Sunday 22 October 2023

Psalm 96

Background

Jesus is in the Temple courtyards on the day after his triumphal entry to Jerusalem. He is teaching the people, perhaps including those who cheered his arrival yesterday, but he is also being closely watched by the chief priests and religious establishment who are increasingly worried about his presence and the growing influence he has over the people. Jesus doesn’t try to allay his critics but instead refers to them in three parables in ways that would only have annoyed them further. It’s not surprising therefore that they “went and plotted to entrap him” (v. 15) so that they could build a case to take before the authorities and have him arrested.

It is a sign of how seriously the situation had become that two groups who often vigorously disagreed with one another – the Pharisees and the Herodians – were willing to work together in trying to entrap their common enemy. The Pharisees were orthodox Jews and one of the strictest of many religious groups at the time. They would not have supported payments of taxes to the Roman occupiers. The Herodians, on the other hand, were the party of King Herod, who owed his position in large part to the Romans, and would therefore have supported the Roman tax.  And yet these two conflicting positions were intertwined in an attempt to have Jesus arrested.

There was a Roman imposed poll tax that had to be paid using Roman currency, unlike the Temple tax which was paid using local currency. The Roman coins featured the head of the emperor, together with reference to the religious and cultic nature of him, which gave offence to religious Jews.

Jesus is asked if it's lawful to pay taxes to the Roman emperor. He clearly sees that trap being laid and despite having just spent time criticising these religious groups through the medium of parables, he is not willing to give them the satisfaction of condemning himself in this way. Instead he finds a middle ground, that would have been acceptable to both Pharisees and Herodians alike, suggesting that these Roman coins should be given back to Romans.

To Ponder:

• Issues relating to tax justice are relevant for a justice-seeking Methodist Church. Consider how tax systems should be influenced by Christian principles.
• Think about what you pay in tax and how you use your remaining money. Are you able to “give to God the things that are God’s”?

Prayer

God of all things, I pray for those who work to collect tax payments, and for policy makers and politicians who make decisions on how to spend the money. I ask that they may be given wisdom and work with a spirit of social justice in all that they do. Amen.