Once upon a time, there was an old man who lived on the outskirts of a small village near a beautiful alpine lake. He was a loner in the true sense of the word. He had lived there so long that no one knew where he had come from or who he was.
Some of the villagers said he was very wealthy and at one time had been very influential and politically powerful. Others said he was a wise and holy person. Still others said he was just an eccentric and peculiar old man.
Every Halloween he was the target of the children’s tricks. They would leave dead cats on his doorstep, call him names, wax his windows and try to spook him with their imitation of sounds of ghosts and goblins.
Then one day, an older boy came up with the idea to find out, once and for all, if he was this wise and holy person or if he was just an eccentric and foolish old man. The older boy told the other children that this Halloween he would catch a bird and they would go to the old man’s house and ask him this question:
“Old man, do you know what I have hidden behind my back?”
The boy said the old man might guess it is a bird, but then he would trap him with a second question, asking whether the bird is dead or alive.
“If he says dead, I’ll set the bird free, and the bird will fly away. If he says it is alive, I’ll crush the bird in my hands until it dies. Either way, the old man will be trapped.”
So, they went to the old man’s house and rudely pounded on his front door. When the elderly man came to the door, the older boy quickly spoke: “Old man, do you know what I have hidden behind my back?”
The elderly man looked at each of the children and at the same time, saw a white feather fall to the ground. “Yes, I do know,” he replied. “You have a bird, and it is a white bird.”
The children were astonished, and their eyes grew very wide, as they wondered how he knew it was a bird and a white bird at that.
But the older boy again very quickly asked his second question, “Is the bird alive or dead?”
Again, the elderly man looked at each of the children, and finally his eyes came to rest on the older boy, as he wisely responded, “That all depends on you. The answer is in your hands.”
The wise elderly man eluded or avoided the trap by answering, “It all depends on you, and the answer is in your hands.”
In today’s gospel, a similar trap was set for Jesus, but He eluded it. The trap set for Jesus was not about what was in someone’s hands or behind someone’s back, but over the hot issue of taxes.
The trap set for Jesus was not by an older boy, but by two groups who usually opposed and confronted each other. This time they were united against Jesus and found themselves in an uncommon alliance. The Pharisees represented the Jewish religious establishment, and they resented paying taxes to a Roman government. The Herodians represented the Roman government and wanted to tax everyone.
The tax in question was imposed on every man, woman, free person or slave between the ages of fourteen and sixty-five. It had to be paid in Roman coins, which were considered sacrilegious by the Jewish people because there was the image of Caesar on each coin.
The trap set by the Pharisees and Herodians is a good one. The trick question dealt with the matter of loyalty.
If Jesus says taxes should be paid, He will alienate Himself from those who believed in obedience to God alone. He would be considered loyal to the Roman government and unfaithful to God because the Roman coin had the image of Caesar on it.
If Jesus said not to pay taxes, He would be against the Roman government, an enemy of the state, and subject to arrest by the Romans.
Did you notice the flattering, yet insincere or hypocritical title they used for Jesus? They called Him teacher, even though they hated what He taught. They tried to trap Him with the statement, “We know that you are a truthful man.”
Notice how Jesus avoids the tight web of their trap.
Jesus simply asked for a coin. Notice that Jesus did not have a Roman coin, but the Pharisees and Herodians did.
Then He told them what would become one of the most-quoted lines in Sacred Scripture: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.”
Today, we know how to give to Caesar; the IRS makes sure we pay the government what we owe!
But, how about giving to God what is God’s? The answer to that question is in your hands.
Every day, we have the opportunity to be open to God’s call to share the gifts we have been given with the church and with other worthy causes that support ministry work in our community, our country and the world. Whether it is sharing our talents or our financial gifts, remember to give back to God by sharing with those in need.
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