- Feb 5, 2002
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We look for excuses for alleging that living the Christian life is simply not feasible in the given day and age. Jesus is inviting us to look at a different image.
The dilemma posed by the “entrapping” people in the Gospel episode for this Sunday (Mt 22:15-21) is not only illusory, it is treacherous. They concoct a cockamamie scenario intended to trip up Jesus so as to expose him as the fraud they presuppose him to be. For them, the case they pose constitutes an irreconcilable contradiction. “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” However, the fact that it involves two diametrically opposed groups — the Pharisees and the Herodians — joining forces in an unholy alliance here against Jesus Christ is proof positive of the premeditated malice motivating their actions (“Knowing their malice…”).
What’s at issue: “The Pharisees would oppose the tax on the religious principle of not commingling with the Gentiles, whereas the Herodians would approve of it because it enhanced the delegated authority of their favored petty king [Herod]” (E. Leiva-Merikakis).
Continued below.
aleteia.org
The dilemma posed by the “entrapping” people in the Gospel episode for this Sunday (Mt 22:15-21) is not only illusory, it is treacherous. They concoct a cockamamie scenario intended to trip up Jesus so as to expose him as the fraud they presuppose him to be. For them, the case they pose constitutes an irreconcilable contradiction. “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” However, the fact that it involves two diametrically opposed groups — the Pharisees and the Herodians — joining forces in an unholy alliance here against Jesus Christ is proof positive of the premeditated malice motivating their actions (“Knowing their malice…”).
What’s at issue: “The Pharisees would oppose the tax on the religious principle of not commingling with the Gentiles, whereas the Herodians would approve of it because it enhanced the delegated authority of their favored petty king [Herod]” (E. Leiva-Merikakis).
The real issue
Continued below.
Beyond our natural capacities: Living the image we are
We look for excuses for alleging that living the Christian life is not feasible in the given day and age. Jesus is inviting us to look at a different image.
aleteia.org
