Give to God what belongs to God

“Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Mt 22:17

Taxes are a problem in every society. Two summers ago I was in Tanzania and while visiting with a young fellow who was about to finish his university studies, I learned that because so many Tanzanians are self employed it can be very difficult for the government to collect taxes. No doubt this is an issue in most of the developing world. Studies in Tanzania suggest that because people don’t trust that their taxes are helping improve public services, they are unwilling to pay their fair share. Perhaps the movement to “Occupy Wall Street,” is manifestation of this same distrust in our country.

A similar situation existed in the Palestine of Jesus’ day. Because Israel was occupied by the Romans, their tax rate was high. There was a poll tax, equivalent to a day’s wage, an income tax of one percent and a ground tax that demanded Jews give 10% of all grain to Rome and 20% of all wine and fruit. Some scholars suggest that by the time the poor paid all their taxes it amounted to almost 40% of their income. It was no surprise that the Pharisees and Herodians, enemies in most things, used the issue of taxes to try to entrap Jesus. If Jesus agreed that the taxes should be paid he would be accepting the legitimacy of the Roman occupation and offending the leaders of the Jews. If he suggested Jews should not pay taxes, he might please the poor who were so heavily taxed, but would be vulnerable to the Romans who ruled Israel.

Jesus escapes the trap by asking for a coin. That the leaders of the Jews had a Roman coin was an offense in itself since it bore the image of Caesar and the inscription, “Tiberius Caesar, Augustus, son of the divine Augustus, high priest.” The Romans demanded that taxes be paid in Roman currency and for a Jew to have any currency bearing the image of someone who claimed divinity made him or her unclean. In a sense the argument is over. Jesus has turned the tables on the Pharisees and Herodians, but he takes his argument a step further. To both of his adversaries he suggests that they are more concerned with winning silly arguments than pleasing God and that is our lesson for today as well.

When we enter into serious discussion with others are we merely trying to win the argument and prove our superiority or are we seeking insight and wisdom in order to live more justly in the world and with God?

Today, ask for the grace to listen to others with reverence. Perhaps you will also be granted the gift of wisdom.