shiny and clean? Or perhaps is it damaged from rust? Examine the image printed on it. Is it a worldly or divine image? Is it Caesar’s or Christ’s? Thanks to God, we have the possibility to convert our lives and to become conformed to the image of the Son of God!