Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's

"Frequently as Christians, we want to jump in with answers to questions without really thinking about the assumptions in people’s minds concerning the issue at hand. In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked whether it is right to pay taxes to Caesar or not. Jesus knows that the question is a trap.

Israel was under occupation by the Romans, who were regarded by the Jews as the evil oppressors. To pay taxes, and certainly to collect them, was seen to be strengthening the hand of the enemy. Was not Israel God’s chosen people? Was this not their land? Surely to help the Romans was to go against God himself? In the minds of the listeners, if Jesus is going to be on God’s side, he is expected to say no. If he says no, it will get back to the authorities, and he will be arrested - which is what the questioners want. If he says yes then he will loose the respect of the people. As far as the questioners are concerned, it is a win / win situation."
[http://www.bethinking.org/what-is-apologetics/intermediate/the-biblical-mandate-for-apologetics.htm]
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So was Jesus actually telling them to pay their taxes?
Is the interpretation really that obvious?

Given the context, it seems just as likely (if not more likely), that if this weren't a trap, and there were no consequences to how he answered, he would have said 'No' to paying taxes. He says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And doesn't Jesus, more often than not, always say that EVERYTHING is God's? So would not all money be God's money as well?

--> Look into the possibility that "High Priest" was written on the back of the coin; the blasphemy of this.

...Shane Claiborne on this at http://www.redletterchristians.org/give-to-uncle-sam-what-is-uncle-sams-tax-season-war-resistance/