THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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A good Sunday to all. 

There is a phrase from Jesus that everyone knows and has heard repeatedly, usually out of context: “Give Caesar what is Caesar’s.” We have heard it repeated by those who defend the state’s laicism and say that the Church should not interfere in political affairs. Jesus recommended rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. They are right to defend the secularity of the State, but they should not quote this phrase, which has another meaning. It is also cited by religious authorities to tell those who govern that they must respect the rights of believers, and they quote the second part of Jesus’ saying: “Give to God what is God’s.” They have the right to defend the rights of the believers, but they should not quote this phrase of Jesus, which has another meaning that we will try to grasp. Then it is also trivially quoted by those who demand something, saying, ‘render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.’ 

Let us situate the episode in which Jesus pronounced it. He was in Jerusalem for a few days, and he immediately engaged in heated disputes with the religious leaders, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders; he also expelled the merchants from the temple, thereby infuriating the priestly caste that was managing this trade in and around the temple. But above all, he questioned the very reason for the temple’s existence and for this priestly caste. Why? The simple people had recourse to the temple priests, who were the mediators before God of the offerings they made to God, the sacrifices, incense, burnt offerings, prayers, and songs, and then the Lord granted his benefits passing through the priests. 

Now comes Jesus, who says that the Lord grants all benefits freely, even to those who offer him nothing, because his love is free and unconditional. The priestly caste felt threatened by the prestige they enjoyed among the simple people who bowed down to them with hand-kissing and genuflections; even the source of their income was questioned. What did they do? They said, ‘Let us find out how to get this Jesus of Nazareth out of the way; otherwise, there is no longer any reason for our profession as priests and Levites.’ 

They considered setting a very well-orchestrated trap to remove this Jesus of Nazareth from their midst. To understand what they had orchestrated, we must also keep in mind that the political situation in Palestine, which at the time of Jesus was part of a Roman province, was under the rule of the second emperor, Tiberius. He is seen with his mother, Livia, the third wife of Caesar Augustus, the first of the Emperors. Her son did not love Livia much; it was she who had him adopted, and thus he became emperor after Octavian. 

What was the political situation at that time? There had been uprisings that were immediately put down with bloodshed and the crucifixion of rebels. One of them is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, the uprising of Judas the Galilean, which took place at the time of the census of Quirinus, when Jesus was about twelve years old. It was quelled with bloodshed. However, during Jesus’ public life, the political situation was calm, though zealots were constantly harassing the people. However, that’s not the case; the zealots came a few decades later. At the time of Jesus, the situation was calm. Still, they lived under Rome’s rule in great suffering because there were hefty taxes on the land, on the buildings, and on every transaction, a percentage was paid. Then there were the taxes on the different professions; it wasn’t like you could be a shoemaker on your own, but you had to pay; or to go fishing in the sea of Galilee, you had to pay; on the roads, you had to pay taxes for everything that was transported. 

It was estimated that 50% of the profits went to taxes. Still, there was one tax that was the most hated of all, and it is the one mentioned in today’s Gospel passage, called in Latin ‘tributum capitis,’ that is, the head; each person had to pay one denarius a year; women began to pay it at the age of 12 and men at the age of 14 until 65; it was equivalent to a day’s wage, and it is to this tax that today’s Gospel passage refers. Of course, disputing the payment of taxes was the most dangerous thing because one was immediately accused of sedition, and, in fact, among the other accusations presented to Pilate against Jesus, this one also incited not to pay tribute to Caesar. In this context, the priestly caste, all of these enemies who want to remove Jesus from their midst, gather together to set a trap for him: 

The Pharisees went off and plotted how to entrap him in his speech. They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?’ 

Two groups of Jesus’ opponents enter the scene: the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Herodians appear only rarely in the Gospels; by contrast, the Pharisees are well known to us because they appear repeatedly. The two groups that are now allied were on opposite sides, both religiously and politically. The Pharisees were pious people, strict in morality, and observant of religious traditions. From a political point of view, they believed that even the Romans’ mere presence in Palestine constituted a desecration of the Holy Land because the Romans were idolatrous pagans leading immoral lives and thus supported the Roman occupiers. Especially collecting taxes for them was considered heresy, a grave sin, because the godly Israelite is a servant of one King, one Lord, one God. 

The Herodians were precisely on the opposite shore; they sympathized with Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, who had inherited part of his kingdom and had been given Galilee and Perea. This Herod Antipas, therefore, ruled the same land where Jesus lived. Jesus was also invited to go to him and said, ‘Go and tell that fox…’. Fox is not synonymous with ‘cunning’ as it is for us. In Semitic culture, it means a person with no personality, a puppet of the emperor Tiberius. The Herodians were a family that looked forward to the opportunity to bow to the emperor of Rome. 

He built his new capital after Herod Antipas left Sepphoris. He wanted to create a new capital on the Lake of Galilee, the Lake of Kinnereth. He called it ‘Tiberias,’ a bow to Tiberius, and also the lake, which was the lake of Kinnereth, the lake of Genesaret, the lake of Galilee, was called ‘Lake of Tiberias, Sea of Tiberias.’ His brother made the same obeisance. When Philip built his capital at the springs of the Jordan, he called it ‘Caesarea.’ There was already another Caesarea built by his father along the Mediterranean, so he called that one at the source of the Jordan ‘Philip’s Caesarea.’ This was the political situation of the Herodians, sympathizers, and collaborators of the Romans. 

If these two groups on opposite sides were allied against Jesus, they were upset to the point of no longer standing against him; they wanted him out of the way, and what did they do? They sent his disciples. In the answer that Jesus will give to these disciples, we shall understand the reason these two groups have allied themselves; when they arrive, these disciples of the Herodians and Pharisees do not immediately ask Jesus the crucial question, but they begin with a long preamble; they begin to praise him, ‘Master, we know that you are truthful, you teach the way of God according to the truth, you are afraid of no one, you do not look at the condition of people; you say only what you think….’ 

How do they do this praise, which is the most beautiful we find in the Gospels? Nobody had ever praised Jesus like this. They did it to put Jesus in a challenging situation. It’s like saying, ‘Since you’re a person who’s not afraid to speak the truth, we want to hear from you, only with an answer, yes or no, to the question we now ask you. They want to compel you, therefore, to expose yourself because if you start giving arguments, then you start slipping away; they want a yes or no answer; ‘you who are a loyal person, who fears no one, ‘say yes or no’ to the question we ask you, which is this, is it lawful or not to pay tribute to Caesar?’ 

The trap is very well thought out. Whatever answer Jesus gives, whether he says Yes or No, he will get in trouble. If he says you have to pay taxes, then you are a friend of the Romans, a collaborator, and you lose the sympathy of the people. If you say No, it is even worse because you are a subversive, anti-Roman, and they will accuse you immediately, and it’s all over for you. Let’s listen to Jesus’ answer: 

Knowing their malice, Jesus said, ‘Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?’ 

Using today’s gospel passage as an example, I believe many preachers, during the homily, will remind us of the duty to pay taxes, and they do well, because this reminder should be made occasionally. Also, Christians should be exemplary citizens in this regard. We live in society; we do not live in isolation. We have to relate to others, and someone has to organize this society; according to their possibilities, it is a moral duty to cooperate. Therefore, there is no justification for tax evasion and theft of state property. 

However, today’s gospel passage does not concern the duty to pay taxes. If anything, other texts of the New Testament address it; for example, chapter 13 of the Epistle to the Romans precisely recommends that paying taxes is a duty. When Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, the emperor Nero ruled in Rome. He was at the beginning of his reign, 20 years old, and when he began to rule, he was temperate and moderate. But Paul sets forth a principle that is beyond doubt; he says that it is necessary to submit to the constituted authority not only for fear of punishment but as a duty of conscience. That’s why we must pay taxes, give to each one what is due to him, taxes to the one who must collect them, obedience to whom it is due, and respect to whom respect is due. 

This reminder appears in the New Testament but does not concern today’s gospel passage. Let’s now turn to the answer that Jesus gives. Before answering the question, he offers a brief preamble and says to his interlocutors, ‘Look, I am not a fool; I realize that you are trying to deceive me, but I have no intention of answering in a mysterious and deliberately cryptic way, as politicians tend to do when they do not want to expose themselves and give very vague answers that each one interprets as they want, and then they deny and say that they have misinterpreted it.’ On the contrary, Jesus wants to be very clear. 

The problem, he comes to say, is not about paying taxes but about whether using that money—which is impure—is legal. Why is it impure? Because it depicts a lord who is not the God of Israel. Paying tribute means recognizing him as a king to that effigy. As we shall see, the effigy and the inscription are those of Tiberius, but for a pious Israelite, the only king he recognizes is the God of Israel. Let us then listen to what Jesus asks of his interlocutors now: 

‘Show me the coin that pays the census tax.’ Then they handed him the Roman coin. He asked them, ‘Whose image is this and whose inscription?’ They replied, ‘Caesar’s.’ 

If Jesus asks for the coin from his interlocutors, it means he does not have it; if, on the other hand, they take it out, it means they use it frequently; they receive it for their services, and when they go to the market to buy products, they use this currency. They have scruples only when paying tribute to Caesar, and this currency is necessary. To these interlocutors, Jesus asks two questions: ‘Whose image is on this coin?’ And whose is the inscription on it? And they answer, ‘of Caesar.’ Let us examine the tribute coin that I have placed in the background. For a pious Jew, this coin is disgusting to look at. 

Why? In the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy and in the 20th chapter of the book of Exodus, where the ten commandments are presented, the first of these ten words is this: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above.” All the people of the Ancient Middle East made for themselves images of the sun god, the moon god, the morning star god, and Ishtar. “You, Israel, shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below” (Ex 20:4). The god Dagan was worshipped in Mesopotamia. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above….” 

The Israelites are strictly forbidden to make images. The reason is the danger that they might become idols before whom they bow down to worship, as the pagans do. The God of Israel is jealous; he does not want idols to steal the hearts of the Israelites, who must be bound to him; the God of Israel must be worshipped with all their heart. 

Let us look at this coin of Tiberius; it is a celebration of idolatry. On one side, it bears the image of the emperor of Rome, and on the other side is the inscription that reads, ‘Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine Augustus,’ Octavian, naturally. Then, on the reverse, it says ‘Pontifex Maximus’ – Supreme Pontiff, with the image of a seated woman, which symbolizes peace, perhaps Livia, the mother of Tiberius. He is portrayed as Jupiter, and she is Juno. 

When the pious Jew sees this coin, he is confronted with manifest idolatry. Let us observe where Tiberius placed his effigy and where God put his image (we shall see later). Tiberius placed his effigy on the coin; if you want to know what face Tiberius has, you have to look at the coin and concentrate on it. Tiberius is the representative on earth and the high pontiff of the money cult; he is the one who organizes this religion of money. He is the idol that everybody worships in the Roman Empire. And we know that Jesus has established as irreconcilable the worship of the true God with the worship of money, and on that coin is the effigy of the supreme pontiff of this money-worshipping religion. Nobody is an atheist in the world. 

In the Bible, there is no fear of atheism; the danger is idolatry, because nobody is an atheist; all have their own God; that is, they have someone or something that is the point of reference for all thoughts, for all decisions, for all choices. If this God is the God of Jesus of Nazareth, this God will continually suggest to you to whom you can do good; if, on the other hand, your gods are success, career, or money, they will tell you what you should do, what friendships you should cultivate, whom you should flatter, and who to help so that they can help you later. Of course, every god also makes promises to the worshippers. We know that the money god promises a lot and delivers, and that’s why it has so many worshippers. But be careful, because money also gives orders that go against the person. Money can also tell you to abuse, even children; money can tell you to kill; money can tell you to wage wars; money can ask you to commit injustice, and you have to worship it, and then money fulfills its promises. Here, Tiberius has put his effigy, his image, on money; he is the high pontiff of those who worship this god. 

It is on this dehumanizing cult that Jesus wants to focus attention, not on the payment of taxes, which is out of the question. In that money, with that effigy and that inscription, is the whole philosophy that directs life and the choices of all the inhabitants of the empire subject to Tiberius, the high priest of this religion. So, what should we do with that money and that philosophy stamped on it? Now Jesus tells us. Let’s listen: 

At that, he said to them, ‘Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.’

The envoys of the Pharisees and Herodians asked Jesus: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar? Jesus answered, ‘Repay to Caesar what is Caesar’s.’ He did not say, ‘Give Caesar what is Caesar’s,’ but ‘restore to Caesar.’ The Greek verb is Ἀπόδοτε – Apódote, from the verb ‘apodídomi.’ This verb used by Jesus is important, ‘To repay Caesar what is Caesar’s.’ We ask ourselves, what have the Israelites taken possession of that was not theirs but Caesar’s? They have to give it back. 

Let’s go back to the root of the problem. Jesus says, ‘You are hypocrites; you have scruples about using a piece of metal because it has an inscription and an effigy, but only when you have to pay taxes; you have no scruples about using this coin when you go to the market.’ What is the real problem? It is not the material currency that is diabolical. Still, the philosophy behind that figure and that inscription, a pagan philosophy of the use of money, you, without realizing it, have assimilated this pagan conception of the use of money.’ This is what you have to reflect upon. 

In the Roman Empire, money was worshipped, and all worshiped this god; this god put man at its service. The economy of the whole empire was based on slavery; 20% of the empire’s population was enslaved. What is the root of slavery? The cult of money. In a society ruled by an emperor who stamps his face on money, who is the one who counts? He who has money produces money; those without money are nobody. The Latin proverb circulating in the empire was ‘homo sine pecunia imago est mortis’ – ‘he who has no money is the image of death,’ i.e., one moves away from it just as one moves away from death. 

Where does one worship money? How much is the poor man worth? The prophet Amos says he is worth as much as a pair of sandals, and Jesus says he is worth less than a sheep… ‘Hypocrites, realize that you have become pagans.’ This is the real problem: they have contaminated their hearts with anti-god worship. What does Jesus say? ‘Give this philosophy back to Caesar; he introduced this idol into Israel; it does not belong to the spiritual identity of the children of Abraham; maintain your purity as a consecrated people to the only God and return to the pagan Caesar his idolatrous religion; go to the heart of the matter; do not be hypocrites; a piece of metal is worth a piece of metal; what should disgust you is the inhuman philosophy behind that effigy.’ This philosophy must be rejected and returned to Tiberius and to those who practice his religion, of which he proclaims himself high priest. 

And Jesus goes further. He introduces another restitution that must be made. Let us listen to whom: 

And restore to God what belongs to God. 

Therefore, for Jesus, what belongs to God has been taken from him and must be returned to him. The discourse is always about the image and the inscription. Where did Tiberius put his image and inscription? On the money, and from there the cult of this idol was born. Where has God placed his image and inscription? Everyone knows the answer; they see it in the book of Genesis, where it says that God placed his image in people. 

It is told of Rabbi Hillel, a famous rabbi who lived a generation before Jesus, that one day at the end of the lesson, the disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, where are you going now?’ He answered: ‘I am going to fulfill a Mishnah (מִשְׁנָה), a precept.’ They asked him, ‘What precept?’ He answered them, ‘I am going to bathe.’ They answered him in wonderment, ‘We have never heard that among the Mitzvot there is also a precept of bathing.’ Rabbi Hillel continued, ‘Look, when you go to theaters or circuses, you see that there are images, the statues of the kings; and they are well cared for, they are washed, they are protected, they are honored, and they pay those who perform this service because these images must be respected as if they were noble personages of the kingdom; how much more we, who have been created in the image and likeness of God, must take care of ourselves and wash ourselves to honor the Creator whose image we are.’ 

This story was well known at the time of Jesus. It was probably told to all children precisely to make them aware of what the book of Genesis says: that man was created in the image and likeness of God; that God does not want any other representation because the image has already been made in him, and that by looking at man we can understand who his Lord is. And upon whom has God put the inscription – upon whom has he put his name? The Old Testament says, ‘Upon you, Israelites, I have put my name.’ It is always upon man that God has put his inscription; and in the New Testament, in the 14th chapter of Revelation, it is said that the elect had written on their foreheads the name of the Lamb and the name of his Father. 

Who is to be returned to God? The man whom the tyrants, the Pharaohs, and the supermen have seized must be restored to God. Jesus has the Herodians before him as interlocutors. They have taken man away from God because they are collaborators of the despotic power of Tiberius, who used and took possession of man. In the reign of Tiberius, man was exploited, enslaved, and humiliated. Man must be returned to God. Where there are supermen who, to build their power and their kingdoms, set themselves up as gods and enslave man, they should return man to the only Lord who is God. 

The rabbis of Jesus’ time said that when they were building the tower of Babel, if one man fell, nothing happened; but when one brick broke, everyone burst into tears. A brick was worth more than a man. Where there is power and dominion, those who want to be supermen enslave men who are worth less than a brick. The pharaohs could not serve man; they could use horses, chariots, and oxen, but not to serve man. This is what Jesus asks, ‘Give back to God the man you have enslaved.’ 

Also, the Pharisees must return man to the true God because they have given man to an idol, the idol that bestows its favors on those who offer sacrifices, offerings, prayers, burnt offerings, and holocausts; this is not the true God; they must return man to the true God, not to the idol they have invented. 

The text concludes that when his interlocutors heard it, they were astonished, marveled at it, turned away, and left him. This account does not address the duty to pay or not to pay taxes. It says that man must not serve money and power; man belongs only to God and must be returned to his only Lord. 

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.