(T)he wickedness and snares of the Devil surround us, we are told, and so we pray frequently for God’s help and deliverance. We have Jesus’ example to guide us: throughout much of his public life, he was assailed by packs of Pharisees and scribes (add the “Herodians” from Mark’s Gospel), prepared with many hard questions and trick questions. Our Lord knew that his answers were reported to the Temple elites and then used to attack and indict him.

Today’s inquisitors want to put Jesus between the people of Israel and the massive, uncaring might of Imperial Rome. “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” If he says, “Yes! Pay it!” he would enrage most of God’s Chosen People who had suffered years under Rome’s harsh occupation and taxation. If he says, “No! Do not pay it!” the hypocrites would send someone running to tattle to the nearest Roman official: “Jesus of Nazareth is a bloodthirsty insurrectionist! Arrest him!”

Jesus knows these tormenters well, so he tells them to bring him a Roman coin: a denarius. He asks them to describe the face and inscription on it. Both, they say, are Caesar’s, the name used as a title by every Emperor to connect them to the divine Julius, whether they were related to him or not: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” The smug quizmasters were stumped! After all, each of them had to trot off to the money changers with their nasty Roman coins when their Temple tax was due: presenting any money but the proper Jewish coins was sacrilege!!

When our own faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, present in the Holy Eucharist, meets with scorn or derision, may we answer with the grace and quiet certainty he showed.

Let us pray:

Dear God, give us a steadfast heart to stand strong before any voices we hear, whether directly or through the ungodly and uncaring media that scorn or belittle our faith in you and the coming of your Eucharistic kingdom. Amen.