22 October 2023: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary time A

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Is 45:1, 4-6	Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10	1 Thes 1:1-5b	Mt 22:15-21
RCL: Is 45:1-7		RCL: 1 Thes 1:1-10	RCL: Mt 22:15-22

Discipleship: loyalty to God alone

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on potential competing loyalties a disciple faces in living for the kingdom.

First reading (Is 45:1, 4-6)

The first reading is from Isaiah, specifically second Isaiah, who prophesied to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. This anonymous prophet lived in the sixth century BC (~550-539 BC). The interaction between the Holy One of Israel (God) and Jerusalem (the people of God) drives all of Isaiah’s narrative. Second Isaiah (chapters 40-55) offers hope for Jerusalem’s future beyond the city’s destruction and the end of the monarchy and national state.

In today’s pericope, Isaiah presents a new understanding of God. Isaiah believes that God will liberate Jerusalem, but he also knows that human agents’ actions will accomplish God’s plan. Just as God works though Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets, God now chooses Cyrus, the king of Persia and a gentile, to liberate the Jewish exiles from Babylon. Isaiah names Cyrus as God’s “anointed” (מָשִׁיחַ/mâshîyaḥ or “messiah”), a title Hebrew scripture uses to this point to identify Israel’s kings. God’s intervention in human history (“opening doors,” “leaving gates unbarred”) allows Cyrus to “subdue nations.” God anoints Cyrus “for the sake of Jacob and Israel;” that is, the Jewish people who remain captives in Babylon. Cyrus captured Babylon in 539 BC and released the exiles to return to Jerusalem in 538 BC.

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because God acts in human history, using human leaders to fulfill the divine plan.

Second reading (1 Thes 1:1-5b)

The second reading is the first part of a five-week, semi-continuous reading from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonica ekklesia. Paul wrote this letter, the earliest written document in Christian scripture, in 50-51 AD to encourage the Thessalonians’ faith and to answer questions about marriage, Jesus’ parousia, and believers’ resurrections.

In today’s pericope, Paul greets the Thessalonica ekklesia with “grace and peace.” “Grace” (χάρις/cháris) can almost summarize Paul’s gospel in one word; “peace” (שָׁלוֹם/shalom) reflects the greeting in Jewish letters. Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians’ faith, praising their dedication to others (“your work of faith“), the power of their hope (“endurance in hope“), and their response to the gospel (“how you were chosen“). Paul introduces themes of faith, hope, and election to prepare his hearers for his teaching and advice in the rest of his letter. He emphasizes that the good news came to the Thessalonians not simply in the missionaries’ words (“word alone”), but in divine power, specifically through the Spirit, whose outpouring resulted in the Thessalonians’ full conviction in the words’ truth.

The Lectionary editors chose this reading to begin Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Thessalonians.

Gospel (Mt 22:15-21)

This section of Matthew’s gospel is from Jesus’ teachings in Jerusalem as his opponents question and challenge him. In today’s pericope, Jesus skillfully answers a trick question from the Pharisees and Herodians.

• Jesus’ opponents. The Pharisees were religious lay people who disagreed with the politically-appointed Temple priests’ actions and teachings. The Pharisees sought to restore the religious and theocratic kingdom of David. The Herodians were a political party who sought Jewish political independence. The Herodians sought to restore king Herod’s dynasty to Judea by collaborating with the Romans. The alliance of these two groups is highly unusual: the Herodians favored the tax; the Pharisees rejected the tax. In an honor/shame culture, the Pharisees act shamefully: rather than confronting Jesus directly, they engage spies and proxies to trap him.
• The question’s political context. The tax Matthew describes is the Roman census (κῆνσος/kēnsos) payment or “head tax” paid by every adult in the empire. When the Romans imposed direct rule on Judea in 6 AD, Rome required every man, woman, and slave between the ages of twelve and sixty-five to pay this tax in Roman currency. The tax amount was a Roman denarius, equal to a laborer’s one-day wage. Using this tax as pretext, Jesus’ opponents lay a trap. If Jesus opposes payment, he is an enemy of the state; if he advocates payment, he is a Roman collaborator.
• Jesus’ answer. Jesus recognizes the malice in his opponents’ question. Although he advises paying the tax, Jesus implies Caesar’s authority is relative and that a believer’s loyalty to God takes precedence. Although a few modern interpreters use this text as a basis for a doctrine of “church and state” separation, the text does not support that reading. Matthew’s point is to show Jesus’ skill in avoiding his opponents’ trap and to challenge his opponents to pay more attention to “God’s things.”

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about how we sort out our loyalties. Isaiah is clear that God, not Cyrus, acts to free the captives from Babylon. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that God’s power, not Paul’s words, stands behind their faith. Jesus criticizes his opponents for confusing God’s authority and power with Caesar’s human authority.

In a pluralistic society we can sometime be confused about who is in charge. As disciples we know that God alone deserves our attention and loyalty. Under the best conditions, God’s human agents simply fulfill the divine plan; under the worst conditions, human agents claim God’s authority as their own for their own purposes. Do we work to discern God’s acting in our lives and in the world? Do we test that leaders’ words and actions align with God’s justice and mercy? Do we grant human leaders only the authority they need, and remain loyal to the working out of God’s plan in all other times and places?

—Terence Sherlock