DAY 31: Citizens of heaven and earth

Reading: Matthew 22:15-22
‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and
to God the things that are God’s.’ v21

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Taxation is always a contentious issue. If the Pharisees thought they
could catch Jesus out by a simple question about taxation, they got it
wrong. In his poverty, Jesus calls for a coin with the emperor’s head
on it. As he showed them the coin he exposed their hypocrisy. The
coin was used to pay for the roads and the peace that the people
enjoyed. It is right that as Christians we pay our lawful dues to
society. Yes, we can seek to minimise that by lawful means, but
we must never avoid paying what belongs to the state. This calls
into question practices such as not putting payments through the
books by asking for cash. Should we collude in this? We must take
responsibility for ourselves and ensure that our payments are made in
the right way. Then the state can use the money for the good of all
of society. But we must never withhold from God what is rightly His,
namely the whole of our life and money.
As with so many stories, Jesus goes beyond the original question. In
the world of his time, the cult of linking the emperor with deities was
strong. The fear was that by using the coin it colluded with this belief.
Jesus breaks that and effectively says ‘that as you are made in the
image of God, give back to God what is His, namely yourself.’

For further reading Romans 13:1-7 - Paul on being loyal subjects and paying tax.
To ponder How do you feel about paying taxes? If you are a taxpayer do
you use Gift Aid to add value to your gifts to the work of God?
To pray Lord, help me to be a responsible citizen of heaven and earth,
active in my community and willing to pay my taxes for the
benefit of the wider society. Amen.

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