20

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

 甘天霖神父                   

Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin.He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily：The Image of God Engraved on You

One day the Pharisees, accompanied by supporters of Herod, ask him a tricky question: Is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

Their question is worded in such a way as to make it impossible for any loophole: If one is against the payment of taxes, he could be denounced to the Roman authorities as subversive. (In fact, according to Lk 23:2, before Pilate they accused him of inciting the people not to pay taxes to Caesar). If he is in favor, he attracts the antipathy of the people who hate the Roman occupiers.

Every Roman coin had an image of the emperor. Graven images amount to idolatry and are prohibited by their law. Using the money of Tiberius meant idolatry. Jesus is aware of the pitfall that they have laid for him. He does not avoid the question. As he usually does, he skillfully leads the interlocutors to the root of the problem.

He wants them first to show him the money. They naively reach out under their tunic where they usually hide the money and they present it to him. They do not realize that Jesus is playing a trick on them as well: first, he asks for the money. It means that he does not possess it (for he does not even have a stone to lay his head [Mt 8:20]), and if they pull it out, it means that they use it without any problem. They receive it for their services, and with it, they buy produce at the market. What’s more, the dispute takes place in the precincts of the temple (Mt 21:23), and in the holy place, and they do not bother about not profaning it by showing that image. They have scruples only when they have to pay taxes.

After looking at the money Jesus asks, “Whose image is this?” “Caesar’s,” they say. “So, “he concludes, “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s” (v. 21).

The first message is: it is a moral and civil duty to contribute to the common good by taxes. There is no reason that justifies tax evasion or theft of state assets. Whatever the policy and economic choice of the government, the disciple of Christ is called to be an honest and exemplary citizen. He is actively engaged in building a just society. He makes political choices that favor the weakest, not those that safeguard their own interests. Jesus’ answer, however, is not limited to state the duty to contribute to the common good with the payment of taxes. He adds: “Give to God what is God’s.”

The verb he uses more precisely means “to return.” What belongs to God? Tertullian already in 200 A.D. realized that he was the human person that was handed back to God. Creating him, in fact, he had said, “Let us make man in our image.” (Gen 1:26).

If the coin had to be “returned” to Caesar because on it was stamped the face of his master, the human person must be “returned” to God. The human person is the only creature on whom the face of God is imprinted. They are sacred and no one can take them as their own. Those who make them their own (enslave, oppress, exploit, dominate, use them as objects...) should immediately return them to their Lord.

证道：天主的肖像刻于人，应把人归于天主！

有一天，依靠黑落德支持的法利塞人问耶稣一个棘手的问题：给凯撒纳税，是不是相反法律？

他们的问题措辞方式让任何漏洞都不可能出现：如果反对交税，就会被罗马当局谴责，被视为危险分子。（事实上，依据路加福音23:2，他们控告耶稣煽惑群众不给凯撒纳税。）如果祂赞同纳税，就会引起那些仇视罗马占领者的反感。

每个罗马钱币都有皇帝的肖像。雕刻的肖像等于是偶像，是他们的法律所禁止的。使用提庇留的钱币意味着偶像崇拜。耶稣明白他们为他所铺设的这个陷进，却并没有避开这个问题。正如祂通常所做的，祂巧妙地引导对话者找到问题的根源。

祂首先让他们向祂展示钱币。他们天真地把手伸到平时放钱的外衣中，拿出钱币递给耶稣。他们并没有意识到耶稣也捉弄了他们：首先，耶稣给他们要钱币，意思是这钱币并不是耶稣拥有的（耶稣甚至连枕头的石头都没有。玛8:20）；如果他们拿出来钱币，意思是他们毫无疑问地在使用。他们从服务中获得钱币，并用这钱币在市场购买东西。更重要的是，这争端是发生在圣殿的范围内（玛21:23）；在圣地，他们没有由于显示那肖像亵渎圣地而困扰。他们只有在必须纳税时，才有所顾忌。

在看了钱币之后，耶稣问到：“这是谁的肖像？”他们回答说：“凯撒的”。耶稣说：“那么，凯撒的，就应归还凯撒；天主的，就应归还天主”。

第一个讯息是：通过税收为公共福利做出贡献，是一种道德和公民责任。没有任何理由证明逃税，或者盗用国有财产的合法性。无论政府的政策和经济选择如何，基督的门徒们被召叫做一个正直和模范的公民。耶稣积极投身于建设一个公正的社会。祂作出有利于最弱小者，而不是那些维护自身利益的政治性选择。然而，耶稣的回答并不局限于声明通过纳税为公共福利作出贡献的职责。祂补充说：“天主的，就应归还天主”。

耶稣使用更明确的动词“归还”。什么是属于天主呢？在公元200年，戴尔都良已经意识到他是交还给天主的一个人。事实上，创造他的那位曾说：“让我们照我们的肖像造人”（创1:26）。

如果由于上面印着它主人的头像，钱币不得不“归还”凯撒，那么，人也必须“归还”给天主。人是唯一印有天主面容肖像的受造物。他们是神圣的，任何都不能把他们据为己有。那些把他们占为己有的人（奴役、压迫、剥削、支配，把他们当作物品使用等等。），应该立即把他们归还给他们的上主。

文本来源：雅颂福传

译者：天心神父