Reflection: "Who Should we Worship?"“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.”
These words of Jesus have become a sort of proverb, even to those who only know little, or no, scripture. Yet, digging beneath the surface of this short encounter, will help us uncover some of the deeper currents in the exchange that Jesus had with the Pharisees and people of ancient Israel. Firstly, the combination of people who approach Jesus is intriguing. Matthew tells us that it includes the Pharisees, together with the Herodians. The religious leaders didn’t want to give money to their pagan oppressors, so were against paying taxes to Rome. On the other hand, King Herod’s position of power came courtesy of the Romans, so, even though the taxes were widely considered to be oppressive, the Herodians had a vested interest in ensuring that the Roman taxes were paid by the people. Therefore, the Pharisees and the Herodians each reflected one of the horns of this dilemma. They asked Jesus the question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” This reference is to Jewish Law, which is also called the Law of Moses, and had been around for thousands of years. By Rome’s standards, it was lawful to pay the tax; but the question was whether, or not, it was proper for a religious Jew to do so. It would seem that the people had presented Jesus with a dilemma - with no safe way out. Jesus can’t speak against the tax, because that would anger the Herodians and lead to a charge of treason against Rome and he can’t speak in favour of the tax, without alienating most of the Jewish crowd that followed him. You might remember that last week we looked at the Israelites making a Golden Calf as an image of God that they could see. God was so angry with them that it took all the persuasive powers that Moses had to convince God not to annihilate his people, then and there. God was not happy with icons, or images, being worshipped. Some Jews saw the image of the Roman emperor, on the coin, as one of these images that people worshipped. Jesus then asks the crowd for one of the coins used in paying the tax. Here he was setting his own trap, because it proved that at least one among the questioners, is a hypocrite. The coin used to pay the tax was a silver Denarius, with the image of Caesar on one side and on the reverse, the image of a woman named Pax (who personified peace). The coins were obviously against the Jewish Law, which prohibited images of other gods, yet his accusers were carrying them around with them. You’ll probably recall the incident when Jesus overturned the tables and chased the moneychangers from the outer courts of the Temple. These moneychangers were running a very lucrative business in the outer court because people had to exchange their pagan currency for the Jewish Temple coins before going to buy their sacrifices inside the Temple. Carrying the image of Caesar into the Temple was considered extremely sinful, so it’s interesting to note that when Jesus asks the crowd for a Denarius, one is quickly located and handed to him. Jesus then asks the question that everyone in Israel could have answered - even without a coin in their hand. He asks them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” This translation sort of misses the point of the argument Jesus is positing. The word they translate as “head” is actually “icon,” a Greek word better translated as “image.” The word “title” is better translated as “likeness.” So, we could frame the question as “Whose iconic image is this?” When they answer Jesus’ question, saying that the image and likeness are “Caesar’s,” Jesus replies that they are to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Again, the translation covers something better revealed. It could also be translated as “give back” rather than just “give” or “render.” Give back to Caesar, those things that are Caesar’s. It’s his coin anyway, so who cares if you give Caesar back his coin for the tax? Then Jesus gives the most amazing line of the short encounter when he adds that we are to “give to God the things that are God’s.” This leaves everyone trying to calculate what exactly are these things of God’s, that we’re supposed to give back to him. And in case you’re still wondering, the clue is in the words “icon” or “image” and “likeness.” Jesus is quoting from Genesis 1:26-27, which reads, “And God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness,’” and it goes on to say: “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” So, the principle is this: Just as the coin has Caesar’s icon on it, so it is Caesar’s, but we were made in the image and likeness of God, so we are God’s. Jesus affirmed the tax whilst at the same time, making it all but irrelevant. Jesus implies that, though we do owe something to the state, there are limits as to what we owe. But Jesus places no limits regarding what we owe to God. This text is often used when ministers are called on to talk about stewardship campaigns - in terms of what you should give, monetarily, to the church. But this is more than just a passage about tithing. If giving 10 percent of our income is all we do, then we fall more than 90 percent short of the mark. Jesus says that everything we have, and everything we are, is a gift from God. While this would certainly apply to the money you make, the formula isn’t trying to say that you should give 100 percent of your income to God, because God knows that you need the money for the necessities of life. The teaching is, that once you have given God some of the money you earn, don’t feel that you’ve paid off your obligation. God also wants to share in some of your time and energy as well, so the tithing formula relates to your calendar, as well as your wallet. What God wants is nothing less than to come and live in your heart. The point is that you’ve been made in the image and likeness of God. God loves us and keeps our picture in the divine wallet and on the heavenly refrigerator. Jesus didn’t care about the tax, because his real concern was that we live in the image and likeness of the God who lovingly created us. And we begin to live into the image and likeness of God when we try to live our lives using the example that Jesus set when he was here among us - a human being and a spiritual body. Giving back to God through the church is important, but merely giving money to the church, or anywhere else is only part of the picture. We were created in the image and likeness of God and so, we must give our hearts, time, love, compassion, service and everything else, to God’s glory, because everything we possess is a free gift from him that we call grace. We meet Jesus anew every time we worship. And in answer to the question, “What are the things that are God’s which we need to give back to God?”, the simple answer is: “We are.” Blessings………………..Pastor Rick
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