Tax Time—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 21A/Proper 24A (Matthew 22)

Matthew 22:15-22 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” ²¹ They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

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                Maybe you heard the rumors that the United States has just hired 87,000 armed IRS agents who will be coming after you. The rumor has struck a nerve because no one wants to pay taxes, and if you can figure out how to get out of paying taxes, you’re lucky (or can afford expensive tax lawyers). While people love the government services, they use that doesn’t mean they want others to benefit. For some reason, we tend to think we’re deserving, and others are not. Our antipathy to paying taxes isn’t new, as we discover as we read the lectionary reading from Matthew 22.

                While death and taxes are the two things in life that most of us can’t avoid, and the IRS is the most despised government agency, taxes are what makes a government possible. Now, if you’re living under an oppressive occupying power, such as the folks in Judea and Galilee, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t like tax collectors. Remember that tax collectors were often lumped together with sinners whom the people considered to be the scum of the earth. While we could debate the values and benefits of the American tax system, that probably would miss the point of this reading.

                Contextually, this encounter between Jesus and the religious leadership takes place during what is known to us as Holy Week. Jesus has already stirred up the crowd by riding into Jerusalem astride a donkey, an entrance that led the people to hail him the Messiah. After he entered the city, he headed to the Temple and cleansed it. When the religious authorities asked him about his authority, Jesus told several parables, with the last being about a wedding banquet. The last one spoke of a wedding banquet at which the invited guests said no (sometimes violently) leading to the inclusion of those outside the normal circles. Now, the religious leaders looked to get Jesus in trouble with the crowd by bringing up the payment of taxes to Rome.

                While money is involved here, the central issue is one of allegiance. That allegiance is symbolized by the payment of the imperial tax. Although there were several taxes levied on the people of the empire, this was the most despised of all taxes. In essence, Rome levied a tax on occupied people to pay for the occupying soldiers (Roman Legions) who controlled the area. As you might expect, occupied people never like paying the salaries of their occupiers. Though not exactly the same, there are parallels between the taxes levied on the occupied peoples by the Romans and the Stamp Act that the British Parliament levied taxes on paper used by American colonists to pay for the Seven Years War (French and Indian War on this side of the Atlantic), which ultimately contributed to the rise of the American Revolution.

            In Matthew’s narrative, we are in Jerusalem. The city is tense because Passover is near. Roman soldiers are patrolling the area. Jesus’ activities are stirring things up; at least the authorities, both political and religious, consider Jesus to be something of a radical who threatened the status quo.  Since many in the lower classes were fond of him, putting him in a no-win situation might help the leaders find a way of neutralizing him. So, Matthew tells us that a group representing the Pharisees (we’re told that these were students) and the Herodians (a party that supported the client royal family, and therefore would have supported the tax system) raises the issue of paying taxes with Jesus. Note how they approach Jesus. They offered him a degree of “respect,” which was nothing more than flattery designed to get the desired response.

The representatives of the Pharisees and Herodians addressed Jesus as “Teacher,” though the inquisitors did not consider him a teacher. They tried to butter up Jesus by suggesting that he “taught the way of God in accordance with truth.” Indeed, they even suggested that Jesus didn’t treat anyone with partiality. They were laying it on Jesus, hoping that he would embrace the fake honorifics. Then came the gotcha question. Since they knew that if he said it was right to pay the taxes levied on them by Rome it would alienate his base, which included many nationalists and others who were fed up with the Roman occupation, they could undermine his relationship with the base. On the other hand, if he opposed paying the taxes, he would get himself in trouble with Rome, which is why this group of religious students brought along representatives of the Herodian party. It was a good plan, except that Jesus didn’t fall for it. Rather than making a clear statement either way, Jesus simply told his questioners that what belongs to Caesar should be given to Caesar and what is due to God should be given to God. In other words, he wasn’t going to say anything that would incriminate either way.   

While Jesus didn’t give a clear answer, the answer was, in its way, subversive. While paying taxes wasn’t popular, Jesus understood that the people had little chance of throwing off Roman rule (remember that Matthew wrote after the fall of Jerusalem, so this truth was already confirmed). At least as Matthew tells the story, Jesus didn’t let the messianic predilections of some of his followers influence his sense of call. While he numbered several Zealots among his closest followers there is no evidence that Jesus was a Zealot. Although Jesus didn’t take a completely “spiritual” path rather than a “political” one as he conducted his ministry, he does seem to take a realistic one. That is true even though he seemed to know that he would face a violent end. The very fact that he preached a message that focused on the coming of the realm of God meant that the opposition would not stop until he was dead. He just didn’t want to give them the ammunition they sought.

Since Jesus knew the value of props, when asked about paying taxes, Jesus asked his inquisitors for a coin (a denarius). Then he asked whose image was on the coin. When the testers replied with Caesar’s since the imperial coins featured the emperor’s visage, he gave his answer of giving to Caesar what belonged to Caesar. It’s worth noting here that not only did the coins bear the emperor’s image, but they featured the statement hailing him as the “son of god.” As we consider the image and its accompanying declaration, we might want to look back in time to the Commandments God gave to Moses. Remember that the first commandment declares that there is but one God and the second offers a prohibition of the making of images. That coin and its declaration essentially declared that Caesar was a god. If Caesar is a god, then veneration is being requested. By telling the people that what belongs to God should be given to God places that contrast in place. Who are you going to worship? Caesar or God. Thus, the issue is not taxes but allegiance.

As we ponder Jesus’ response, it is worth considering our own coins. Whose image do we find there? On our coins and paper money it is mostly dead Presidents along with a few important leaders. They are produced by the government and made available to us so that we can buy and sell what we need to survive. Since the government produces the money, they have the right to ask for something back so they can provide the services we desire.

We might not be happy with the way the government spends its money. Some people don’t like money being spent on providing food, housing, and health care for the poor. Others don’t like having to pay for the nation’s military. Ultimately, then, and now, the “taxpayer” doesn’t decide how the money gets spent. In the case of the United States, we authorize our city councils, county commissioners, state legislators, or congressional representatives to make the decisions on our behalf. Sometimes we approve of our representatives, but not always. We may vote for our representatives, but they don’t always vote as we would want them to do.

Enough about government spending, since that was not Jesus’ focus in his response. If we dig deeper, we discover that Jesus is focused on the nature of our ultimate allegiance. While I believe that secular governments have a legitimate purpose, which is why I vote and pay my taxes. I even count among my friendship circle members of the government. So, I am not an anarchist! However, I do not believe that our government deserves our ultimate allegiance. Remember that Paul affirmed the legitimate role played by the government (Romans 13). The Second Century church leaders did the same. Nevertheless, Paul and people like Justin Martyr and Athenagoras understood that there existed a higher law. When the two came into conflict, you must follow God’s law. That was the word Peter shared with the Sanhedrin when obedience to God and human authority came into conflict (Acts 4:19-20). Knowing when the two come into conflict often requires great spiritual discernment.   

The question Jesus raised with his interrogators had to do with how we determine what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. Here is the kicker: ultimately everything belongs to God, even Caesar belongs to God. When it comes to images, the coin might bear Caesar’s image, but according to the first creation story, humanity bears God’s image (Gen. 1:28). Since this is true, everything belongs to God, including humanity. Therefore, God has entrusted humanity as a whole with a task, which is being stewards of God’s creation. Therefore, Caesar is just one human being among many who is entrusted with this calling to be a steward of creation.

Across the globe, there is a growing populism that is expressing itself in various forms of nationalism, which often have religious dimensions. It exists not only in places like Hungary or Turkey but there is a growing Christian nationalist movement here in the United States. While in theory, the United States does not have an official state church or religion, from the very beginning a quasi-Protestant civil religion has existed. Our money includes the phrase “In God We Trust” (as opposed to the gold standard). Presidents and other government leaders end speeches with “God Bless America.” City Councils often begin with invocations (I know, I have offered them). In some ways these expressions of civil religion are benign, however, religious nationalism often involves protecting the prerogatives of the majority.  

What might it mean for the way we live our daily lives if we affirm the premise that our ultimate allegiance belongs to God? How might we live in this world as followers of Jesus and not let the “world” define the way we live? Once upon a time, when Christendom reigned in the West, many assumed that church membership and citizenship in the nation were the same thing. Baptism not only marked one’s membership in the church but in the state as well. It was this connection that led the Reformers to continue the practice of infant baptism, as it served as the foundation of a national church. Since the United States doesn’t have an official state church/religion that connection has been severed. Nevertheless, the civil religion that emerged with the birth of the nation has favored Protestant Christianity and serves as the foundation for the idea that the United States is a Christian nation. Again, we see evidence of this continuation of a longer history of Christendom in certain symbolic gestures such as the swearing of oaths on the Bible as well as the insertion of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s so part of the waters of American life that we can take it for granted that this is a Christian nation without fully embracing Christian nationalism. It does, however, make us susceptible to its message.  

As we ponder this passage that speaks to more than paying taxes, we are called upon to ponder the nature of our relationship with the powers of this world. David Lose offers us a word of wisdom that can help us navigate these present realities.

Whatever alliances we may make with the powers of this world – or with those who oppose them – these alliances are always temporary, dictated perhaps by the demands of the circumstances, but ultimately directed by our relationship with the One who created us and whose image we bear. This means that following Jesus’ counsel is always a matter of discernment, prayer, and confession, as we will frequently fail and always struggle to discern what God-fearing participation with government requires. [Feasting on the Gospels--Matthew, Volume 2: A Feasting on the Word Commentary, p. 193].

As we continue with Jesus during this final week of his ministry, as Matthew describes it, we will discover that while the authorities cannot trap him, they will decide that he is too dangerous for them to allow him to live. While death is inevitable, as the story continues, death will not be the final verdict.

                Christian nationalism is not a new phenomenon, and it likely is no more present than it was earlier, but it is making itself felt in the public square. We see it present at school board meetings, legislatures of all levels, and in front of libraries. While Christian nationalists shout loudly in the public square, fewer North Americans (as well as folks in Europe) are deciding to attend church. Whether folks number themselves among the “Nones” or the “Dones” they are choosing not to engage with the Christian faith. Could it be that these loud voices are one of the reasons?

                The discussion Jesus has with the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians isn’t so much about taxes as it is about the way we live in the public square. Do we enter with a self-serving agenda, seeking to benefit ourselves at the expense of others? Do we seek dominion? Are Jesus’ teachings obsolete? These are the kinds of questions raised here in Matthew 22. As for Jesus, he simply tells us to give to God what belongs to God. That would be our complete allegiance.

        Image Attribution: Roman Coin of Caesar Augustus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57565 [retrieved October 16, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aureus,_Auguste,_Lyon,_btv1b104440369.jpg.