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Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 45:1, 4–6; 1 Thessalonians 1:1–5b; Matthew 22:15–21
The Pharisees and the Herodians came to Jesus with a trap.
“Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
If Jesus said yes, many people would see Him as supporting Roman oppression.
If He said no, He could be accused of rebellion against Rome.
But Jesus did not step into their trap.
He asked them to show Him the coin used for the tax.
Then He asked:
“Whose image is this?”
They answered:
“Caesar’s.”
Then Jesus said:
“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”
This answer is simple, but not shallow.
The coin bears the image of Caesar.
So give Caesar the coin.
But the human person bears the image of God.
So give God your heart, your conscience, your worship, and your life.
Jesus does not deny that we have duties toward civil society.
A Christian should not be careless about public life.
We obey just laws.
We pay taxes.
We respect legitimate authority.
We work for the good of the society in which we live.
We do not belong to the kingdom of God in order to escape responsibility for the world.
But Caesar is not God.
No nation is God.
No ruler is God.
No party is God.
No ideology is God.
No political power can ask for what belongs to God alone.
This is where today’s first reading is important.
God speaks about Cyrus, the Persian king.
Cyrus did not know the Lord, yet God used him for His purpose.
This means that rulers may have real power, but their power is not absolute.
They stand under God.
They are not above Him.
History belongs to the Lord.
The rulers of this world rise and fall.
But God remains.
So what belongs to Caesar?
Respect, when respect is due.
Taxes, when taxes are due.
Cooperation, when the common good is served.
But what belongs to God?
Worship.
Truth.
Conscience.
The dignity of every human person.
The whole of our life.
This is why a Christian cannot give blind obedience to any earthly power.
If Caesar asks for money, give the coin.
But if Caesar asks for your conscience, do not give it.
If Caesar asks you to call evil good, do not give it.
If Caesar asks you to worship power, success, race, nation, party, or leader, do not give it.
You belong to God.
You are one of Jesus’ disciples.
Today’s Gospel asks us:
What have I given to Caesar that belongs only to God?
Where have I allowed fear, politics, money, or public opinion to rule my heart?
Do my choices show that I belong to Christ?
The coin bears Caesar’s image.
But we bear the image of God.
So give Caesar what is Caesar’s.
But give God what is God’s.
Give Him yourself.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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© 2025 Krakus.
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