Jesus did not teach the peasant
oppressed Jewish people that they should pay Roman tax no matter how
abusive and inhumane the Romans were treating them. In fact it was
this very issue, of Jesus himself refusing to pay 'tribute' and honor
to Caesar instead of God, that resulted in Jesus' arrest and
crucifixion. When Jesus finally entered Jerusalem, a place he had avoided until the last days of his life, he was
making his full protest statement against the powers that were
crushing the humanity of the common people of Israel. Jesus' protest
was against both the Roman government and the Jerusalem religious
elite who had colluded in a tax system that robbed the common people, leaving them in poverty.
It was this final embodied statement that showed Jesus to be an
insurrection threat to the Roman government and to the Jerusalem
religious hierarchy.
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| Roman Coin With Emperor's Inscription |
But someone at this point will say,
“Didn't Jesus say to give to Caesar what was Caesar's and to God
what is God's ?” And does that not mean that we should always obey
the civil rule over us no mater how it is crushing the ordinary
person? Jesus did say these very words as recorded in Mark 12:13-17
but they have been misunderstood and thus misapplied for insisting that
Christians are to submit to dictatorial and immoral civil authorities over themselves or other people.
These famous words are from the author
of Mark as he creates his Gospel story. The story of the 'Roman Coin'
comes when Mark has Jesus fully arrived in the heart of Jerusalem
and the tension is now high between him and his colluding Roman and ruling Jewish adversaries. They are seeing clearly that Jesus is
not this 'non threat' who always teaches his followers to obey
their overbearing treacherous civil and religious law. Yet they
knew they had to make him appear, to his peasant followers, to be as
much a trouble maker and reprobate as they believed he was. They
knew if his many followers saw him as one standing up for them
against the power brokers they would indeed start an all out
civil/religious/political rebellion. So Mark pictures these authorities time
and again showing up and trying to entrap Jesus, usually by asking
loaded questions.
Here is where the gospels show Jesus as
the master teacher and also what were the issues of his heart which
drove his words, actions and ministry. He always refuses to give them
the simple answer they seek. He is always shown as finding a way out of the
double-bind they have set and turns it into a problem for them. He does this time and again as he enters ever more deeply into
his struggle with the authorities and into the very center of
civil/religious/political power of his day-Jerusalem. His living
embodied message and his speaking truth to power was clearly
showing to his followers then, and hopefully now, his central
mission and heart. His mission and message were regarding the moral
and political issues of his day: The abuse and injustice of
irresponsible government and religious oppression of people was to Jesus an abomination to God and all humanity. His timely open rebellion against this
oppression is what led to his finally being arrested, convicted and
crucified. Sadly, this central meaning of the gospel's Story
of Jesus seems to be all but lost in much conventional
interpretation over the centuries.( In respect to past centuries of Christianity I would note we have more information and Biblical scholarship than they had. Along with that growing knowledge about the Bible and Bible times also comes greater responsibility in getting the true heart of the story of Jesus more correctly understood.)
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| Roman Oppressive Taxes Left Jewish People In Poverty. |
Back to the Coin Story and its context
and purpose in Mark's narrative. This story's purpose was surely not
to pass on the conventional and mundane admonition that,
“We live in two worlds, the spiritual and the secular, we should
give both worlds equal respect and tribute,eg give to Caesar(even if unjust and inhumane) what is
his and to God what is God's.”
This literal, 'common sense', conventional interpenetration that
separates religious meaning from political and real-life human situations has been used throughout the centuries to coerce Christ
admirers into submitting to oppressive religious and civil
authorities, whether over themselves or others. It has been used in
American history to convince people that non-violent civil
disobedience is always wrong and against the teachings of Jesus. That
Christians are basically to never stand up against the injustices and
oppressions that happen, to them or others, in the politics and religion of real life.
Such an interpretation stands against the whole point of Mark's
gospel as I have viewed it above and certainly against what Mark is
teaching in the 'Roman Coin' incident which I will describe below.
Jesus' powerful adversaries came again
with an entrapping question: 'Do you teach that 'tribute' or taxes
should be paid to Caesar?” They reasoned that if he said simply '
yes' he would be telling crowd that they should never rebel
against or resist the oppression these same power authorities were
exposing them and their families to. That would defeat the very thing
Jesus was in Jerusalem to demonstrate for all people, both friend
and foe. If he said 'no' then he was seen as an outright anarchist
against Rome and the local Jewish leaders. That would justify the
authorities arresting and shutting him down before he had fully made
his embodied statement for which he was willing to die. That statement can
be heard as: ' The Jewish common folks owe God everything and they owe this
despotic and oppressive Roman government and religion nothing
until they both begin to measure out justice instead of oppression
and discrimination.' Jesus, as usual, does not give them a simple
'yes, no' answer. He does not fall for their over-simplified ,strong-headed vision of
complicated situations regarding justice and truth. This model can be a valid and continuous challenge for any serious admirer of Jesus and searcher of truth and justice today.
Instead he asks his accusers to give
him a Denarius Coin(a Roman coin worth a common day's wage) They hand
him theirs and he holds it up to the whole crowd to see. He asks the
questioning authorities, “Whose image in on the coin?” The
image of Caesar on it. So they reply, 'Caesar's image.' Then Jesus
said to his accusers, implying it to be most obvious, (Then you) 'give to Caesar what is
Caesars.' And likely after a long pause and turning to the crowd he adds, (And you)" give to God what is God's." This amazingly crafted interaction has been conventionally interpreted as a long
about way for Jesus to say, 'Yes, always pay your taxes just as long as you also give something to God.'
And so our inherited conventional , but now very
unenlightened, interpretation is, 'Good Christians should pay their
taxes- even when despotic, inhumane and life destroying- to the Civil
authority.'
But make no mistake, those wanting to
hear Jesus that day heard the opposite. Here is the information
needed to understand what has happened in Mark's story. The Hebrew
people we now know, thanks to good archeology and Biblical
scholarship, were allowed to have the Roman Denarius Coin without the
picture of Caesar on it. Devout Jews would not use the Roman
Denarius, especially in their temple worship, for they considered it
a desecration and betrayal of God. This is why the gospels speak of there being 'money
changers' in the Temple grounds so Jewish people could exchange
their 'Caesar Denarius' coins into Roman approved coins of the same
value without the inscription of Caesar. This was one of the ways
that Rome made a show that they offered the lowly Jews some religious
respect. Since the Hebrew Torah forbids worship or 'tribute' to be
given to anyone but their one God Yahweh, they were allowed to have
the 'non-Caesar' in-scripted coins. Jesus' adversaries had likely forgotten this since in had no impact on their secure lives. So when Jesus' adversaries
showed Jesus a 'Caesar' coin they were emphasizing, to the crowd, without realizing it
that they were Caesar worshipers. And the crowd 'heard' Jesus telling his adversaries, “If this Caesar is your lord than give him everything he asks of
you.” But all the oppressed Jews in the crowd knew that the Denarius they
honored did not have Caesar on it. At this very moment Jesus'
adversaries' attempt to entrap him was foiled. Their efforts to
separate the crowd's affection for Jesus had done just the exact
opposite. So the oppressed crowd would get it when Jesus added,"( But you) Give to God what is God's." Which of course is everything for the devout Jew. That made it clear that
Caesar was indeed not their Lord(That they need not live in their mind in
two world's, Rome's and God's, to whom they owed some kind of
balanced loyalty.) And so unless the taxes levied were just,
not life destroying to individuals and families, and not inhumanly oppressive they were required religiously to give
'nothing' to Caesar.
So Jesus, and the gospel's author, masterfully is able to make
his point: 'It is right and necessary, though often life threatening,
at times to stand firmly against established civil and religious authority.' And in fact that is exactly why he was now three days from being
crucified for that very kind of 'subversive' activity. Surely
Mark's story of the “Roman Coin' has immense challenge and
application in the every day life and world view of any admirer of
Jesus.
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