29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A - October
18, 2026
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b; Matthew
22:15-21
Theme:
Political and Spiritual Needs Should Not Be in Contradiction with Each Other
A. A
Brief Exegetical Analysis of Matthew 22:15-21
- Historical
and Literary Contexts
The
three parables in a row (21:28-32; 21:33-46; 22:1-14) that Jesus told the
Jewish religious leaders in response to their lack of faith in him infuriated
them. They now saw Jesus as a threat to their power. Moving forward, Matthew
presents a series of three entrapping questions directed at Jesus, through
which they conspired to either publicly humiliate him before the Jewish
community or gather legal evidence to accuse him, ultimately seeking to have
him arrested and condemned by the Roman authorities. Our Gospel passage
discusses the first of these three entrapping questions, which is immediately
preceded by the parable of the Wedding Feast (22:1-14) and followed by the second
tricking question about the Resurrection (22:23-33).
- Form,
Structure, and Movement
V.
15 introduces this Gospel narrative, while v. 22, omitted from our passage by
the lectionary, concludes it. The text is structured in two movements: the
first presents the question posed to Jesus by the Pharisees’ disciples and the
Herodians (vv. 16-17), and the second examines Jesus’ response (vv. 18-21).
- Detailed
Analysis
V.
15. This verse is connected to three consecutive parables (21:28-32; 21:33-46;
22:1-14) that Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders in response to their lack
of faith in him. The lessons from these parables angered them. In response,
they now plot against Jesus, seeing him as a threat to their power.
Vv.
16-17. At the time of Jesus, Israel was under Roman occupation. The Herodians
were Israelites who supported Herod, the Roman puppet king, and worked for the
Romans. The Pharisees were professional religious scholars who sought to impose
their interpretation of the Mosaic laws on everyone.[1]
The Herodians, a political group, and the Pharisees, a religious group, did not
get along for several reasons, including their differing views on paying the
census tax to Caesar; the Herodians favored it, while the Pharisees opposed it.
In this passage, they form an unholy alliance solely because Jesus is their
common enemy.
Their
question to Jesus, whether it is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar,
presents both a political and a religious dilemma. The “lawful” here refers to
the divine law. Since this is a yes-or-no question, if Jesus says, “Yes, it is
lawful," the Pharisees can accuse him to the Jewish community of
supporting the Roman regime. On the other hand, if Jesus says, “No, it is not
lawful," the Herodians will use it as legal evidence to report him to the
Roman authority and have him arrested and condemned.
Vv.
18-21. To understand Jesus’ response, it is essential to recognize that under
the Pax Romana (Roman Peace), the Roman government allowed Jewish religious
groups in Jerusalem to levy a tax on all expatriate Jews throughout the Roman
Empire to support the Temple. However, the Jewish religious leaders were
illegally enriching themselves from this tax.[2]
Thus, in the first part of his response, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to
Caesar,” Jesus highlights the hypocrisy of these dishonest Jewish religious
leaders, challenging them to abandon the tax they imposed on expatriate Jews
before they concern themselves with the tax the Roman government imposes on
them.
In
the second part of his response, “Repay to God what belongs to God,” Jesus
elevates the debate to a higher level. Since the coin bears Caesar’s image,
they should give him the currency that belongs to him. Likewise, God’s image
and likeness are stamped on each person, as stated in Genesis 1:26a, 27a: “Then
God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness… God
created mankind in his own image; in the image of God he created them” (NABRE).
This means that human beings belong to God. Therefore, as much as they are
concerned with paying taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees and Herodians should also
be concerned with giving themselves to God by embracing the kingdom of heaven
that Jesus established on earth.
V.
22. The narrator’s comments in this verse, omitted by the lectionary from our
Gospel passage, suggest that the Pharisees and Herodians failed in their
attempt to entrap Jesus.
- Synthesis
The
Pharisees and Herodians, who typically do not get along, form an unholy
alliance to entrap Jesus, their common enemy. They pose a yes-or-no question to
Jesus about whether paying the census tax to Caesar is lawful under God’s law.
If Jesus says, “Yes, it is lawful,” the Pharisees will discredit him among the
Jewish community, accusing him of supporting the Romans who occupied Israel at
that time. If he says, “No, it is not lawful,” the Herodians will report him to
the Roman authorities, who will arrest and condemn him for inciting people to
disobey Roman laws.
In
his response, Jesus first challenges all the Jewish religious leaders to
abandon the practice of illegally enriching themselves from the taxes they
impose on their fellow Israelites before they can be concerned about paying
taxes to Caesar. Second, since Caesar’s image is printed on the coin,
indicating that the currency belongs to him, Jesus tells them to give to Caesar
what belongs to him. Likewise, since God created human beings in his image and
likeness, meaning that God’s image and likeness are stamped in human beings,
the Pharisees and Herodians should be concerned about giving themselves to God
because they belong to God. This means that instead of seeking to condemn
Jesus, they should believe in him and embrace the kingdom of heaven he
established on earth.
B. Pastoral
Implications
- Liturgical
Context
In
our Gospel, the Pharisees and Herodians try to entrap Jesus with a political
and religious question. In his response, Jesus shows that political and
spiritual needs should not contradict each other. For instance, our first
reading tells us that God used King Cyrus, a political leader, to bless his
chosen people. In all that we do (in politics and religion), the Church calls
us to imitate the Thessalonian believers by keeping our work of faith, labor of
love, and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus, as we heard in our second
reading.
- What
the Church Teaches Us Today
(1)
While the Jewish religious leaders ironically appeared to oppose the census tax
to Caesar, they were illegally enriching themselves from the tax the Roman
government allowed them to impose on their fellow expatriate Jews living in the
Roman Empire to support the Temple. In the first part of his response, “Repay
to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” Jesus challenges them and all of us to be
honest with ourselves and to prioritize our relationship with God before
worrying about the wrongdoings of others. Many Christians today involve
themselves in fighting for political causes, even good ones, but neglect their
spiritual lives. Any good cause we fight for loses its significance if we
neglect our relationship with God, which is the primary need of our lives. As
we continue to fight for justice and peace and promote the well-being of people
in our societies, let us remember that we must also fight to bring people and
ourselves closer to God for the well-being of our souls in the heavenly
kingdom.
(2) Using the example of Caesar’s image on
Roman currency, Jesus reminds the Jewish religious leaders and all of us that
God’s image and likeness are stamped on our souls. We are created in God’s
image and likeness (Gn 1:26-27). Therefore, in the second part of his response,
“Repay to God what belongs to God,” Jesus means that the Jews and all of us
should render to the political authorities what pertains to politics, while at
the same time rendering to God “ourselves” because we belong to him. This is what
the Jewish religious leaders and many of us fail to do. Like these Pharisees
and Herodians, many Christians today focus more on maintaining their social and
political power than on embracing the kingdom of heaven that Jesus came to
establish.
In
this Gospel, Jesus teaches us that political and spiritual needs should not
contradict each other. This is what we heard in our first reading. God used
King Cyrus, a political leader, to bless his people, the Israelites. In all
that we do, our Holy Mother Church calls us to imitate the Thessalonian
believers by keeping our work of faith, labor of love, and endurance in hope of
our Lord Jesus, as we heard in our second reading. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Jackson, MS
&
SVD-USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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