Tag: taxes

  • Why citizenship isn’t really the question

    Why citizenship isn’t really the question

    In asking Jesus about taxes, and whether it is right under the Law of Moses to pay them, we might miss what is really being asked here.

  • What goes to the emperor?

    What goes to the emperor?

    We forget the question of taxes is a trap. And Jesus’s answer isn’t a solution to modern society. It is, however, essential.

  • Faces of Love

    Faces of Love

    In Matthew 22:15-22, we get stuck on the words “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s” we forget the whole thing’s a trap. Proper 24A  | Matthew 22:15-22 I don’t know if any of you have been outside in…you know…the last few years…but there are people really concerned with the mixing…

  • Rejecting the Trap

    The dishonesty behind asking compromises any answer Jesus may have to the question a Homily for Proper 24A  |  Text: Matthew  22:15-22 The Trap This is not a story about taxes. This is a story about a trap that backfires. A trap set to deal with authority. And every time we go near the question of…

  • Beyond Empire: giving to the emperor

    Today’s gospel: Matthew 22:15-22 This is one of my favorite moments for Jesus. He has just been hammering at the Jewish leadership and attacking the relationship between the religious leaders and the empire. He chased the moneychangers and now they have all had enough. They’re coming to get him. So they bring a trap. A…