Paying taxes has never been popular, if you look back at history you’ll see that nearly every revolution has been the result of a Tax revolt. The English Civil war, the French Revolution and the American revolution. I remember Mrs Thatcher’s attempt to introduce a new tax in the UK: the Poll tax. It was deeply unpopular because it was not a graduated tax but imposed a fixed amount on rich and poor.

Paying taxes to Caesar.

There had been a Tax revolt in Judea within recent memory when the Roman emperor Augustus imposed direct rule over the province and sent a Roman governor to keep the peace.

In 6 BC Judea was assessed for tax liability. The taxes were sent directly to Rome in Roman coinage bearing Caesar Augustus' image.

The Jewish people had revolted under a leader called Judas. The only tax Judas would admit to paying was to the Temple and to God. This was called the Temple tax and was always paid in local coinage.

Some of the Jewish population were loyal to Rome, they were called the Herodians after the puppet King Herod. The Pharisees were fiercely opposed to the new tax and refused to pay it.

To pay taxes, then, was to accept the sovereignty of Rome and to handle a coin with idolatrous imagery. The image of Caesar was stamped on to each coin and to use it the Pharisees argued was to accept the Lordship of Caesar.

The Lordship of God.

This was the issue that the Pharisees and the Herodians were trying to entrap Jesus.

“Under whose lordship are we to place ourselves?”

“Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Matthew 22: 17

The question posed to Jesus almost 2000 years ago continues to raise difficult issues for us today not just in our politics but also in our personal life. As Christians how are we to live in a world that is often hostile to Christian faith? Should our Christian commitment remain a private affair between ourselves and God or does faith have a part to play in public life?

Here are a few examples of recent controversies: The role of the Church in education, abortion rights, signs and symbols in public buildings and worn by public figures, discrimination in employment, and by adoption agencies. The right of businesses to refuse custom on the grounds of faith and the marriage of same sex couples.

Does Jesus give us any answers to these and other questions? It is interesting that Jesus doesn’t allow himself to be captured by either party in this debate. This should be a warning to us to label any political party as ‘Christian’. Jesus cannot be hijacked by a political party, but he does have a point of view!

‘Give back to Caesar’.

Jesus recognises the right of Caesar to impose taxes. He uses the words ‘Give back’, implying that the Jewish people have received benefits from the Roman rule for which they owed tax.

Christian to are called in the New Testament to recognise they rightly constituted authorities of the State. They are to live peacefully under the laws of the land.

So the Church is not to be like the zealots of Jesus day who attempted to violently overthrow the Roman regime. Nor are they to be like the Essenes who withdrew into the desert where they attempted to live without any contact with the pollution of society. Jesus urges us in the opposite direction. We are to be the ‘Salt and light’ of the world.

‘Give back to God’

Jesus commands us to give back to give back to God what is God’s. To understand this we must go back to the Creation story in which the whole Cosmos is seen as the Gift of God and man is placed as God’s image to care for the world.

As Jesus looks at the coin he sees the image of Augustus Caesar and it is to Augustus Caesar that we owe this coin but as he looks at us he sees God’s image and it is to God that we owe our very lives. He has made us for a purpose and it is to that purpose that we give ourselves. We are made in His image to honour His image in us, a responsibility which we owe to the whole of creation not just to our earthly authorities.

‘Window’s into men’s hearts’

These were the words of Elizabeth I of England when speaking of the freedom of conscience that she allowed her subjects in the matter of their religious loyalties. So long as they obeyed her in the political realm they were free to worship God according to their own loyalties. This has become the foundation stone of the liberties of English speaking countries. This principle gives each person the dignity and the space to live freely rather than to have an authority imposed from above. History has shown us that when that principle is abused by a Government or Royal authority all other liberties will soon be taken away.

That is the freedom Jesus brings us, a freedom that destroys the power of tyrants and inspires each of us to be what God created us to be.

A prayer for peace in the Holy land

O God of all justice and peace
we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma
of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.
Be with those who need you in these days of suffering;
we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.
While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.
Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A statement from the Archbishops

“We are grieved and deeply concerned at the violence in Israel and Gaza, and we unequivocally condemn the attacks by Hamas. We pray for those who are mourning, those who are injured, and all those fearing for their safety. We pray for restraint on all sides, and renewed efforts towards a just peace for all. The way forward must be for both sides to build confidence in a secure future through which Israel and its people can live in security within its internationally recognised borders, and Palestinians have their own state and live in their lands in security, and with peace and justice.

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