Is There Anything That Doesn't Have the Mark of God?

And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesars.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Matthew 22:20-21

An older sibling sees a younger sibling with something that he/she wants.  Having become wiser in the ways of the world, the older sibling says, "I'll flip you for it, Heads I win, Tails you lose.  If I win, I get what you have, if you win, what do you want?"

The younger child thinks of something that he/she wants, decides that the arrangement is fair, and agrees.  The flip is made.  Of course, no matter which way the coin drops, the younger sibling loses.... and gains wisdom.

Jesus has been preaching, teaching and healing for about 3 years now. Large crowds have gathered to listen to Him and there was beginning to be talk about making Him the new king of Israel.

He could inspire huge crowds with His words. He could feed thousands with very little food.

He could heal the sick, the lame and the insane. And He had the power to even raise people from the dead. If Jesus were their King, there’d be no power on earth that could stand against Israel. Not even the hated Romans could hold them back. Israel would once again become a great nation.

But there was a problem: the job of King was already taken. Judea already had a King and that king’s name was Herod (the King who’d executed John Baptist).

Herod’s followers were called Herodians and they wanted Herod as their king, not Jesus.

So, these Herodians conspired with the Pharisees to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people. They approached Jesus and asked: “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

Now, what’s odd about this question is that it was posed by a group of Pharisees and Herodians. The Pharisees hated Rome and claimed it was heresy to pay Roman taxes.

And the Herodians wanted better relations with Rome and approved Roman taxation.

The only reason they joined forces was because they both hated Jesus and wanted Him destroyed. The question they posed calls for a yes or no answer.”

But Jesus refuses to play the game. He doesn’t answer their question; at least not in the way they want. Instead he deepens the question and turns it into a question of faith and life. If the coin belongs to the emperor then the human being belongs to God. Each has been marked with the image of its owner. We have been coined in the image of God. Every Holy Communion in the fourth blessing we are reminded that we are sealed with the seal of Holy Baptism and are marked as Christ’s own forever.”

Jesus gave the perfect comeback answer, "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."  Many have used Jesus' statement as the justification for the separation of church and state.  However, Jesus answer was as wily as the question that the Pharisees had put to him.

In truth, everything is God's.  There is nothing that we can name that has not come to us from God's creation. Whose image is it? By asking them that question Jesus is trying to get them to know that they as an individual are more precious than the money that they are involved in. You are precious because in you is the image of God.

The French philosopher Pascal said that there is a "God-shaped vacuum" inside every human heart. Since nature abhors a vacuum, if we don't fill it with God, we will fill it with something else. So many of us have filled our hearts with the junk food of the world. No wonder we are so unhappy. No wonder we jump from one job to another and from relationship to another.

Sixteen hundred years ago Saint Augustine explained both the problem and the solution: "O God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you."

We will never be happy until we put God first in your life. And we can never do that until we surrender our life to Jesus Christ once and for all.

This Lenten season can we give to God the things that are God's.  We actually do not own anything, we are the managers, the stewards of God's things.  God has put us in charge.  He wants us to use his things, but in appropriate ways, in ways that please Him.

May God help us to do the same. God Bless you.