18 October 2026
Is 45:1, 4-6
Mt 22:15-21
There is much truth in the old saying, "politics make strange bedfellows." Political scheming and plotting for power can bring together people who have little in common and who frequently detest each other. We see the real ugliness of politics reenacted every four years during the dreadful time leading up to presidential elections. Even worse, it seems today that politics is a 24 hours aday seven days a week 365 days a year preoccupation of many. This preoccupation is somewhere on the spectrum from overvalued idea, to obsession, to delusion. Too many are not shy about expressing their opinions any time, any where, or to any one. The same applies to Church politics which are every bit as ugly as democrat vs. republican. It is amazing how people will compromise themselves in the pursuit of power. The last presidential campaign was a real screamer, with each party being as ugly, angry, nasty, and hypocritical as the other.
Today's gospel shows that the same dynamic existed in the Ancient Near East.
The Pharisees and the Herodians were definitely not drinking buddies, unless one side was trying to slip poison into the other side’s drinks. The Pharisees wanted nothing to do with the Herodians who were supporters of non-Jew ruler Herod Antipas. And the Herodians held no truck with the Pharisees. The Herodians were mostly servants of the Roman Empire in contrast to the Pharisees who awaited the Messiah to free them from that same empire. Strange bedfellows indeed. However, in the case of today’s Gospel the two put aside their differences to team up against Jesus in order to entrap him with a difficult question.
In this particular scenario, the reason for the question is as important as the answer. It was the reason for the question that formed the kind of unholy alliance such as those we routinely see in the American political scene. The question illustrates the classic concepts of: A rock and a hard place. No win situation. Lose-lose.
The question was skillfully formed. Like most politicians going in for an attempted kill, Jesus' interlocutors opened with a fawning tribute to Him: "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Tell us what is your opinion" They then asked the question, "Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Because of the opposite positions of the Pharisees and the Herodians Jesus was in what appeared to be a double-bind. Had Jesus agreed that it was lawful to pay the census tax he could have been discredited by the Pharisees for placing secular law above the Law of God. Had he said it was unlawful to pay the tax he could have been accused of treason by the Herodians.
Jesus recognized their malice. Rather than blurting out a yes or no answer or beginning a long rambling rationalization arguing both sides of the question, He asked for a coin. After asking whose image was on the coin Jesus famously replied, "Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which belongs to God."
Jesus' response has been analyzed under different lenses over the centuries. Some admire the rhetorical skill of his answer. Some use it to make philosophical statements about the separation of church and state. But Jesus was not intending a witty response to a hostile question, nor was he commenting on the various church-state issues that continue to rankle the U.S. today. Jesus’s reply was not meant to show off his rhetorical skills. nor was he making a philosophical statement about the separation of church and state. He was not suggesting that the church should be confined within certain parameters and never get involved with politics.
Jesus broadened the question and raised a challenge to his questioners If the coin belongs to Caesar because it bears Caesar’s image then what belongs to God is that which bears God’s image. And because God creates every human in His image and likeness every human being--including Caesar--bears God's image and ultimately belongs to Him.
We heard an echo of the Shema Yisrael, the central prayer in Judaism, in the first reading from Isaiah. The shema reminds the one who prays, "I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. . . .
"I am the LORD, there is no other."
Unlike the coins of the world that bear the images of rulers, living and dead, all humanity bears the image of God. This includes the child in the womb and the old man dying of Alzheimer's. We bear that image from conception until natural death.
It is a mortal sin to destroy it.
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One of the greatest experiences of my adult life was tertianship in Australia. Eight months, four in Sydney (our base) and four in a variety of locations. Besides the prayer, reading, and various experiences directly related to be Jesuits, we had a reasonable amount of free time, musch of which I spent with the camera. A few days after we officially began on 20 January we went to Seven Mile Beach in Gerroa, NSW to get to know each other. Astonishingly beautiful beach. Twelve jaws collectively dropped when we arrived.
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| A man and his dog on the beach early Sunday morning |
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| Australians love anything to do with the water. A kayaker on Sunday morning returning from an ocean session. |
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| The Australian lifeguard boats compete in races. This was a women's team heading out early Sunday morning. |
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Sunset later on Sunday Evening. I walked that strip of beach every night for the ten nights we were there.
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD |
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