Christ the Cornerstone
God’s law of love should also come first in our life
(En Espanol)
The Gospel reading for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mt 22:15-21) contains the familiar saying of Jesus: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt 22:21).
As St. Matthew tells us, the Pharisees wanted to entrap Jesus, so after flattering him with superficial praise, they asked him, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” (Mt 22:17) If Jesus answered “yes,” he could appear to approve Roman domination; if he answered “no,” he would be accused of promoting rebellion against the ruling power.
Knowing their malice, the Gospel says that Jesus challenged them, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax” (Mt 22:18-19). Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” (Mt 22:20) They replied, “Caesar’s” (Mt 22:21). At that, Jesus answered their trick question with an enigmatic response: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt 22:21).
Jesus’s answer to the Pharisees’ disingenuous question avoided their trap, but it did a lot more than simply settle a tax question. The Lord’s saying described a fundamental distinction between civil authority and divine authority. It also reminded them (and us) of the first and greatest commandment:
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments”(Mt 22:37-40).
The coin bearing Caesar’s image represents the sphere of civil administration. Jesus’ saying acknowledges that citizens have an obligation to the political community, including taxes, obedience to just laws, participation in public life, and cooperation in activities that promote peace and justice for all.
In Catholic social teaching, the legitimate role of the state is recognized. The Church teaches that political authority exists to protect persons, uphold justice and promote the common good, including such social goods as roads, water, police protection, defense, education and dignified work. Citizens should not treat government, law, or civic responsibility as opposed to religion. At the same time, as St. Thomas More said when he was about to be executed for his refusal to disobey God’s law, “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” God comes first—always and everywhere.
Jesus refuses to be manipulated by his enemies. His Gospel message is profound, effecting all aspects of human life. But it is not a political manifesto. Every effort to categorize Jesus as either a social reformer or a religious fanatic misses the point of his life and his teaching. Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. His sayings, his parables, his miracles and his healing power have only one purpose: to help us repent and return to God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.
God comes first. Always and everywhere. Yes, we must obey legitimate authority by paying our taxes, observing just laws and doing everything possible to promote the common good of all.
But in the final analysis, we are called to subordinate all these good things to God’s law. There is only one commandment that demands our absolute obedience, and it is the Law of Love.
Yes, we must repay to Caesar what belongs to him, but this obligation never supersedes the duty that we have to love God absolutely and to love our sisters and brothers with the same self-sacrificing love that God gives to us. There is only one law that is above all other obligations no matter how important. That law commands us to give to God what belongs to God alone—a holy and unselfish love that expresses itself in worship, self-sacrifice and genuine service.
Jesus does not ask his disciples (all of us) to do things that he refuses to do. He does not ask us to defy legitimate authority or to disobey just laws that govern civil society. He doesn’t want us to fall into the same trap that was set for him by the Pharisees. That’s why he tells us to repay to Caesar what belongs to him. But it’s also true that Jesus calls us to be faithful, obedient servants of our Father in heaven. God’s Law of Love is the commandment that supersedes every other law.
We should give to Caesar’s successors in civil authority what is rightfully theirs, the Lord tells us. But let’s be sure to give God, first and foremost, the adoration, wholehearted obedience and unselfish love that belongs to God alone. †