Today’s gospel is about politics! To understand
it, it can be useful to say something about the political situation of
Palestine in Jesus’ time. It was not an independent State, but just a province
of the Roman Empire. It was divided into different regions; some of them under a
puppet king (or “tetrarch”), like Galilee, ruled by Herod Antipas, and Ituraea,
under his brother Philip; others, like Judea and Samaria, directly depending on
Rome and ruled by a governor (at that time, Pontius Pilate). The Jews had
different positions on Roman rule; there were different parties; two of them
are mentioned in today’s gospel. The Herodians, so called because
supporters of king Herod Antipas, were in favor of the Romans. The Zealots,
instead, opposed the Romans and sought to overthrow their authority even
resorting to terrorist attacks. Then there were the Pharisees, who also were
against the Romans, but without employing violence.
It is surprising to see, in today’s gospel,
Pharisees and Herodians, who were enemies among them, join their forces against
Jesus. They go together to him, to entrap him in speech. Before asking him a
trick question, they overwhelm him with compliments. They do not believe what
they are saying; but they do not realize that what they are saying is true:
Jesus is indeed a truthful man and he really teaches the way of God in
accordance with the truth. Then they ask the question: “Is it lawful to pay the
census tax to Caesar or not?” Please notice, paying taxes to the Romans means
to acknowledge their sovereignty over Israel (actually, the Zealots refused to
pay taxes to the Romans). Whatever Jesus answers, he will put himself against
someone: if he replies, “Yes, it is lawful,” he will be accused by the
Pharisees of being a traitor of his people; on the contrary, if he answers,
“No, it is unlawful,” he could be denounced by the Herodians to the Roman
authority as subversive.
As usual, Jesus manages to disengage himself
very well. First of all, he unmasks the hypocrisy of his interlocutors; then he
asks them for the coin to pay the tax. By producing the coin, they show that
they are using the Roman money, thus accepting the advantages of the Roman
administration and acknowledging indirectly its legitimacy. Then Jesus asks
them: “Whose image is this (cuius est imago haec?) and whose inscription?” On the Roman coins there were
the image and the name of the Emperor: “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine
Augustus, great high priest (Pontifex Maximus).” This means that the
coin belongs to him, and so it is right to give it back to him. In this way,
Jesus acknowledges—and teaches us to acknowledge—civil authority, whatever it
is. It does not matter if the Roman Emperor is a pagan. We have heard in the
first reading what God says to Cyrus, the king of the Persians: “I have called
you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not … It is I who arm
you, though you know me not.” God is the Lord of history, and is free to use
anyone to carry out his plans.
So, “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”
But Jesus does not stop here. Jesus acknowledges and respects civil authority,
but at the same time reminds it of its limits. Political power is not an
absolute power; it can levy taxes on its subjects; but it cannot claim what
does not belong to it. What? Man. Why? Because man does not belong to the
State, but to God. How can we know that man belongs to God? Just as on the
Roman coins there was the Emperor’s image, so man is imprinted with God’s
image: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him”
(Gn 1:27 RSV). The image of God shows that man belongs only to him, and has
duties towards him. No human power can take the place of God and prevent man
from serving his Lord. “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God
what belongs to God.”
Q
