Irreconcilable enemies unite to put Incarnate Wisdom to the test. In confronting them, Our Lord shows the relationship that should exist between the temporal and spiritual spheres, leaving us a valuable teaching.
Gospel – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
15 The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to Him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19Show Me the coin that pays the census tax.” 20 Then they handed Him the Roman coin. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that He said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt 22:15-21).
I – The Mystery of the Complicity of Evil
The scene St. Matthew narrates in in the Gospel chosen by the Church for the Liturgy of the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time brings together two opposing factions: the Pharisees and the Herodians. Seemingly irreconcilable enemies, the two groups unite to plot against the Son of God, daring to put Him to the test.
The Pharisees had drawn up a burdensome legal code as an explication of the principles of faith and morals contained in the sacred texts. For members of the sect, the truth was restricted to the generally erroneous and misguided interpretations of their teachers and scribes. This falsified religion aspired at all costs to the economic independence of Israel from any other people, including the Romans, who dominated Palestine at that time by imposing on its citizens the payment of taxes, among other duties.
In this sense, the messianic expectations of the Pharisees were fuelled by the desire for a political liberation of Israel that would give the race of Abraham political sovereignty. Accordingly, they hoped that the prophecies foretelling a future glory of material triumph for Zion would be fulfilled to the letter, resulting in riches from the four corners of the earth being channelled into the Temple’s coffers.
Library of Yuso Monastery, San Millán de la Cogolla (Spain)
This religious sentiment of emancipation from civil power set the Pharisees against the Herodians, who, as the name of their faction indicates, defined themselves as supporters of King Herod. For them, the primacy of temporal authority was indisputable. A political leader endowed with royalty should govern the chosen people, as the former monarchs had done, merely granting the spiritual sphere protection and relative freedom.
The two outlooks vehemently clashed, leading to what initially seemed to be an irreconcilable conflict between the partisans of civil supremacy and those of religious domination. Nevertheless, the two parties presented themselves before the Divine Master joined by a sinister accord, intent on entrapping Him.
How can such a scandalous contradiction be explained? This is the mystery of the complicity of evil!
In this particular case, it is important to clarify that each group saw in the Messiah a potential a political ally, by which it would succeed in imposing its own spurious philosophy and in obtaining definitive pre-eminence over the other. Neither the Pharisees nor the Herodians had a disinterested desire to follow the Lord’s Anointed. They both aspired, in their own way, to dominate the future Saviour in order to make Him an instrument of their own cause.
Our Lord’s unexpected emergence and His great dignity completely surprised them, leaving them bewildered and without any basis to carry out their selfish plans. Therefore, although they detested each other, they formed an alliance to try to eliminate their common enemy. This mystery of the complicity of evil – for the idea of union never comes to mind in connection with the children of darkness – is easily explained if we understand demonic psychology.
The pseudo-kingdom of hell is made up of rebellious and proud and therefore mutually hostile spirits. The factor that binds them together is hatred for good, a passion so intense in them that it enables them to overcome the divisions imposed by the clash of whims and personal criteria. It is in this way that the false religiosity of the Pharisees and the false monarchism of the Herodians are united against the true Messiah. Nevertheless, the Divine Solomon will elude this trap by means of the most refined and unsurpassed wisdom.
II – Divine Wisdom Queried by Human Hypocrisy
The episode narrated in this Sunday’s Gospel takes place after Our Lord Jesus Christ had uttered three magnificent parables that unmasked the falsehood and malice of the Pharisees, casting them in a negative light in the eyes of Public Opinion.
The first, concerning the two sons, ends with a bitter and direct recrimination of the Lord against the chief priests and teachers of the Law: “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you” (Mt 21:31). Then, in dealing with the murderous vine-dressers, Jesus prophesies his Death by the work of the Sanhedrin: “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him” (Mt 21:38-39). Finally, using the image of the wedding feast, the Redeemer announces the exclusion of Abraham’s human offspring from the New Covenant, sealed in the precious Blood of the Divine Lamb, and their future replacement by the Gentiles (cf. Mt 22:1-14).
Wounded in their pride, the Pharisees can no longer contain their hatred. For this reason, they resolve to seek the cooperation of the abhorrent Herodians in order to set a deadly snare for the Author of Life.
Blind, like the devil
15The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
The passion of pride leads to spiritual blindness. After having had direct experience with Jesus’ superiority on countless occasions, and having been rendered powerless before His divine eloquence, the Pharisees return to the task. They participated in the gaudium phantasticum of the devil who, in his folly, seeks to dethrone God.
However, this time they could not fail. They needed to devise a cunning plan, meticulously thought out, to induce the Master to err and thereby give them a reason to put Him to death.
The “princeps” tactic of evil
16 They sent their disciples to Him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status.”
This is the mysterious agreement between irreconcilable enemies in order to eliminate the common adversary. The Pharisees did not dare to come forward openly, since they had already lost their credibility with the people. For this reason, they send disciples in their place, seeking to catch their adversary off guard by disguising the trap under the appearances of some students’ curiosity. The Herodians would play the passive role of witnesses, as later comes to light.
Meanwhile, the young rabbi apprentices had been carefully instructed, down to the very last detail. To further disarm the Master, it would be necessary to stage a charade wrapped in flattery. Being proud themselves, the Pharisees knew from their own experience the power that the enticing mist of vanity has to undermine moral resistance. This is why they instructed their disciples to flatter Jesus by offering praise that was intended to incite pride, and thus they implemented the princeps tactic of evil. Fools! They did not realize that they were standing before the unpretentious One par excellence: “Learn of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29).
The malice of the Pharisees is manifested here in all its reality, making them worthy of the epithet of sons of the father of lies (cf. Jn 8:44). In fact, none of these emissaries believed the praise given to the Saviour, thus revealing that they were false and deceitful like their teachers.
In His divine wisdom, Our Lord had contemplated that scene from all eternity, and now He witness with His experiential knowledge what He already knew. It was impossible to deceive Him!
Fine Arts Museum, Montreal
A blind ally
17 “Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
A novice Pharisee, who represented his fellow disciples, asks the crucial question: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” With this question, he intended to lead Our Lord into a blind alley: if He answered yes, they would accuse Him of blaspheming against the Temple – which alone should benefit from the contributions of the children of Israel – a charge deserving of death. If, on the contrary, He answered in the negative, the Herodians were there to accuse Him of sedition against the power of the emperor, which would incur capital punishment.
Thus, it was one of the fiercest attacks of those potential perpetrators of deicide against the Lord of the living and the dead. But His hour had not yet come, and Jesus would escape the hunter’s snare with an unprecedented response.
The greatest insecurity in history
18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?”
If Solomon has been praised for his wisdom, here was Someone greater than he! It was none other than the Creator of the wisdom of David’s illustrious successor, the One who in His divinity is Wisdom itself in essence. Who is wiser than He? However, before addressing the problem, Our Lord makes a point of unmasking the falsehood of the apprentices of the Pharisee, calling them by the merited name of “hypocrites”.
What did this brood of vipers feel as they beheld the serene, luminous and serious gaze of Jesus, who looked at them with the characteristic sincerity of Truth? And, in the face of the Master’s just recrimination, how did they react? If human insecurity and fear could be measured with devices, at that moment an unbeatable record would have been registered for history!
However, Jesus wanted to save them, and it was for their good that He rebuked them.
Divine harmony between the spiritual and temporal sphere
19 “Show Me the coin that pays the census tax.” 20 Then they handed Him the Roman coin. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that He said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
From all eternity, Our Lord was prepared with the perfect way out of the deadly ambush that His adversaries were setting for Him. To the listening ears of the Pharisees and Herodians, He magnificently set forth a new doctrine, leaving them disarmed. No one had expected such a just and balanced response which, while defining the truth, did not position itself in favour of either of the parties in conflict, but makes clear the harmony which must exist between the altar and the throne.
The purpose of temporal society is to take care of matters relating to human well-being, fostering labour and virtue, punishing crime and favouring the development of the nation. In this way, by promoting peace and creating the conditions necessary for the true religion to radiate its supernatural light, the civil power establishes the earthly basis for men to live with dignity, and to progress, indirectly paving the way for them to also attain heavenly happiness.
Spiritual society, in turn, exists for the immediate purpose of leading souls to eternal salvation, and it needs the good services of the temporal order in order to carry out its mission calmly and effectively.
Clearly, then, they are two distinct but deeply connected spheres: one secular and the other religious. Both are loved and blessed by the Most High and must enter into harmonious agreement. This is why Our Lord affirms: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Indeed, Caesar received his power from God to rule justly, to respect religion and to defend it.
This perfectly doctrine was exemplified with the rise of Christian civilization, a blessed age when the sun of the Church illuminated the temporal dimension of life with its rays, transfiguring it in the manner of a stained-glass window of a cathedral brightened by the sunlight, imparting an exuberant manifestation of healthy vitality, of true progress and sacrality.
III – What Should Be Given to Caesar and What Should Be Given to God?
This Sunday’s Gospel is of great timeliness, for it shows the harmony that should reign between the spiritual and temporal power. The two spheres exist, each within its own specific field of action, with the aim of leading men to the attainment of the end for which God created them.
In the Book of Genesis, the temporal purpose of human existence in this world is clearly shown, when the Creator says to Adam: “Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (1:28). By making man His steward, the Lord wanted him, with wisdom and intelligence, to lead creation to a splendorous prosperity and beauty, so as to make it pleasing to His eyes.
Nevertheless, it is clear that Adam did not feel called only to care for created realities, no matter how enchanting they might be, but he aspired to a supernatural and eternal goal, which was compromised after sin. It is worth remembering that Eden was the garden of delights above all because of the first man and woman’s daily encounter with God, who came down in the afternoon breeze to talk with them (cf. Gn 3:8).
Sin brought about the disruption of the original harmony between the temporal and spiritual spheres, which had been so perfectly interrelated in Paradise. Since then, dissension has arisen between those who advocate for supremacy of temporal over spiritual power, and those who defend the exclusivity of religious society by disregarding the existence of the civil realm.
At the height of the Middle Ages, for example, the first revolutionary attempt was made by certain emperors to usurp the Church’s own power by appointing bishops in their territory without the Pope’s consent. This abuse of temporal authority gave rise to the famous dispute over investiture, which lasted for centuries and bore the fruit of glorious martyrs, such as St. Thomas Beckett in England. Energetic Popes, including St. Gregory VII, knew how to ensure respect for the superiority of the religious sphere in the face of the abuses of imperial power, without in any way nullifying the authority of sovereigns. On the other hand, holy kings like St. Louis IX of France governed the civil sphere imbued with the spirit of the Gospel, being zealous protectors of the rights of the Mystical Bride of Christ.
Created from clay, but in God’s image and likeness
The wise principle of “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” applies also to the daily existence of every man. Adam was created out of clay to highlight his material dimension, but he was made in the image and likeness of God in his capacity to share in the divine life. After original sin, these two realities are at war with one another, as St. Paul teaches (cf. Rom 7:14-23), presenting a real challenge to maintain the right balance between the desires of “Caesar” and spiritual aspirations. Yet nothing is impossible with the help of grace.
We must take care of our health and well-being, getting sufficient food and rest. It would be unnatural to make a blank slate of the bodily dimension, to devote ourselves exclusively to the spirit. Only souls with an exceptional call, like St. Catherine of Siena, are able to live like the Angels, hardly eating or sleeping.
Moreover, we are asked to carry out the ordinary activities that God himself has imposed on us, such as professional or domestic work, the education of children and providing for the family. This is the good order of things established by Providence.
However, temporal realities cannot be an obstacle or impediment to what is most important, which is the participation in divine nature granted in Holy Baptism. The idea of dismissing, discriminating against or disregarding the supernatural dimension constitutes a dangerous heresy which leads man and society to dissolution.
Aware that we have been raised far above our nature, we need to be cognizant of the spiritual riches entrusted to us. The very fragility resulting from original sin must fill us with the fear of God because, as St. Paul affirms (cf. 2 Cor 4:7), we carry very precious treasures in earthen vessels.
The Sacrament of Baptism elevates us to the category of children of God; therefore, we belong fully to the divine family and are co-heirs of the heavenly glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the very high price of our ransom through His Sacrifice on Calvary, in order to free us from the enslaving clutches of the devil and to grant us torrents of benevolence and mercy which will make the most wretched of sinners worthy fellow citizens of the Angels.
Let us also bear in mind that the least grace is worth more than all the rest of the created universe.1 Thus, if in our private or social life we do not give due importance to the supernatural gift gratuitously received thanks to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, we deny God that which belongs to Him!
Absolute divine supremacy
As a result, above the laws of men are the Divine Commandments of unsurpassable perfection, which give full meaning to human existence, both in its earthly and spiritual dimensions.
Thus it is indispensable for each of us to attend to our temporal needs according to our state in life with honesty, discipline and care, while maintaining the clear notion that these must not undermine or jeopardize the grace that dwells within our hearts and is for us a pledge of eternity. Instead, we must, by subduing evil passions and disordered tendencies, build an interior palace in which both the diaphanous and orderly radiance of nature and the marvellous splendour of grace shine together.
And when the safeguarding of temporal realities is injurious to the spiritual ones, we must always choose the latter, remembering the principle given by Our Lord: “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?” (Mk 8:36). Therefore, presented with the choice between God and Caesar, the preference will invariably be with God.
If an illicit comfort, a dishonest profit or a harmful friendship lead to sin, let us reject them intransigently, for nothing is worth more than the treasure of grace. St. Louis IX, in his will, advised the heir to the throne of France: “Keep yourself, my son, from everything that you know displeases God, that is to say, from every mortal sin. You should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin.”2 Herein lies, in the full force of the term, repaying to God what belongs to God, and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
From this steadfast and balanced determination will emerge men and women of holiness, able to govern their people with justice and to seek true social progress, as well as to raise magnificent cathedrals made of light, turning life in this world into a mirror of Paradise, as the Our Father requests: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” ◊
Notes
1 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiæ. I-II, q.112, a.1.
2 ST. LOUIS OF FRANCE. Spiritual Tesatment to his son. In: INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON ENGLISH IN THE LITURGY. The Liturgy of the Hours. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1975, v. IV, p.1347.
