Nobody likes to pay taxes. That was as true for people in Jesus’ time as it is today. The Pharisees tried to get Jesus to take sides about the taxes the Jews paid to the Romans who occupied their land. Jesus asked to see the coin used to pay taxes, and someone in the group gave him one to examine. Jesus asked whose image was on the coin. They told him it was Caesar’s image. Jesus then uttered the now famous line: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” This principle teaches us all how to obey both civil and religious laws and asks us to take a good look at where our first allegiance lies when the laws are in conflict.
Since the Sunday Gospel is the heart of the Gospel Weeklies, an important part of preparing to share the Gospel with children is to read and reflect on it in advance of your class session. The Gospel at Home and The Gospel for All Ages (see Gathering Rituals/Questions) are resources on our website that can help you do this.
If you enjoyed the summer reflections by Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings, please consider subscribing to this resource.
Image credit: Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons
