Give God Everything

Balian of Ibelin: How much is Jerusalem worth?

Saladin: Nothing...everything!
--Kingdom of Heaven

In today's gospel (Matthew 22:15-21), Jesus is once again confronted by the Pharisees seeking to trick Him. Like today's intellectuals, the Pharisees sought to trap people in their words.

Approaching Jesus with Roman representatives in tow, the Pharisees asked Jesus opinion about the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar.

Jesus reprimanded them for being the hypocrites that they were, and then asked to see a Roman coin. "Whose image is this?" Christ asked. "Caesar's," they said.

"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

Today many people, modern day Pharisees assuredly, hold up this passage as proof that Jesus condoned taxation and statism.

No way. Christ understood the sticky situation that he was in and that he needed to choose his words carefully.

To His followers, Christs words are easily construed to mean this: Give nothing to the state that it does not rightfully own (which is very little, if anything). Give everything that you own to God.