Sons Of God

Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” 

Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him. (Mark 12:13-17)

Paying taxes is never a fun thing, but it is quite necessary – provided the payment is fair and not oppressive.  Excessive taxes were a tool of the Jewish elite and Romans to steal the land of Jewish families.  Land was wealth and used for growing crops needed to sustain those in cities controlled by the Roman Empire and Caesar.  Turning landowners into sharecroppers was a wicked consequence of the rich taking advantage of the poor and making them even poorer – destitute.

Paying taxes to Caesar with money on which Caesar’s image was engraved must have been especially offensive.  The standard unit of Roman currency was the silver denarius (same value as the Greek drachma).  It was about a day’s wage for a laborer.

Jesus and his contemporaries would have strongly objected to the coin and its inscription that read: DI FI, DIVI F, or DIVI FI.   This meant “son of a divine one” or “son of God.”   The Romans believed Julius Caesar and his son Augustus were divine sons of God.   No wonder Jesus and taxpayers objected to the coin with its outrageous claim of divinity for Roman oppressive and cruel rulers.

Deacon David Pierce