Readings (Year A):
Isaiah 45:1, 4–6
Psalm 96:1, 3, 4–5, 7–8, 9–10
1 Thessalonians 1:1–5b
Matthew 22:15–21
Reflection: To whom do you belong?
Take a minute and think: have you ever lost something? Did you get it back? How did you get it back? Maybe it was your wallet, your phone, your keys, or something that had sentimental value. When someone found it, they knew it belonged to you because there was something on it that identified it as yours: Your name, or your picture. Something that said, “This belongs to someone.”
And maybe that is what Jesus is asking us to remember today: Whose image do you bear?
In today’s reading, Jesus is being trapped. The Pharisees and the Herodians come together, two groups that would normally not have much reason to agree, and put Jesus in a no-win situation. They ask him, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” If Jesus says yes, they can accuse him of supporting the Roman occupation. If he says no, they can accuse him of opposing Caesar.
Jesus asks them for a coin. “Whose image is this and whose inscription?”
They answer, “Caesar’s.”
And Jesus says: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
The word Jesus uses for “image” is the Greek word eikōn, which means image or likeness. The coin bears the icon, the image, and inscription of Caesar. So Jesus is acknowledging that the coin belongs to Caesar. But Jesus’s answer goes far deeper than taxes. There is another place in scripture where we hear this word “image.” In Genesis, we hear that God created human beings in his image and likeness. And in the Greek translation of Genesis, that same word is used: eikōn. The coin bears Caesar’s image. We bear God’s image.
Maybe that is the deeper question Jesus is putting before us today: If the coin bears Caesar’s image and therefore belongs to Caesar, then if we bear God’s image, to whom do we belong? We belong to God. Just as we recognize something that has been lost because there is a name or image identifying it as belonging to someone, God has placed his image on us.
Before we are anything else—before our political beliefs, our jobs, our accomplishments, our failures, our titles and our opinions—we are people created in the image and likeness of God. That changes the way we see ourselves and it changes the way we see one another. We are called to make that image visible through the way we live.
In the first reading from Isaiah, God calls Cyrus, the king of Persia, “my anointed.” Cyrus was not an Israelite king. He was a Persian king. God was able to work through him despite his identity as a pagan ruler. In the second reading, Paul speaks to the church of the Thessalonians, recognizing in them their “work of faith, labor of love and endurance in hope.” He calls them chosen.
The theme that connects all three readings is belonging to God. This means being anointed, chosen, and called to live out the theological virtues bestowed on us at baptism: faith, hope and love. Just like the coin bears Caesar’s image, we bear the image of God. God’s inscription is written on our souls.
We are not all called to be kings like Cyrus. We are not all called to the same work. But we are all called to live out our baptism. Faith, hope and love should become visible in the way we live. We are image bearers. Our identities, our lives, our gifts, our time, our relationships and our work all belong to God If we truly believe that we are created in God’s image, then our calling is to allow that image to become visible to others. It should be evident to those at work, in your family and in your communities.
If we apply this logic outward, everyone that we encounter is an icon of God. When we look at someone in our lives, we should not only see a political label, a social category, an inconvenience, a problem or someone who disagrees with us. We are called to see the image of God in those who are marginalized, in those who have no voice, in those who are vulnerable and in those who live differently.
I want you to think about those items that you may have lost. Your wallet, your phone, your keys or even something sentimental. How did someone know it was yours? What identified it as belonging to you? It was likely your name or you picture. Something that said, “This belongs to someone.” Who do you belong to?
