As the end of this Liturgical Year (which ends with the week of the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time) draws near, we have been reading the Gospel narratives of what Jesus taught and argued during his last days in Jerusalem, upon his entry into this holy city, where David placed the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:1-19) and where his son, Solomon built the first Temple (1 Kings 6:1-37). So, why did Jesus come to Jerusalem at that time? To build another Temple in his name, because he is God, God the Son of the Father? No. He came to this holy city to die on the Cross and to be raised from the dead to fulfill what had been prophesized in the Old Testament about the Messiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).
Jesus made a triumphant entry into the City of
Jerusalem, riding on a donkey colt, while the crowds were welcoming by waving
palm branches to fulfill Zachariah 9:9 (Matthew 21:1-11), reflected on Palm
Sunday. Upon his entry to this holy
city, according to Matthew, Jesus first cleansed the Temple (Matthew 21:12-16),
which had turned into a “den of thieves”(Matthew 21:13; cf. Jeremiah 7;11).
This “disturbance” to their “business-as-usual” by Jesus certainly cemented the
motive of the hypocrite religious leaders to kill Jesus as they were threatened
by his presence and teaching. But, they had to come up with a good reason to
kill without having their own hands tainted by his blood.
The cleansing the corrupted Temple was just an “appetizer”
for what Jesus came to Jerusalem for. It is to shake up not only the Temple but
also those who have corrupted the Temple and did not serve God’s people as God
had willed, namely, false shepherds (Zechariah 11:15-17; cf. Jeremiah 23:1). Thus, Jesus’ final entry
into Jerusalem and its Temple in his last days means that the Good Shepherd (John
10:11) has come to directly confront false shepherds to start unfolding God’s
judgement against them. Therefore, you find Jesus the Good Shepherd arguing
with chief priests, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, and so forth – false
shepherds, until his death on the Cross.
With the above background in mind, let’s review how
the Gospel readings toward the end of the Liturgical Year to reflect Jesus’
last days’ arguments against false shepherds and teaching on the eschatological
importance are and see to whom he was speaking to.
|
26th,
27th, 28th Sundays |
Matthew
21:28-32 ;21:33-43;22:1-14 |
Speaking
to the chief priests and the elders on the Kingdom of God and their problem with
vineyard parables and the parable of king hosting wedding banquet for his son |
|
29th
Sunday |
Matthew
22:15-21 |
Speaking
to the Pharisees and the Herodians on fulfilling obligation to God and Caesar |
|
30th
Sunday |
Matthew
22:34-40 |
Speaking
to a Sadducee scholar of law on the greatest commandments on loving God and
neighbor |
|
31st
Sunday |
Matthew
23:1-12 |
Speaking
to his disciples and general public on humility |
|
32nd
Sunday |
Matthew
25:1-13 |
Speaking
to his disciples on vigilance for the parousia
with the parable of the ten virgins
|
|
33rd
Sunday
|
Matthew
25:14-30 |
Speaking
to his disciples on stewardship with the parable of the talents in connection
to the parousia
|
|
34th
Sunday (Christ the King Sunday) |
Mathew
25:14-30 |
Speaking
to his disciples on the last judgement on our deeds of faith in connection to
the parousia |
Now, we are on the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, on Cycle A, which will give its way to Cycle B in 4 weeks. As noted above, the Gospel Reading is taken from Matthew 22:15-21.
In this Gospel narrative, it is indicated that the
chief priests and the elders prompted the Pharisees and even Herodians to
attack Jesus with a tricky question to trap.
Shortly after Jesus cleansed the Temple, the chief
priests and the elders made an inquisition to him on his authority, asking, “By what authority are you doing these
things? And who gave you this authority?(Matthew 21:23). Jesus’ response to this was to give them a
pop-quiz-like riddle about the origin of John the Baptist on condition to tell
them of Jesus’ own authority, if they could answer his question to them. Jesus
put them in a dilemma.
“I
shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you
by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”(Matthew
21:24-25)
If they answer “heavenly origin”, then, they would
be accused of not believing in a man sent from heaven. On the other hand, if
they answer “human origin”, then they were afraid of losing their authority to
the public as they regarded John the Baptist as a prophet and listened to him.
But, they did not, as Jesus later pointed out through the parable of the two
sons of the vineyard owner, as read on the 26th Sunday (Mathew 21:28-32).
Either way, they would be trapped by this question and their hypocrisy would be
exposed. So, they declined to answer. And, Jesus told them that he cannot tell
them about his authority (Matthew 21:23-27).
Perhaps remembering this, sent by the chief priests
and the elders, who were hard hit by Jesus’ tough question in response to their
inquisition on him, the Pharisees and the Herodians came together to Jesus to
trap as he had trapped the chief priests and the elders. But, not to sound
confrontational or threatening to Jesus, they used flattery akin to argumentum ad superbiam fallacy (Matthew
22:16), asking Jesus, “Tell us, then,
what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not”(Matthew
22:17). It is like telling Jesus, “Hey, sir, we have heard so many great thing
about you. So, we know you can answer
this question and enlighten us”. Of course, Jesus know why they were asking
such a question with a little sweet talk, as well as their true malicious
intent as to give him a revenge for what he did to the chief priests and the
elders. So, Jesus called them “hypocrites”(Matthew 22:18).
Though he was well aware of the hypocrites’ trap,
Jesus did not respond to their questions on the lawfulness with no answer,
though that was how the chief priests and the elders did to Jesus’ question on
the origin of John the Baptist to them.
But, the way Jesus answered to their question utterly defied their
expectation to trap him. The question they asked Jesus was to have a
justification to put Jesus in trouble either with the Roman authority or the
religious authority.
If Jesus answered it is not lawful for pious Jews to
support Caesar by paying tax to his empire, as the Pharisee would prefer, then,
Jesus could be reported to the Roman authority as an enemy of Caesar.
Conversely, if he answered it is lawful to pay tax to Caesar, as the Herodians
would want, then, Jesus would face tough religious inquisition to be punished
according to the Mosaic Law. The Pharisees hate the Romans and those who submit
to the Roman authority, but the Herodians are those who like to benefit from
their loyalty the Romans, who occupy their land. The latter are called the
Herodians because they are close associates of Herod Antipas, Caesar’s puppet
king of the Jew. Herod Antipas is a son of Herod the Great and executed John
the Baptist (Matthew 14:1–12). How
ironic it is that those who hate each other come together to trap Jesus with
the very reason why they hate one another.
Knowing all this, the way Jesus answered was to ask
them to show him a coin they use to pay tax to the Roman authority. So, they
showed a Roman coin with Caesar’s image and inscription on. And Jesus asked
them, whose image and inscription. They answered, Caesar. Then, Jesus simply
said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what
belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”(Matthew 22:21) and they
simply left in astonishment (Matthew 22:22).
To those who want to trap and kill Jesus, he is
still untouchable. He is way too smart for them to catch with inquisition and
dilemma question of “either or”. So, it
actually too a betrayer, Judas, who sold him for 30 silver coins (Matthew
26:14-16).
So, what is a point of this Gospel narrative
(Matthew 22:15-21) on the 29th Sunday?
Separation of the Church and state? To learn a technique to argue and handle a
trapping question of dilemma in argument?
Remember, the Gospel Reading corresponds to the
First Reading. So, we need to look how we can relate Gospel Reading (Matthew
22:15-21) to the First Reading (Isaiah 45:1, 4-6).
The First Reading text reminds us of God’s supreme
power, even over a mighty king of a nation, like Cyrus, who defeated a powerful
empire, Babylonia. Because of His power
over everything in the universe, including kings of all nations on earth, God
put this pagan king of Persia, to make His will for His people done.
Unbeknownst to him, Cyrus functioned as a servant to God’s will to give the
Israelites a fresh start upon their return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian
exile. To Cyrus, this was simply for his empire. But, to God, it was for Him –
His mercy on His people, though He had to chastise them for their past
unfaithfulness through the Babylonian seize of Jerusalem and their exile in
Babylon.
To Cyrus, it was simply his administrative business
to send the Israelites back to Jerusalem from Babylon and allowed them to
rebuild their Temple and worship their God. To God, it was for His will.
Now reflect this on the Gospel Reading and its punch
line: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs
to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”(Matthew 22:21). And, transpire your reflection on this to
Christ the King Sunday (34th Sunday).
For now until we depart this world through death, we
have dual citizenship: citizenship as indicated in your current valid passport
and the ultimate citizenship of God’s Kingdom.
Remember, for the last four Sundays, we have
reflected on the Kingdom through Jesus’ vineyard parables. On this Sunday, we
ask ourselves in reflection, to whom we are truly loyal or which citizenship
matters most. Remember. Whose power and authority is greater? God or most
powerful person of a nation, where you find your earthly citizenship? And, as Jesus did, you can also answer this
without getting caught in a dilemma between the Church and a state or God and head
of state. Perhaps, a lesson from this reflection of the Gospel Reading and the First Reading for the 29th
Sunday can be applied in dealing with a dilemma between Creation and evolution.
The Second Reading (1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b) shows
Paul’s joy over the Thessalonians coming to believe in God, a fruit of his
mission of evangelization bearing a fruit. In this, he also expresses his gratefulness
for the Thessalonians working hard with their faith in Christ, coming together
fraternally to form an ekklesia. Yes, this is in God’s will. But, what about the
Roman authority and the religious authority, which Paul was in before his
conversion? To these authorities, what Paul was doing in the name of God
deserved a punishment. This is why Paul
was persecuted both by the Roman authority and the religious authority. Though he made a legal appeal to Caesar,
according to the applicable Roman law as a Roman citizen, Paul did not chose
Caesar over God to save his life.
Now you know what to take to your heart on the 29th
Sunday as we are fast approaching to celebrate Christ the King on the 34th
Sunday.
Let us pray that the head of state of a nation in
which you hold earthly citizenship works as a servant of God as His power and
authority are above all. And, our
apostolic calling is to make this a reality for the sake of the Kingdom.
Who gives you eternal life?
Whose Kingdom is the greatest?
Whose Word is not subject to change?
God or Caesar (or whoever like him)?
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