Mark 12:14–17 with St. Augustine
“And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said to him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they marveled at him.”
St. Augustine in a short homily gives us a succinct interpretation of this passage, which highlights the wisdom of Christ in answering his opponents. The question put to Christ, says Augustine, was meant to trap him. If he denied that taxes should be paid, then he would be branded an instigator, someone who was bent on causing trouble for the established authorities. However, if he affirmed that taxes ought to be paid, he would be deemed a traitor to Jerusalem and a friend of Rome.
Jesus avoids this political conundrum by pointing his opponents towards a deeper truth, one beyond the realities of worldly power. By drawing attention to Caesar’s image on the coin, Jesus asks a question about belonging and about the ordering of our priorities – these men are worried about a coin bearing Caesar’s image, but not about their own souls which ought to bear God’s image. According to Augustine, it is as if Christ had said “if Caesar can look for his image in a coin, is God not to look for his image in a man?” Augustine adds an additional dimension to the analogy: just as Caesar’s image on a coin is worn down with improper use, so also the image of God in our souls is worn down and effaced by sin. Jesus, in avoiding his opponent’s snare is also showing that he is “the master of the mint” who has come to “strike the coins afresh … by pardoning sins with grace; and he will show you that God is looking for his image.”[1]
