The “Tribute Penny” traditionally associated with today’s gospel in the time of the Emperor Tiberius:

                                                            EXPLANATION:

TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS IMP VII:

(TI = Tiberius; CAESAR = Family name, became the imperial title, pronounced “KAISAR” in Latin; DIVI AUG F =  Son (Filius) of Divine (ie, god) Augustus; IMPERATOR SEPTIMUM = Proclaimed Supreme Military Commander for the 7th Time.

PONTIF MAXIM POTEST XVII SC:

PONTIF MAXIM = Pontifex Maximus (High Priest); TRIBVN POTEST XVII = Holder of Tribunician Power for the 17th time; S-C = Senatus Consultum: Decree of the Senate, meaning the coin was approved by the Roman Senate and is legal.

Click here to read today’s Sunday Mass Readings.

Jesus said, “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.”   Matthew 22:20-21.

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First thing to note in today’s gospel is the honey-coated language hiding a trap: “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….”  All very humble and sweet, but it leads up to the trap: “Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Very respectful, but note this well: If Jesus says “No, we should not pay. The coin has an image” and he could well say that because any image was strictly forbidden in Jewish society. That springs from the prohibition on images in the second of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below…”  That stands today. Go into any synagogue, and you not see a single picture or “graven image” anywhere (which also holds for any strict Muslim house of worship for the same reason). So he could well have said that – but did not. If he had, he would have been accused of defying Roman law and ultimately refusing to pay tax, a crime, and that by the strict Jews asking the question! If, on the other hand, he said, “Well, unhappily we all have to pay tax whether we like it or not”, and he would have been accused of collaboration, supporting the pagan, unclean Romans, betraying his Jewish heritage, and, even worse, seeming to accept the claim that Tiberius’ father, the Emperor Augustus, had been declared a god (the divine Augustus, on the coin). So Jesus was damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t! His answer is ingenious – “Whose image is on the coin?” “Caesar’s” – well then….. and Jesus responds to the challenge brilliantly, probably to the outrage of those standing there who thought they had “got” him. His final comment was also very clever, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” to which there is no response.

However, looking at the picture of a Roman coin above, which possibly was one like Jesus held in response to the question, several things are notable. “Pontif Maxim” stands for “Pontifex Maximus”, which means Chief Bridge-Builder and meant for a priestly function, and was a title that Roman emperors and many popes have taken for themselves over the centuries. Finally, in European history, the term “Imperator” came to mean Emperor, and the family name of (Julius) Caesar is at the root of the German title of Kaiser and the Russian (and Bulgarian) title of Tsar.

Today’s first reading seems to link in with Jesus’ toleration of the pagan coin at the center of today’s gospel with an earlier example of toleration from Jewish history, today’s first reading. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem after a 30-month siege in about 587 BC and had most of the Jewish leaders transported to Babylon, initiating the Captivity or Exile of the Jewish nation. But in about 539BC the Babylonians were themselves defeated by the Persian king Cyrus. Today’s first reading tells that story, as the exiles were allowed to return home and rebuild the destroyed Temple (with which Jesus would have been familiar). Cyrus, it is thought, was a Zoroastrian, a follower of Zoroaster who lived about the year 600BC. There are many scholars who claim that the three kings, more properly scholars or “magoi”, arriving in Bethlehem to worship the newborn Jesus, were followers of Zoroaster (known today as the Parsi, banished from their homeland of Persia (Iran) and now spread throughout the world, with the largest number living in or near the Indian city of Mumbai). And note that Zoroastrians believe in one god, most unusual for that ancient time. So look closely at today’s first reading, praising Cyrus not only for tolerating diverse beliefs, but also for allowing exiles, including the Jews, to return home.

Thought to be the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, Madarsoleyman, Fars Province, Iran. 

And, after all this, today’s second reading is quiet, peaceful and full of God’s Holy Spirit. Which is a little strange as Paul, who wrote the two letters to them, had to work to feed himself there, probably tent-making, thought to be his profession.  So it was possibly a little bit of wishful thinking on Paul’s part. Perhaps that early Christian community was very poor financially, and he certainly upset many of them as some followed him and turned people against him in other places. So his message of peace and trust in God really did mean something, as it should today, with us.

The Tribute Money, Titian 1560s, The National Gallery, London, UK.

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