Give to Caesar What is Caesar's

[danie...@myway.com]

From: http://ship12.blogspot.com/

GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR’S

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God
what is God's." (Matthew 22:21b)

Most of us don’t like to pay taxes. We learned that, Timothy Guithner,
the new Treasury Secretary of the Obama administration had failed to
pay his $34,000 taxes. I think this is problematic, given that he is
the boss of the Internal Revenue Service. Two other nominees, Tom
Daschle (for secretary of health and human services) and Nancy
Killefer (for a top budget post), had to withdraw their nominations
over their unpaid tax matters.

Historically, taxation is a very touchy issue. For example, the Boston
Tea Party of 1773 was a result of the British government’s attempt to
collect taxes on tea which was very popular (and expensive) at that
time. The Bostonians led by Samuel Adams boarded the three British
ships and dumped about $2 million worth of tea into the harbor. It was
their direct rebellion against King George of Britain. Historians
believe that this event was a precursor of the American Revolution.

The Jews in Jesus’ time hated paying taxes to Rome and understandably
so. The Empire collected the money from the Jews to maintain its
military force which was then used to oppress them. The money was also
used to finance the opulent lifestyle of the Roman citizens who
enjoyed fun and games. No wonder they hated the taxes and considered
the local tax collectors as traitors.

One day, the religious leaders came to Jesus to ask a question in
order to trap him in his words. They asked him, “Is it right to pay
taxes to Caesar or not?” Why was this question a trap? If Jesus said
that they should pay taxes to Caesar, they would call him a traitor.
On the other hand, if Jesus said no, they would hand him over to the
Roman Governor with the charge of rebellion against the Empire. They
thought they had Jesus in a perfect trap this time. They were so sure
that they began the conversation by flattering Jesus with a smug on
their face.

What did Jesus say to them? But Jesus, knowing their evil intent,
said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the
coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he
asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what
is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Mt 22:18-21)

Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is
God’s.” Jesus did not say that it was okay for them not to pay taxes
to the Roman government. On the contrary, he taught them that they had
to fulfill their basic duties to state and to God.

We Christians have duel citizenships. We are citizens of the kingdom
of God. We are also citizens of a nation in this world. We have basic
duties toward our nation such as paying taxes and obeying the laws.
St. Paul teaches us in Romans 13:6-7: “This is also why you pay taxes,
for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to
governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay
taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor,
then honor.” We should not ignore these obligations to the state as
long as they do not infringe on our obligations to God. Then we can be
a good influence to others.

More importantly, Jesus says we must give to God what is God’s.
Private property rights are at the heart of capitalism. So we tend to
take for granted that whatever we have in this world is ours. But we
learn from the Bible that God is the true owner of everything (Dt
10:14), because he is the Creator God. All the mountains and hills are
God’s. All the oceans and rivers are God’s. Our life is a gift from
God. Our life is not ours. Our children are not ours. We’ve been
appointed as the stewards of God’s creation. We should not be like the
evil tenants in the parable of the tenants (Mk 12:1-12). We should
give to God what we have when he says to us, “the Lord needs it” (Lk
19:31).

What does it mean to give to God what is God’s? We must bring our
offerings to God as an expression of our thanksgiving to him who
provides us with everything we need (Dt 12:11). The Bible says that we
rob God when we fail to bring our tithes and offerings to him (Mal
3:8-9). But no matter how much material things we bring to God, they
would not mean anything to God unless we offer our hearts with them.
We can give our love to him. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength.” We can give our hearts to God.

How can we overcome our selfish nature and greed so that we can give
to God and give to others? First, we must know what God has given us.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” We can say that Christianity begins with the word
“give.” God gave his one and only Son to be our Savior. Jesus’ life in
this world was literally a life of giving. Mark 10:45 says, “For even
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his
life as a ransom for many.” Finally, Jesus gave his life on the cross
to forgive our sins. The apostle Paul grasped the meaning of giving
and quoted the words of Jesus in Acts 20:35: “It is more blessed to
give than to receive.”