Wow – those scribes and Pharisees were slow to learn, weren’t they!?! Over the past three weeks, we’ve heard Jesus try to open their eyes to their disobedience, avarice and indifference toward God and today, instead of repenting and turning back to God, we hear them double down and plot against him. Let’s quickly review. Three weeks ago, we heard Jesus speak to them through the parable of the man who asked his two sons to go work in his vineyard. You’ll recall that the first son said “yes” but did not go; the second said “no” but did go. In this parable, Jesus was comparing the Jewish leaders to the tax collectors and prostitutes, showing them that, while they have refused to work in the God’s vineyard, sinners have repented of their evil ways to do God’s work and, as a result, they will be invited into God’s kingdom, not the Jewish leaders. Two weeks ago, we heard of the owner of the vineyard leasing out his vineyard to tenant farmers who then refused to give him his due at harvest time. In that parable, the Jewish leaders were chastised for working for their own benefit rather than for God. And, last week, we heard that powerful parable of the king – obviously God – who invited guests to join him at the wedding feast of his son. Those who were initially invited refused to come. They were too busy with their own plans or not interested or even hostile. After they rejected their invitations, the host of the banquet sent out his servants to invite all and sundry, “good and bad alike.” With this parable, Jesus warned the Sadducees and Pharisees to heed and accept God’s invitation to be a part of his kingdom or face eternal consequences.
In all three of these parables, the Jewish leaders, both the priests and the Pharisees – who were the lay leaders – were condemned because they were not putting God first in their lives, nor were they doing God’s work. They were too busy making an easy life for themselves.
But, rather than learning from their mistakes, we hear today that they regroup and plot to trick the Lord. How foolish can they be!?! In today’s Gospel, we hear them get caught up in their own snare as they try to trip up Jesus. Their plan is to get either the Romans or their fellow Jews to gang up against Jesus. But, in the end, they only demonstrate their own hypocrisy. Let’s look more closely at today’s Gospel. Just as the political leaders of today do, the Pharisees couch their debate in a question on taxes. That always gets everyone’s attention. There is a lot at stake here because if Jesus discourages paying the taxes, Pilate, the local Roman governor, would surely have him arrested. On the other hand, if Jesus says they should pay the Roman tax, he would alienate himself from his fellow Jews who despised the oppressive Romans.
But, Jesus catches them in their own trap. When he asks to see the coin, they hand him a Roman coin. This coin has the head of the emperor and
the inscription, “Glorified Son of Divine Augustus.” In other words, there is an image of an emperor who claims to be god right on the coin. We’re all familiar with the first commandment which states: “I am the Lord, your God; you shall have no other gods besides me.” God forbids anyone who believes in him to believe in any other gods. Yet, here we see the Jewish leaders with these coins in their own pockets. The issue that Jesus addresses is not whether we pay too much tax or whether we should pay none or more. Rather, Jesus is making a very clear statement about who or what is most important in our lives. His response to the leaders is: “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” But, what belongs to Caesar that does not really already belong to God? As we hear in today’s first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, there is only one God and he is the creator of all; everything we have belongs to God and is given to us for our benefit – or to challenge us – as we work in God’s kingdom here on earth preparing for the time when his Son comes to take us to the fullness of God’s kingdom in heaven. There is nothing wrong with enjoying what God has given us. But, we need to give God his portion of the fruits of our labor. In fact, we should give him the first fruits of our labor; everything else needs to come in second place. And yet, like the Pharisees of Jesus time, we often find ourselves spending our time and energy on building up our own kingdom – rather than God’s. We, who are blessed to be invited to share in the work of building up God’s kingdom, must put his work first. All of us, both priests and laity, are to accept his call to labor in his vineyard and to give him his due until the day that he invites us to his heavenly banquet. As we come closer and closer to the end of yet another liturgical year – Advent is only six weeks away – we are called to reflect on how we are preparing for the end of our lives. When our Lord comes again in glory, will he recognize us as one of his laborers? Will he see us as one who has given him his due? And, will we put on the cloak of gratitude to God for all that he has given us so that we will be welcomed into the eternal banquet? This is the time to repay to God what is God’s.
This weekend, we join with the universal Church in celebrating Mission Sunday when we recognize our privilege and challenge to share in the mission of the Church not only here but around the world. We are so privileged to believe in a God who loves us and entrusts us with his saving work. And, we are blessed to have living in our midst two missionaries – Deacon David and Sister Ho – who preparing to return to their mission countries of China and Vietnam to proclaim the gospel in places where Jesus is hardly known. Let us pray for the continued success of missionaries and be generous in our support of those who leave family and home to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth. And, let us commit ourselves every day to giving to God his due. After all, he has given us everything we have.