Scripture Sunday: Climate Justice Amid Caesar

by Ashtyn Adams

Matthew 22:15-22 (NRSV)
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 Caesar 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, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

Jesus was a poor Jew. I must remind myself of this essential, historical fact when seeking an interpretive framework for Matthew 22:15-22. It is difficult to cast aside the moral nugget I have heard extracted from this chapter again and again: spanning from a “neutral” position of separation of church and state to a loyal, unquestioned support of the government. Yet, as the Psalm of this week’s lectionary text says, “Sing to the Lord a new song” (Ps 96:1). Jesus’ world was not mine, there was no protection or privilege as a white, middle-class American citizen. He could not have compartmentalized so easily. Nor would it be in his character to placate the powerful. Jesus was part of a minority group under Roman control, with a loss of status and freedom. As Howard Thurman (leading Black American theologian, mystic, and activist of the 20th century) in Jesus and the Disinherited has pointed out, it is “utterly fantastic to assume that Jesus grew to manhood untouched by the surging currents of common life that made up the climate of Palestine.” Here, one of those key currents is on display, the question of Roman taxation. It is ultimately a question of the disinherited, “under what terms is survival possible?” Survival not just in physical terms, but culturally, how to exist as an isolated, faithful unit amid the Hellenized world. Rome was everywhere, and the urgent question of Jewish attitude towards Rome fell into the general categories of resistance or assimilation.

Within chapter 15 of Matthew, the Herodians represent the position of assimilation. They were followers of King Herod, who forfeited signs of Jewishness to the dominant Roman group, and sought to restore a Herod to the throne in Judea. The Pharisees are also present in the text, who, in contrast, strictly maintained their Jewish identity and customs and sought to restore the kingdom of David. Yet, they took no stance of active resistance against Rome, merely held them in contempt. Aware of the lively debate, the Herodians and Pharisees try to entrap Jesus with the question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” The coinage brought out in the story would not only bear the emperor's face but also the title of divinity. Jesus’ response to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God’s brings to the surface the question of lordship. I think Jesus’ response was one which held up a mirror to both groups, whom he calls “hypocrites,” and can hold one up to us as well in the Anthropocene. ​

What belongs to Tiberius Caesar, an emperor divinizing himself, is supposed to be a claim on everything. Yet, as this week’s Psalm reminds us, God is “above all gods,” and to be revered among “all the earth.” Jesus does not deny the reality of human institutions and our involvement in them, for even the Pharisees who regarded the Roman empire as unjust and idolatrous still used Roman coins. We too are caught up in systems we often wish we weren’t. Despite decrying environmental degradation, I am not innocent and contribute to it daily. Yet, there remains the question of giving to God what is God’s. And what is God’s except everything: our praise, speech, songs, actions, and advocacy among the nations (Ps 96:10). ​

Jesus’ response to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God’s brings to the surface the question of lordship. I think Jesus’ response was one which held up a mirror to both groups, whom he calls “hypocrites,” and can hold one up to us as well in the Anthropocene. ​

How we engage and work for justice in the affairs of the world will undoubtedly bring us into conflict with the powers and structures of Empire. Jesus never established a sense of well-being based on civil guarantees though. Living in the system while trying to challenge the system required the Gospel message, that “the Kingdom of God is within,” that Jesus came to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim the release of captives, to recover the site of the blind, to set the oppressed free (Luke 4:18). Today, if we believe that we follow a living God, there is no good news to the poor that does not include climate justice, since the poor are the first to face the consequences of extreme weather patterns, unclean air and harmful food. The land can also be categorized as one among the oppressed, facing violent agricultural and living practices. These transgressions are of Caesar. Our American gods lure us into more consumption, more greed, more hostility, more colonizing attitudes. They demand we pay tribute to them, and we often do. Yet, I believe the dualism of church and state and religion and politics, which is often read into this text, is mute. Jesus challenges us to see God as all in all, to see the futility of Caesar and how caught up we are in the logic of Empire. As Thurman so poignantly concluded in his chapter Jesus–An Interpretation, “The basic principles of his way of life cut straight to the despair of his fellows and found it groundless. By inference, he says, ‘You must abandon your fear of each other and fear only God. You must not indulge in any deception and dishonesty, even to save your lives. Your words must be Yea-Nay; anything else is evil. Hatred is destructive to hated and hater alike. Love your enemy, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.” ​

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Ashtyn Adams is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries. Ashtyn earned her B.A. in Religion from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Divinity at Duke University.

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