Monday of Week 19 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 17:22-27

For the second time Jesus warns his disciples about what is to come: his suffering, death and resurrection. Once again the word ‘delivered’ or ‘handed over’ (Greek, emiparadidomi) is used. It is a refrain running right through the Gospels—applied to John the Baptist, to Jesus, to the disciples, and to the giving of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist.

We are told that the disciples are overwhelmed with grief over what Jesus says. Whether that is purely out of sorrow for Jesus, or whether it represents their disillusionment, is hard to say. This was not the kind of end they were expecting to the coming of the Messiah.

The second part of today’s reading is a peculiar scene, only to be found in Matthew. The collectors of the temple tax want to know whether Jesus pays it or not. Peter assures them that he does.

But on entering the house (there is that anonymous ‘house’ again, which seems to symbolise the Church or the Christian community), Jesus asks Peter (though, interestingly, he calls him by his old name ‘Simon’):

What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?

In other words, from whom do they collect taxes, from their subjects, or from foreigners? Peter replies:

From others…

And, in fact, the Romans did collect taxes from their colonised peoples and not from their own citizens.

In that case, Jesus says, the sons—that is, he and his disciples—should be exempt from paying the temple tax. After all, the Temple is God’s house, and Jesus is his Son, and his disciples are his brothers, sons of the same Father.

But to avoid giving scandal and misunderstanding, Peter is told to catch a fish in whose mouth he will find a shekel, enough to pay taxes for both of them. A half shekel was levied each year on all Jewish males of 20 years or older. It was for the upkeep of the Temple. A half shekel at this time was roughly equivalent to two days’ wages.

This passage seems to reflect a dilemma of the early Church, in fact, a double dilemma. Should Christians who are Jews continue to pay the temple tax? And, should Christians in general have to pay tax to a pagan government, especially one whose emperor claims to be a deity?

The first dilemma solved itself in time, especially with the destruction of the Temple (which had already taken place when Matthew’s Gospel was written). The second dilemma took longer. The problem seems to have been solved by the principle laid down elsewhere by Jesus:

Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. (Matt 22:21)

We too have to discern what is legitimately required of us by our governments and make our contribution to the needs of our society while, at the same time, not compromising on issues where universal principles of truth and justice are at stake. Civil disobedience is sometimes not only a right, but also a responsibility.

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Monday of Week 19 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Our reading again comes from the second of the three discourses of Moses which form the major part of Deuteronomy. Today’s passage comes from the last part of the discourse. It is a beautiful call for the people of Israel to be filled with the very spirit of their God.

Moses’ question to the people is:

…what does the Lord your God require of you?

He himself gives the beautiful answer:

Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.

He tells them that they are living in a world where everything above, on and below the earth belongs to Yahweh and comes from him:

…heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it…

“Heaven of heavens” is a Hebrew superlative meaning the highest of heavens.

Yet, out of all he has made in his mysterious ways, the Lord “set his heart in love on your ancestors alone”.

He chose their ancestors to be his own in a special way. This love extends to their descendants down to the present day.

The sign of their belonging to God is their circumcision, but they must go further and circumcise their hearts and be resistant to the Lord’s call no longer. Circumcision was the outer sign of belonging to God’s people, but that was not enough. The bonding must reach deep down into the heart. It cannot stop at a merely external physical badge; membership brings spiritual obligations with it.

So, Jeremiah says:

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts… (Jer 4:4)

The “uncircumcised” heart is closed and unreceptive to God’s grace and guidance. Elsewhere the Scripture speaks also of “uncircumcised” ears (Jer 6:10) which are closed to the voice of God and “uncircumcised” lips, which do not speak well.

Moses then gives a wonderful description of God:

…the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.

So the Israelites must imitate their God in loving the stranger, because they themselves were once strangers in Egypt. Here, God asks them to extend their concern beyond their own people.

Their total allegiance must be to this God. He is the one they must fear and serve; to him they must hold firm; in his name only will they make their oaths. He is the one they must praise, the one who did these great and terrible things of which they themselves were witnesses. This can refer to all the wonders that happened before they left Egypt, the happenings at Mount Sinai and the many other signs of God’s power they experienced in their 40 years of wanderings.

And although their ancestors—Jacob and his family—were only 70 persons when they went down to Egypt (as described at the end of Genesis), their numbers are now as many as “the stars in heaven”, thus fulfilling the promise made so long ago to Abraham when his wife was still barren and he had no heir and no prospect of one. Moses is emphasising that their being God’s chosen people is not just a privilege to be exploited, but a responsibility which calls for even greater accountability.

We are moving now into the spirituality of the prophets. In the earlier times of hardship, the Israelites were more concerned with justice for themselves and looking for the end of a life of suffering. Now, with better times, they can begin to look around them, because with better times—as so often happens—comes social inequality.

The emphasis, too, on loving God is moving from focusing on God alone and the observance of law to a greater sensitivity to the needs of those around us, including the total stranger and the outsider. The Gospel will make it abundantly clear that there can be no love of God which does not include loving other people.

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