Fathers Column for Oct 19th Our obligation to be loyal to God and the government Last three Sundays the Gospel presented three parables, namely, the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the wicked tenants, and the parable of the Marriage Feast. They referred to the Pharisees and the Chief Priests, who asked, on whose authority Jesus chased the money changers and those selling doves in the Temple of Jerusalem. The Gospel for this Sunday deals with another controversy concerning tax to be paid to the emperor: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17). Romans worshiped mythological pagan gods and the emperor too declared himself a god. Hence the question is raised, whether it was morally correct for the people of God to pay tax to those who worshiped pagan gods. The plot consisted in this that if Jesus had said that tax should not be paid then he would be accused of treason; if he had said that tax should be paid, then he would lose the confidence of the God-fearing Jews, who considered it immoral. Knowing their evil intention, Jesus avoids giving any direct answer. He asks for a coin and told them to check whose image was inscribed on the coin. When they replied that the image of Caesar was imprinted, Jesus puzzled them with his answer, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21). Jesus shows that even though they were God’s chosen people, they were no longer independent from a political authority. Hence their obligation toward the government could not be rescinded. The submission to the secular authority is not against submission to God. Jesus underlines the primary task of paying the debt to the emperor and simultaneously of paying the debt to God. We must realize that we too are stamped with the image of God through the Sacrament of Baptism. Hence we belong to God and we are indebted to God, just in the same manner as we are indebted to the government. Therefore we have to show our allegiance to God and the secular authority. Showing our loyalty to God means that we have to free ourselves from everything evil, whatever draws us away from God… “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” God bless you Fr. Arul Joseph V.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 15:12:18 +0000