Preparation for Sunday mass: Matthew 22:15-21

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"

18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.

20 Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?"

21 They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."

- How do those asking Jesus the question tempt him? What is the danger if he gives a negative answer to their question? What is the danger of giving a positive answer?

- What is your answer to Jesus’s question? Whose is the image on the coin on which there is indeed the image of Caesar (the emperor)? Beware: the inscription on the coin identifies Caesar as God saying “Caesar is divine” – is Caesar God? Or is the image and likeness of every human (emperor or subject, rich or poor, man or woman) the image of God in whose likeness the human person was created?

- Is there a separation in the world between what belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar?

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* For an explanation of the Great Advent in the Hebrew speaking communities see here