SUNDAY’S Gospel reading is one that makes many people feel uncomfortable. In it, Jesus tells a group of Pharisees that people should “give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”
That one phrase opens up a big discussion about the obligation of people to pay taxes to the government, even if the government misuses them. That phrase seems to imply that there is a moral necessity to pay taxes.
There are a couple of problems with our modern interpretation of what is written in the Gospel. The first problem is that the Pharisees and Jesus are not talking about taxes. They are talking about “tribute” (the word used in the Greek manuscripts), which was paid to show respect for and acknowledge the authority of the government, in this case the Roman occupiers. Taxes were completely different from tributes. Taxes were paid, then as now, to fund and in return for public services, like those rendered by the military and other government offices. This Biblical passage is about tribute paid by a conquered people, not a tax.
The Pharisees ask, “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?” Jesus ignores that question, as legality is never the issue when a people are facing an invader.
The second problem, which is never discussed, is this: What is meant by “the things that are Caesar’s”? Jesus asked for a Roman denarius, a low-value silver coin, to illustrate His point. As the Romans conquered all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea, the people in those lands were required to use Roman currency to facilitate trade within the
Roman Empire more easily.
A similar situation existed here during the American colonial period, when the United States Congress passed the Philippine Coinage Act, which fixed the value of the Philippine peso to exactly half of the US dollar. When the Japanese occupied the Philippines, they immediately issued their own currency, even as Filipinos continued to circulate what were called “guerrilla pesos” under penalty of imprisonment by the administration of then-President José P. Laurel. The Japanese government issued the Philippine fiat peso, which Filipinos called “Mickey Mouse money.”
The comment about the things that are Caesar’s would be the same as a World War II-era Filipino resistance leader telling the people to give back to the Japanese their own money.
There is a story about Jesus and taxes, but it is not about His talking to a taxpayer who did not pay the full amount. It’s about Him talking to a tax collector, specifically the chief of the publicans who collects the taxes, oversees the public-building projects and runs the customs department. After meeting with Jesus, the man promises never to cheat any citizen again.
Maybe Sunday’s reading was directed at the wrong people.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano