Episode 48: Year A – 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time
In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we do not focus so much on a particular detail that’s relevant for apologetical discussion. Rather, we focus on the whole exchange that takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees in the Gospel reading, which is taken from Matthew 22:15-21. The first reading, which is taken from Isaiah 45:1, 4-6, comes into play as well, but only in light of what’s going on in the Gospel. The relevant apologetical topic is Jesus’ divinity.
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Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
In this episode, we’re not going to focus so much on a particular detail that’s relevant for apologetical discussion. Rather, we’re going to focus on the whole exchange that takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees in the Gospel reading, which is taken from Matthew 22:15-21. The first reading, which is taken from Isaiah 45:1, 4-6, will come into play as well, but only in light of what’s going on in the Gospel. The relevant apologetical topic is Jesus’ divinity.
I’d like to start with the Gospel reading. Matthew records,
15 Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him the Roman coin. 20 He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” 21 They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.
As I said, there’s no one detail that I want to focus on initially. Rather, I want to draw your attention to the whole scenario: Jesus beats the greatest minds of his day at their intellectual game.
First, what’s the game?
The Pharisees collaborate with the Herodians, supporters of the Herodian dynasty and its relationship with Rome, to ensnare Jesus with a dilemma. They ask, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” If Jesus says yes, then he’ll be seen as a Roman sympathizer and thereby discredit himself in the eyes of many Jews, who despised the Roman rule of Judea.
Moreover, he’d be viewed as compromising the first commandment: have no false gods before me. Inscribed on coin with Caesar’s image were two phrases: “the son of the divine Augustus” and “high priest.”
If, on the other hand, Jesus rejects paying taxes to Caesar, then the Herodians would inform the Roman authorities that Jesus is guilty of instigating tax revolt. This, of course, would result in the Roman authorities squashing Jesus with force.
Jesus responds by requesting that they give him a coin with Caesar’s image on it. Jesus affirms that it can rightly be given back to him because it belongs to him. But he iterates that what belongs God—namely us, must be given back to God. We bear God’s image as rational creatures and thereby belong to Him.
Now, Jesus does several things here to beat the Pharisees at their game. First, He breaks the dilemma and demonstrates that paying taxes to Rome doesn’t conflict with one’s religious duties to God because in paying taxes one merely gives to Caesar what rightly belongs to him. The only thing that would conflict with their religious duties if they were to give to Caesar what was not rightly his, namely worship. Worship belongs to God alone because we are made in His image.
The second thing Jesus does to beat the Pharisees at their game is to expose their hypocrisy. By making them give the coin, Jesus subtly shows that they’ve been paying the tax just like everyone else even though they oppose it in principle. Jesus thereby shows they are traitors according to their own measure of what constitutes a Jewish traitor.
So, what does this all have to do with apologetics?
Well, many of you know the famous trilemma argument. Jesus proclaims in so many ways that He is God (e.g., Mark 2:10, Mark 14:62-64; John 8:58; 10:30-33). This claim is either true or false. If it’s false and he knows it, then He’s a liar. If it’s false and He doesn’t know it, then He’s a lunatic.
Here is where our Gospel reading becomes relevant. If Jesus was able to beat the greatest minds of His day at their own intellectual games, then he can’t be a lunatic. This level of intellectual acuity—e.g., breaking the false dilemma and turning the tables on his opponents—simply doesn’t fit the characteristics of a lunatic.
There’s yet another stroke of genius in this exchange that excludes the possibility that Jesus was a lunatic, as well as excluding the possibility that He is a liar. Recall, the coin had inscriptions that suggest Caesar’s divinity: “son of the divine Augustus.” If this were true, we would belong to Caesar and thus would need to give ourselves back to him. But Jesus directly targets this and says no, we do not belong to Caesar, we belong to God.
The reason is that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the true God. You can bet Jesus would have had the first reading for this upcoming Sunday’s Mass in mind, which is Isaiah 45:1, 4-6. In verse 5, God says, “There is no God besides me.”
Jesus is stating that Caesar is not the true God. Rather, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the true God. Therefore, we belong to Him, not Caesar. This is an outright denial of Caesar’s claims to be divine.
Again, such intellectual acuity and subtlety in argumentation is not the markings of a lunatic.
Moreover, what Jesus says is not the markings of a liar either. Jesus holds the line as to what belongs to God and God alone: worship. If He were such a devout Jew as to hold this line, then he would be devout enough to hold the line when it comes to lying, since the eighth commandment forbids lying. And if He were devout enough to hold the line when it comes to lying, then he wouldn’t be a liar. And if not a liar, then all His claims to be divine wouldn’t be lies.
Given that we have good reason to think that Jesus was not a lunatic or a liar, it follows that His claims to be divine must have been true. He is Lord! Not Caesar.
Well, my friends, that does it for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. A bit shorter than usual. Nevertheless, important stuff. The Gospel reading for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A provides us with important details that gives us reason to think that Jesus was not a lunatic, which is crucial for running the trilemma argument for Jesus’ divinity.
As always, I want to thank you for subscribing to the podcast. And please be sure to tell your friends about it and invite them to subscribe as well at sundaycatholicword.com. You might also want to check out the other great podcasts in our Catholic Answers podcast network: Cy Kellet’s Catholic Answers Focus, Trent Horn’s The Counsel of Trent, Joe Heschmeyer’s Shameless Popery, and Jimmy Akin’s A Daily Defense, all of which can be found at catholic.com.
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I hope you have a blessed 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time.