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29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A - 22/10/2023 - Gospel: Mt 22: 15-21
Recognition
As social beings, we all have experienced some form of public nuisance. It is caused either by carelessness or by rivalry of one who purposely wants to to humiliate us in public. Jesus has plenty of this kind of public harassment from his opponents: the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the Elders. Most of the time, Jesus chooses to ignore it and goes on with his own mission; but there are times, when it is unavoidable. Today's parable is one of his responses to their question. The Pharisees missed no opportunity to discredit Jesus in public. They joined forces with their rivals, the Herodians, to trap Jesus. On the one hand, the Pharisees discouraged their people from paying taxes to the Romans, but on the other hand, they worked with them as a necessity for the sake of their people. Their rivals, the Herodians, were loyal to the Roman Empire. The two worked out a strategy: a question that they believed would have no way out, whichever answer Jesus gave- either 'Yes or No'. Jesus recognized their evil intention. He told them, 'You hypocrites! Why do you set this trap for me?'. He called them 'hypocrites' simply because of their dishonesty; they paid him lip service, praising him as an honest man, afraid of no one before testing him,

'Tell us your opinion. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

If Jesus' answer was 'No', the Herodians could charge him with stirring up a political revolution against the Roman Empire. If the answer was  'Yes', the Pharisees could charge him as a collaborator of the Roman Empire. In responding to their challenge, Jesus asked them to show him the money they pay tax with. They gave him a denarius. Jesus knew the image of Caesar which was imprinted on the denarius, but he wanted them to say aloud the name 'Caesar'. Jesus asked them, 'Whose head is this? They replied, 'Caesar'. This implied that they belonged to Caesar, servants of Caesar. Jesus said to them, 'Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God'. His answer shattered their hope of catching him off-guard. His reply makes clear two distinct kingdoms: Caesar represents the power of this world; God represents the power of God's kingdom. Those who proclaim the power of Caesar; belong to this world. Those who proclaim the power of God; belong to God. Furthermore, his reply has one application and one implication. The application applies to those who proclaimed the power of Caesar: they belong to Caesar. The implication is to those who proclaim the power of God; that they belong to God.

The name and title, 'Caesar' originated from Julius Caesar. Octavius, Caesar's nephew, was a successful emperor. He brought peace and prosperity to the region; people praised him as divine. In this sense, Caesar, whose image was imprinted on the coin, became the symbol of power and wealth: an idol god. Those who love power and wealth belong to him. They are disciples of an idol god. Those who love God belong to God; and become children of God. The deeper implication of his reply is mysteriously hidden from those who have no love for God. It implies when we finish our earthly journey; that what belongs to 'Caesar' remains on this earth. They don't belong to eternity. What belongs to eternity belongs to God; that is Jesus' teaching and the love we have for others in His Name.

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