Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay? ”Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.
REFLECTION
“Whose image and inscription is this?”They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.
Whose image and inscription is on a coin? A coin carries a message about the place the coin is made. It tells who is the ruler of that country and the value of the coin.
Whose image and inscription is on the coin pictured above. If you are a United States citizen then your response would be , "Lady Liberty."
The statue of Liberty is a monument, signifying "freedom," to those entering the coastal waters of the United States of America.
The inscription on the face of the coin says, "Liberty 1986". On the back side the inscriptions read, "United States of America, Five dollars, E Pluribus Unum, and In God We Trust." E. Pluribus Unum is Latin. Translated it means "out of many one" this is the motto of the US. It means that there are many people, many states, united in one country. The other inscription says, "In God We Trust." Since the Civil War the people wanted to express their religious faith which was America's heritage and they agreed to print this belief on their money.
My mother liked to collect coins. Whenever my sons went to visit her, she would give them a jar of coins and put them to work sorting through them. Since children are curious they would ask about who were the people on the coins and Mother would give them a lesson about coins. They were busy for hours. Eventually, they would get into a playful mood and play cops and robbers. The robbers were caught and put in jail. The loot was returned to mother's vault. But most of mother's coins were sorted.
In Jesus' time the Israelites were conquered by the Romans. The Emperor of Rome at the time of Jesus' adult life was Tiberius Julius Caesar. As the Emperor he had coins stamped with his picture and name. In those times the inscriptions were simply the name of the ruler and the value of the coin. The Israelites had to pay a tax to Caesar.
If the tax wasn't paid then they would be arrested and put in prison.
The Pharisees and Herodians thought they had trapped Jesus. If Jesus answered in favor of the people who hated paying taxes to Rome, then Romans could arrest him. Or if Jesus answered in favor of Caesar then the people would stop following Jesus.
They were right about one thing. Jesus would tell the truth. Jesus answered by simply telling them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Let's pray that we follow Jesus' command; pay our taxes and repay to God what belongs to God.
We are on the top of God’s list of belongings. WE belong to God!
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