Repay to Casear June 6th 2006

Mk 12:13-17 Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him,“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone(s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them,“Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” They brought one to him and he said to them,“Whose image and inscription is this? ”They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” So Jesus said to them,“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.
Jesus managed when pressed into a box that the Pharisees and Herodians thought was a sure verbal trap to answer with the truth in a way that he was not trapped and he was honest. In other parts of the Gospel, Jesus teaches to not worry about what you will say to defend yourself when you are following God's ways because the Holy Spirit will give you the words. They were amazed because they did not expect the divine from Christ but that is what they got.

Money is an invention of people and not a creation of God's. To worship and revere money is to miss the truly important presence, that of the triune God. All else is passing. Money can come and go. Rulers can come and go. Possessions can come and go.