18 October 2020: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary time

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

What disciples owe to God

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on God’s reign and human rule.

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah, specifically second Isaiah, a prophet to the Jews in exile in Babylon in the sixth century BC. In today’s pericope, Isaiah endorses the Persian emperor Cyrus, a gentile king, as God’s anointed (mashiah or “messiah”). Isaiah says God raised up Cyrus to conquer Babylon (“subduing nations before him”) and so restore God’s people (“Jacob, my servant; Israel, my chosen one”) to their homeland. (To see Cyrus’ actual cuneiform edict releasing all captive people, go to http://www.britishmuseum.org and search for “Cyrus Cylinder.”) The Lectionary editors chose this reading to introduce God’s role in history and God’s use of even unbelieving or corrupt leaders to fulfill God’s plan.

The second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian ekklesia, begins its continuous reading in Ordinary time. Written as early as the mid-40s, 1 Thessalonians is an historical record of Paul’s early missionary practice and a snapshot of his developing theology. It is the oldest writing in Christian scripture. Paul opens his letter by thanking God for the Thessalonians’ faith, praising the community’s vibrancy, their dedication to others (“your work of faith”) and the power of their hope (“endurance in hope”), and their response to the gospel (“how you were chosen”). Paul’s themes of faith, hope, and election prepare his hearers for the teaching and advice in the rest of his letter. Paul emphasizes that the good news came to the Thessalonians not simply in the missionaries’ words, 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 as the start of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Thessalonians.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Matthew describes how the religious leaders and Roman political supporters conspire to lay a trap for Jesus.

• The conspirators, the tax, and the question. The Pharisees were a lay religious movement who followed Mosaic law. The Herodians were a public political party who sought Jewish political independence. The Roman census tax was an annual payment by all men, women, and slaves between the ages of twelve and sixty-five, equal to a laborer’s one-day wage. The Herodians favored payment of the tax; the Pharisees did not. Their question doesn’t seek an answer; they want only to trap Jesus.
• Jesus’ response and challenge. If Jesus answers “yes,” he would offend Jews seeking independence from Rome and implicitly deny that God is the only legitimate ruler of Judea. If Jesus answers “no,” he becomes an enemy of Rome. Jesus tells the conspirators to “show him a denarius.” Jesus’ response is that those who willingly use Caesar’s coins should repay Caesar in kind. He also implies that neither Pharisees nor Herodians are giving God what God is due. This is a serious charge.
• First century and twenty-first century implications. Jesus’ answer is adequate for first century Jews and Christians, to whom the state was completely extraneous. First century Jews and Christians could no more change Roman law than they could change nature’s laws. Matthew’s point is to show Jesus’ skill in avoiding his opponents’ trap and challenging them to pay more attention to “God’s things.” Twenty-first century Christians often use this text as a basis for a doctrine of “church and state,” but this text and others like it do not support such a reading. The gospel provides no theology of church and state. Rather, Jesus challenges twenty-first century disciples to discern what belongs to God.

This week’s readings ask us to think about God’s reign and God’s things. Isaiah tells the exiles that God can use a gentile ruler like Cyrus to bring about their restoration. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they received the gospel not simply in words, but through God’s power. Jesus turns the conspirators’ question back on them: what are they giving back to God? Discerning what belongs to God and to God’s reign is a disciple’s hardest work. God’s reign is already present, and sometimes in conflict with earthly kingdoms. As disciples, how do we live in God’s reign and give God what God is due? If all humans express God’s image, how can disciples support inequality? If God’s reign is open to all, how can disciples support exclusivity? If God’s reign is love, how can disciples support hate?

—Terence Sherlock