Word to the Wise
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - Tuesday in the 9th Week in Ordinary Time
[Tob 2:9-14 and Mark 12:13-17]"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
These famous words from Jesus come at the end of a scene that is marvelously constructed. At the very outset, we are told that "Pharisees and Herodians" were "sent" to Jesus "to ensnare him in his speech." I've already spoken about the "temple aristocracy," who stood to lose much if the Romans took over or destroyed the temple (as they would in 70AD), but there were people like the Pharisees (who despised the Romans) and Herodians (who held their position because Herod owed his throne to the Romans). Each of these two parties would have their own reasons for finding a way to get rid of Jesus. The Pharisees hated him because he "ate and drank with sinners, etc." and the Herodians hated him because his talk about a "kingdom" threatened the paranoid Herod! Although I am oversimplifying it a bit for dramatic purposes, the scene features a volatile mix of religion and politics calculated to show the way through a situation that would be confronting the reading audience later on. At least the challengers have one thing right. Jesus is a "truthful man" and is "not concerned with anyone's opinion" or status but teaches "the way of God in accordance with the truth." Ironically, they are the ones who set the standard with their words even if their motives are evil!!!!
The payment of taxes to Caesar had all kinds of implications. It meant a begrudging acknowledgment of the power of the Roman army - a pagan army - and required the use of Roman money with Caesar's image on it, the possession of which the Pharisees would claim rendered a person unclean! One wonders who produced the coin when Jesus asked for it. Most likely one of the Herodians would have one, which immediately would draw hateful glances from the Pharisees. There is a comic element in all of this! To ask whether or not the payment of the tax is "lawful" refers to the theological issue of giving any recognition whatsoever to a pagan deity - Caesar was considered divine by the Romans. On the surface, Jesus is faced with the choice of being stoned to death or crucified! At this point he chooses neither for purposes of the evangelist's story. There is more to come.
Nevertheless, the issue remains and is shaped by the words of the Pharisees and Herodians. In today's volatile and less than civil political (or religious) discourse, how may one be truthful and ignore status or opinion to stand for what is true? One side says, "I'm right because I'm in power!" Another side says, "You have a right to your opinion, but don't give it the status of objective truth by enacting it into law!" The American bishops face this kind of talk every day. The administration or the Congress or the judiciary all make laws and regulations that are contrary to our faith! We are forced to pay taxes to support immoral policies - whether these concern war or abortion or marriage or immigration, etc.. When the representative of the USCCB appears on behalf of the bishops, they speak for the chief teachers of our faith! A polite reception by a congressional committee is about the best they can hope for. On an individual basis, standing for the truth in ordinary public conversation can quickly turn into loud and passionate labeling and name-calling. The evidence for this online and on air is overwhelming. It is not only a matter of public political discourse, but there are issues within our own Catholic church which give rise to the same problems of discourse in which "excommunications" are drawn like so many pistols in a classic Western cowboy movie!
My own prayer in all of this is that we could strive to be people who are truthful and stand for the truth of our faith, no matter who is in power. Eventually the Romans simply became the existing government and would, like all human government, fall to others. The Body of Christ survived all of that and has to continue to insist on the truth that Jesus teaches without regard to status or opinion. AMEN
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