WHAT DOES CAESAR OWN?

HOMILY FOR THE 29^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

A little boy was very fortunate to have had parents who provided everything he needed and even more. During the festive seasons, such as Christmas, the boy was sure to get more gifts and presents from the dad. He had all he wanted. He had clothing, toys, and some cash to buy ever he wanted. He really looked up towards such seasons. However, there lived another boy in the neighbourhood who was simply the opposite. The parents cared little or less, and constantly exhorted him to manage whatever they had. He would simply wash his old cloths and iron them during the festive seasons. Nothing whatsoever differentiated the festive seasons from the normal seasons. These two boys were friends and always played together. One day, the poor boy mistakenly spoilt a toy belonging to the rich boy. The rich boy was so embittered that he called his poor friend demining names, adding that he should stop handling his toys since he was sure that he could not have one. The mother of the rich boy who was at an insignificant corner heard this and hushed her son adding: how many of what you have do you think are really yours?  And that is the likely question I have employed as the topic of my reflection today: what actually does Caesar own? How many of what Caesar has does he think belongs to him?

The Gospel (Matt 22:15-21) of today provides us with a leverage for answering the question. The Pharisees and he Jews who listened to Jesus speak to them in parables (the parable of the two sons, the parable of the tenants, and the parable of the wedding feast) must have felt deeply insulted that they sought for ways of having strong evidence for his arrest. So, two parties were sent to Jesus –the disciples of the Pharisees and Herodians– to inquire whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. The type of parties sent suggests a clear mischief and insincere desire for the question.  Pharisees and the Herodians are never friends. They were in opposition. The Pharisees were the orthodox Jews who were against the payment of taxes, especially to a foreign king because it would bring about an infringement to the divine right of God. The Herodians were the party of Herod, the king of Galilee, whose power came from Rome, and thus insisted vehemently on taxation. They had come together because they had now a common enemy –Jesus. One can imagine how their differences were forgotten in a common hatred for Jesus and a common desire to destroy him.

The tax demanded to be paid was called a poll tax. This tax had to be paid by every male person from age 14 to 65, and every female person from age 12 to 65. Matthew was also writing in a time when the Jews were forced to continue paying their taxes even when the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed, that the money would be channelled to the temple of Jupiter in Rome. So, every core Jew would be firstly inclined never to agree to such payment that would suggest reverence to another god. Thus, the evangelist had to narrate this story to encouraging his brethren to act from the famous answer of Christ: Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. Here, Jesus lays down a solid principle. Every Christian has dual citizenship; of the earth and of heaven. Every Christian owes civil obedience to the government of his country. The Christian is a man of honour and thus must be a responsible citizen. Failure in good citizenship is failure in Christian duty. St. Paul tells Titus to remind Christian to be subject to rulers and authorities and be obedient and ready to do whatever is good (Titus 3:1). We owe the kings our respect. The Christian has a duty to the Caesars of this world in return for the privileges which the rule of Caesar brings him, such as electricity, good roads, water, security, employment, etc. Every Christian is also a citizen of heaven. He must also observe his Christian duties and must dictate with his conscience where the boundary of both citizenships lies. Fear God and honour the emperor, Peter (1 Pet 2:17) said.

Jesus demanded that he be given a coin and simply asked a question: whose image is this? The question led him to the conclusion that since the coin had the stamp of Caesar’s head; it should go back to Caesar. In the ancient times, such stamps on coins were signs of kingship. Every king had his. So, it was always the first sign that power had changed hands. When another king comes, he brings out his own coinage. And that brings me to the vanity of what Caesar actually owns. It is something which lives as long as the Caesar lives. The coins are changed with the change of kingship. So, that which Caesar owns is transient, unnecessary, and temporal. But what God owns is long-lasting, necessary and eternal. Thus, which option stand better; the one which passes away or the one which does not pass away? Money may belong to Caesar but human beings belong to God, just as money is the creature of man as man is the creature of God. The actual final logic will boil down to the fact that everything belongs to God because even the intelligence man uses is offered to him by God.

The first Reading (Isaiah 421.4-6) helps to clarify this point well. Every king belongs to God. God is free to use any king to accomplish his mission. The oracle of Isaiah regards Cyrus as an anointed king of the Lord, the Liberator of Israel. Cyrus is a Persian King. Persia rose as the world power after Babylon. And so, a Persian king is an anointed, not an Israelite. Persian religion was dualistic; there was a god of light, responsible for the good, and a god of darkness responsible for evil. But Isaiah insists that one God created both light and darkness (45:7). So, nothing belongs to any other god, but only the one true God. The central concentration of this oracle is that Yahweh is the creator of all, and so everyone belongs to him, regardless of race. It is Cyrus who will grant the decree to rebuild Jerusalem after it was destroyed by Babylon. He is God’s anointed (45:1). The idea that God’s purposes can be achieved through pagan kings was favoured by some other prophets. Jeremiah declared Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian to be the servant of God (Jer. 27:6). Thus, it is God who makes kings. He uses whosoever he desires. He now uses Cyrus to bring about Israel’s restoration. And so, every king belongs to him, including Caesar. Caesar belongs to God. Therefore, even when Caesar may claim that the coin belongs to him, we are sure that God created heaven and earth, and so owns both Caesar and the money.

To go back to our lead story, we find out that nothing actually belonged to the rich boy. He is answerable at that stage to his parents and all he possessed was because of his parents. So, the credence goes to his parents, and if there should be any form of boasting, the parents ought to spearhead it. Nothing belongs to Caesar because Caesar is answerable to God, not to himself. We are answerable to our maker. We ought not to live our lives as if we are not answerable to God, for everything belongs to Him. This is also a lesson for the kings of the world. To live like a king who is answerable to God, there must not be any abuse of power. No king should maltreat or deprive those he/she is ruling of their rights and privileges. The position of kingship is the position to serve with no selfish desire overshadowing the common good. Even as people owe you obedience and submissiveness because you represent God (cf. Rom. 13:1), you owe them respect and service because they are God-made (cf. Gen. 1:23). Therefore, giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar is giving God what actually is answerable to Him, because everything belongs to God. When you make donations for the good of your community or the Church, you must know that you are doing it for God. When you do your work judiciously in your office, pay your taxes, does not take bribes, pay your burial levies, etc., you must realize that it is to God that you do it. May the Lord help us to continually realize that everything belongs to Him, and never to any human being. Amen. God bless you.