ACC ~ Luke 20 v20 - 26
THE HYPOCRITICAL NATURE OF JESUS’ OPPONENTS
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: These bold and hardhearted men, being ready for only evil, do not entertain a good purpose, but with their mind full of the craftiness of the devil, they commit themselves to wicked plans. They lay traps for Christ, plan a trap for an accusation against him, and gather pretexts for falsely accusing him. In their bitterness, they are already meditating and plotting the lying words they spoke against him before Pilate. … They pretended to be kind and just. They imagined that they could deceive him who knows secrets. Having one purpose in mind and heart, they speak words totally unlike their wicked dishonesty. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [1]
[1] CGSL 538**.
THE HYPOCRISY OF APPEALING TO CAESAR
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What do they say? “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, nor do you accept persons but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” O what polluted dishonesty! The God of all certainly wanted Israel to be exempt from human rule. They trampled under foot the divine laws and totally despised the commandment given to them. They committed themselves to their own devices. They therefore fell under the hand of those who at that time ruled over them. They also imposed on them tribute, tax and the yoke of an unaccustomed slavery. The prophet Jeremiah also lamented over Jerusalem as though it had already suffered this fate, saying, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the cities has become a vassal.” [1]
It therefore says that their object was to deliver him to the authority of the governor, because they expected that they would hear him say, certainly and without doubt, that it was not lawful to give tribute to Caesar. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [2]
[1] Lam 1:1.
[2] CGSL 538-39**.
GIVE BACK TO THE WORLD WHAT BELONGS TO THE WORLD
AMBROSE: When they questioned him about the penny, he asks about the image, because there is one image of God and another image of the world. The apostle also admonishes us, “As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly.” [1] Christ does not have the image of Caesar, because he is the image of God. [2] Peter does not have the image of Caesar, because he said, “We have left all things, and have followed you.” [3] The image of Caesar is not found in James and John, because they are the Sons of Thunder. [4] It is found in the sea, where there are dragons with crushed heads upon the water. The large dragon itself, with its head broken, is given there as food to the Ethiopian people. [5] If he did not have the image of Caesar, why did he pay the tax? He did not give from his own but gave back to the world what was of the world. If you would not be indebted to Caesar, do not possess what belongs to the world. You have wealth; therefore you are indebted to Caesar. If you want to owe nothing to an earthly king, leave all that you have and follow Christ. [6] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.35. [7]
[1] 1 Cor 15:49.
[2] 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15.
[3] Mt 19:27; Mk 10:28.
[4] Mk 3:17.
[5] Ps 73:14 LXX.
[6] See Mk 10:21; Lk 5:11, 28.
[7] EHG 383**.
OBEDIENCE TO TRANSITORY AUTHORITIES
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: How did Christ overcome their craftiness? “Show me,” he says, “a denarius.” When they showed it to him, he asks, “Whose image and superscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” What did Christ answer to that? “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Those who have the office to govern impose a tribute of money on their subjects. God does not require of us anything corruptible and temporary. He rather requires willing obedience, submission, faith, love and the sweet fragrance of good works. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [1]
[1] CGSL 539**.
JOYFULLY OBEY YOUR EARTHLY LEADERS, PRAY FOR SOUND JUDGMENT
JUSTIN MARTYR: Since he has instructed us, we, before all others, try everywhere to pay your appointed officials the ordinary and special taxes. In his time some people came to him and asked if it were necessary to pay tribute to Caesar, and he replied, “Tell me, whose likeness does this coin bear?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He again replied, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” [1] We worship only God, but in other things, we joyfully obey you. We acknowledge you as the kings and rulers of men. We also pray that you may have good judgment besides royal power. If you do not listen to us although we beg you and clearly explain our position, it will by no means harm us. We believe (rather, we are sure) that everyone will pay the penalty of his misdeeds in the everlasting fire. Everyone will give an account in proportion to the powers that he received from God. Christ made this known to us when he said, “To whom God has given more, of him more shall be required.” FIRST APOLOGY 17. [2]
[1] Mt 22:20-21.
[2] FC 6:52**.
CAESAR’S IMAGE ON A COIN, GOD’S IMAGE ON HUMAN BEINGS
AUGUSTINE: These same enemies saw the miracles of the Lord, [1] and they said, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things.” They questioned him with hostile intentions, so that if he admitted what his authority was, they could hold him as guilty of blaspheming. He acted in the same way as over the coin, when they wanted to accuse him falsely. If he said, “Let tribute be paid to Caesar,” it would be as though he had cursed the people of the Jews, making them subject and tributary to a foreign power. If he had said, “It should not be paid,” they could trump up a charge against him before Caesar’s friends and administrators that he was forbidding its payment. He, though, said, “Show me a coin. Whose image and inscription does it carry?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” He said, “So pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” That amounts to saying, “If Caesar can require his image in a coin, cannot God require his image in a human being?” SERMON 308A.7. [2]
[1] He is being rather careless; it was when they saw Jesus turning the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple, which was hardly a miracle.
[2] WSA 3 9:60.
PUT OFF THE EARTHLY IMAGE AND PUT ON THE HEAVENLY ONE
ORIGEN: Some people think that the Savior spoke on a single level when he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”—that is, “pay the tax that you owe.” Who among us disagrees about paying taxes to Caesar? The passage therefore has a mystical and secret meaning.
There are two images in humanity. One he received from God when he was made, in the beginning, as Scripture says in the book of Genesis, “according to the image and likeness of God.” [1] The other image is of the earth. [2] Man received this second image later. He was expelled from Paradise because of disobedience and sin after the “prince of this world” [3] had tempted him with his enticements. Just as the coin, or denarius, has an image of the emperor of this world, so he who does the works of “the ruler of the darkness” [4] bears the image of him whose works he does. Jesus commanded that that image should be handed over and thrown away from our face. He wills us to take on that image, according to which we were made from the beginning, according to God’s likeness. It then happens that we give “to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God’s.” Jesus said, “Show me a coin.” For “coin,” Matthew wrote “denarius.” [5] When Jesus had taken it, he said, “Whose inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” And he said to them in turn, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 39.4-6. [6]
[1] Gen 1:27.
[2] 1 Cor 15:49.
[3] Jn 12:31.
[4] Eph 6:12.
[5] Mt 22:19.
[6] FC 94:161-62*.
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