A reflection on Matthew 22:15-21, Luke 3:38, Acts 17:29
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
©️2023 Gloria M. Chang
The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap 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. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. 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
Caesar vs. God
During his earthly life, Jesus, who came to unite the world in himself, united it against him. The Roman-despising Pharisees and the Roman-placating Herodians—bitter enemies—conspired to trap their common enemy, Jesus. Dripping with flattery, they praised him as a truth-teller unmoved by human esteem.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
If Jesus affirmed the tax, the Pharisees would defame him as a Roman ally, alienating him from the Jews. If Jesus rejected the tax, the Herodians would report him to the Romans, who would arrest him.
Jesus saw right through his enemies. Religious zealots, who despised Caesar, carried his coins in their robes for daily commerce. Both taxes and tithes were paid with Roman currency. Outwitting their either/or trap, Jesus acknowledged the role of civil authority for national residents. At the same time, he affirmed the primacy of divine authority over creation, especially the children of Adam made in God’s image.
God’s Family
Luke’s genealogy identifies Jesus as “the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38). We are indeed God’s progeny.
Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
Acts 17:29
Caesar’s inscription seals his property;
God’s inscription seals his progeny.
Traditional Chinese Translation
《誰的銘文？》
凱撒的銘文封印了他的財產；
上帝的銘文封印了祂的後裔（產業）。