Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's

 

A silver denarius

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?"  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

 

- Luke 20:19–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, while teaching in the temple, Jesus began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

 

 So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?"  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.  My study Bible says that this question on taxation is designed to trap Jesus.  A "yes" answer would turn the Jewish people against Him.  A "no" would bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  His answer is a defeat to their cunning, and it shows that a believer can render to the state its due, while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  As the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, my study Bible tells us, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.

 

 I always find Jesus' assertive rebuffs and answers given to the religious leaders who come to test Him quite intriguing.  This is because they are illuminating as examples of how to respond to those who quiz with the intent of entrapment or denigration of faith.  In our lives, we might find challenges to the things we believe, and often beliefs will be ascribed to us that we don't actually hold.  Similarly to the question in today's reading which is posed to Jesus, we might be offered dilemmas -- and assumptions contained therein -- that don't at all reflect the fullness of our values and beliefs.  In this case, Jesus is openly teaching in the temple, and so He has deliberately come to Jerusalem to make His Triumphal Entry, and to do as He is doing.   Without openly declaring so Himself, He is there in the temple at Jerusalem as a messianic figure.   He has already expressed this in the cleansing of the temple (see this reading).  So, as these men seek to trap Him in a "yes" or "no" answer, Jesus gives us an example of responding to such questions given with these types of motives.  He doesn't accept their dichotomy, the choices offered through the question.  Instead He asserts His own teachings, and does so using the brilliant example of a coin of the realm, a Roman coin printed by the state authority that controls Israel.  To paraphrase His response, "Whose face and inscription are on that coin?," Jesus asks.  Clearly the coin is printed by Ceasar's government, for currency exchange within the Roman system of administration.  Under an emperor such as Caesar, whatever is imprinted with his image or insignia is an extension of himself, his authority, and his power.  But by the same token, as those who are created by God, we also bear an image and inscription within ourselves, and so we belong to God, as my study Bible points out.  In His teaching and His response, Jesus not only refutes without falling into their trap or accepting their potential responses, He also teaches us about who we are.  He gives us a teaching that is essential to Christian faith.  As we are created in the image and likeness of God, and Christ Himself became Incarnate as a human being, so we are saved through His Incarnation in that we are to follow and become like Him -- to grow in that image and inscription of the name of God within us.  For this is eternal salvation, that we may come to dwell with God, and be a part of God's kingdom.  Every ruler, every state, mints coins and currency that bear the stamp of authority and belonging to its realm.  So we also bear God's image.  In this one instant, in these few words directing these men to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's, we receive the gospel message and the power of salvation from our Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  And in the presence of all the people, all these men who seek to entrap Him can do is to marvel at His answer.  Would that we all could be so eloquent, using so few words, as Jesus is, and know what we are to be about as His followers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's

 

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

 

- Luke 20:19–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, after disputing with the religious leaders over His authority regarding His Triumphal Entry, and also to preach and to cleanse the temple, Jesus began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. 

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  This verse refers to Jesus' telling of the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, in yesterday's reading, above.  

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.  My study Bible explains that this question on taxation is a trap designed to catch Jesus one way or the other.  A "yes" answer will turn the Jewish people against Him.  A "no" answer can bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  But the way that He chooses to answer is a defeat of the trap, and those who designed it.  What it shows is that a believer can render the state its due, while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  My study Bible explains that as the coin bears the image of the emperor, and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God, and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises in the instance when the state demands that which is contrary to God.

Jesus' brilliance in dialogue is always striking, and it teaches us something powerful about argument.  As the religious leaders "spar off," so to speak, against Jesus, what we witness is not a battle with munitions and soldiers and armaments of all kinds, but rather a battle for truth.  This is because it is essentially a battle at the deepest levels of human capacity for awareness and understanding, and it's a battle for truth at the deepest root of what truth is.  This is, in effect, a kind of spiritual battle, and it's one where the battleground is hearts and souls and minds.  It is a battle in the place where we are to love God, according to what Jesus has called the "first and great commandment" -- "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  He coupled it with the commandment to love neighbor as oneself, and proclaimed that upon these two hang all the Law and the Prophets.  See Matthew 22:36-40.  But this place of the heart, soul, and mind is the place where this conflict between Christ and the religious leaders is really taking place, and so, at this stage, it takes place in debate, in words, in Christ's expression of the truth that finds loopholes in all of their arguments, and reasons beyond their capacity to grasp in the first place.  This is a battle waged by the very Person who is Logos Himself, and it is a battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of all people.  It is the very thing for which He has come into the world.  It is the light that He has brought into the darkness (John 1:5).  This is a battle for truth of the deepest kind, that lies most deeply within a person and unites a cosmological order.  In the modern world, we are used to the bandied use of words that whittles their meanings down to nothing.  We're used to loose language, that today expresses one thing, and tomorrow another.  We hear theories and slogans of all kinds that are often deceptive -- used to imply conclusions that the words themselves don't actually mean -- or twisted meanings that seem to link a political or social movement with some "good" things we know from the past, but used in fact to contradict the very things the words refer to.  If equality once implied a democratic meritocracy, or the measure of a person based on the content of their character, today we might hear slogans and theories claiming to be democratic but demeaning the whole concept of character at all.  Such assertions have even been made supposedly while evoking great figures of the past whose very words extolled the virtue of character as measure of a person, while effectively denouncing that very thing for which they advocated.  When language is used in such way for manipulation -- effectively telling lies in order to coerce others to follow for another's political or social gain -- then truth is absent.  It is a way to mess with hearts and souls and minds, and to destroy meaning itself.  But Christ is the Logos:  He is the spoken truth, the word, the logic and reason, the wisdom, the One who puts things in order and gives us the things of God that form the deepest substance of truth and reality.  Jesus says of Himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  And in this debate in the temple what we have is essentially the Logos who comes into the world and teaches the truths that we need to hear.  He evades the traps of the religious leadership by brilliantly staking out His own ground upon which this battle takes place:  there is another way to answer the question which they can't possibly anticipate.  Let us note that for every parry and thrust of these debates in the temple, all the people are listening.  They are the ones whose hearts and minds and souls form the real battleground where this challenge for truth takes place.  It is Jesus who has taught us that to know the truth makes us free (John 8:32), and we must also carefully understand its opposite:  those who seek to mislead, to twist meaning beyond its truth, to misuse meanings and language, always seek to make others slaves in some sense.  One popular term for performed magic on a stage is "sleight of hand," and the manipulation of words is used in this same way, to distract from what is really happening.  If it is the truth that makes us free, it is clearly lies that bind us in chains and keep us in darkness, so that we cannot make choices which are best for us.  This is why we trust in Christ, the Logos, who comes into the world to bring us light and truth so that we are no longer slaves to that which seeks to manipulate, to lie, to coerce, and to make us servants to that which only seeks its own power, and not the well-being and welfare of human beings that Christ the Physician -- the One being condemned for healing on the Sabbath -- brings to us.  He is the One who has declared that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).  This is the One who proclaims the reality of God -- who is love, and healing, and the bedrock of truth; He is the One in whom we can trust.  My study bible explains that Logos can mean "wisdom," "reason," and "action" as well as "word," and all of these are attributes of the Son of God.  He speaks to us the realities of the Father (John 14:7), teaching us the truth that we are loved, worthy of salvation and effort of all kind to heal and to retrieve in loving embrace of our Creator.  Let us put our trust in Him, even when -- and especially then -- when all else seems designed to confuse and distract.  For worship belongs only to God, and all else is a false idol.

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's

 

Peter Paul Rubens, The Tribute Money, ca 1612.  Legion of Honor Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. 

 

- Luke 20:19–26 

 

 In Luke's Gospel, we are now reading through the events of Holy Week.   As He taught in the temple daily, He was questioned by the scribes and chief priests and elders of the temple as to His authority for His ministry and preaching.  Yesterday we read that He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

 

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.   If we look at yesterday's reading, we see that Jesus has just told a parable against these rulers of the temple, even a threat -- that the owner of the vineyard will destroy the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others (see the parable in yesterday's reading, above).  It is clearly understood by these rulers that it was told against their leadership, and in the public hearing of the people.  So they begin to plot against Him.  Their plan is to find a way to deliver Christ to the power and authority of the governor; that is, the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate.  We could surmise that because of the people and their feelings toward both John the Baptist and Jesus as holy men, these rulers do not want to have Jesus' death on their hands in an obvious way.  So they seek to "set Him up," so to speak, in a way that will have the Roman state execute Him.

Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?  This is a question which is designed to trap Jesus.  Taxation was compulsory to the Roman state.  If Jesus answers "Yes" then it would turn the people against Him.  If He answers "No" it will bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  Christ's answer, according to my study bible, defeats their cunning and also shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  As the coin which Jesus demands be shown bears the image of the emperor, and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises, my study bible says, when the state demands that which is contrary to God.

The painting shown at the top of today's reading and commentary is called "The Tribute Money."  It is by Peter Paul Rubens, and was painted on or around the year 1612.   Since 1944, the original has hung in the Palace of the Legion of Honor, one of the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco, California.  I first saw it in the vestment room at the California Mission in Carmel, California, just off the beautiful Basilica, which also is a shrine to St. Junipero Serra.  Each time I return to this beautiful Mission I am struck by the painting, and it intrigued me more every time I saw it.   Clearly it is a copy, but I wondered why it was there and who put it there.  There is a beautiful icon, Byzantine in origin, of Mary the Mother of God, titled in the Roman Catholic tradition Our Mother of Perpetual Help.  In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, this icon is titled Theotokos Amolyntos.  Theotokos in Greek means "God-Bearer."  Amolyntos means "without taint" or "spotless" indicating her purity.  In the Eastern tradition, it is an icon of the Passion.  (Here is an interesting history of the tradition of this icon.)   A beautiful icon in a passage right next to the Basilica is something marvelous to contemplate and to pray with.  But entering into the vestment room, and turning around, one sees above the door the painting of Rubens.  Each time I visited the Mission I pondered why it was there.  Certainly in their role as missionaries, the mission fathers must have struggled with the demands of the Spanish state and military, especially as regarded their charges, the Native Americans of California.  And therein one can understand the reminder, as the priest prepared himself in the vestments for services, of the depth of choice that was always standing before them.  To whom does the soul belong?   What are the things that are Caesar's, and what are the things that are God's?  This no doubt was a clear struggle for these men of God who also had to work with the demands of the state -- including the demands for taxes, whatever the productivity of the missions.  I am no expert on this history, but I think the painting gives us a hint of the struggles of the mission fathers.  Since it appears now just above the door inside the vestment room, one presumes it was there for the private contemplation of the priest, the struggle in his own mission for those who were in his care.  The long turbulent history of colonization -- even across the world and in and by various countries -- is a subject which holds this question wherever it has taken place.  In films and literature, we find a varied representation of the struggles of pastors for their flocks, and the demands of the state.  That would include varied denominations of the Church, and also varied states, languages, governing systems, and militaries, and on different continents.  (For fictional representations more or less based on history one can read a novel from Nigeria, titled "Things Fall Apart," by China Achebe; or view a film called "The Mission" set in South America.)  Many modern, or one might say fashionable, political theories are quick to dismiss the sincerity of the Spanish mission fathers, but I am not one who ascribes to such thinking.  I am inclined to believe that theirs was a mission of faith and self-sacrifice for the love of God and love of their charges -- and also that their conflict with the demands of the state was real. Eventually, the missions would be secularized, and put under complete control of the military.   This was also not unusual for many colonies of different origin.  But this question Christ asks remains real for all of us now as well.  Then and now, the struggle between the demands of the state and our loyalty to and love of God remains with us.  Christ posed this question in this way not simply to defeat the machinations of those who wanted to entrap Him, but in order to expose the deeper layers and complexities of life in the world, life for His Church, and for those who would follow.  How are we in the world, but not of it?  How do we care both for our own souls and for the souls of others, and make decisions accordingly?  Everything belongs to God, for all of life is a gift of God, but where do our duties to the state lie, and where do they end?  I was grateful to see this painting at the mission, and understand the struggles of the fathers.  The state and its organization may change with the times and the place, but the struggle for faith remains the same, even as the demands of our secular communities and governments will change and differ from place to place and time to time.  Let us also, like the fathers, remember this question every day.

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

- Luke 20:19-26

Yesterday we read that Jesus the people this parable in the temple at Jerusalem:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  The lectionary repeats this verse from yesterday's reading (above).  We understand the motivation of those who wish to trap Jesus into giving an answer for which they can arrest Him.  And, on the other hand, we know that the people wish to hear Jesus teach.

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  This is an affirmation of the verse before it, but with elaboration.  There are spies who pretended to be righteous.  They want to seize on His words, and deliver Him to the power and authority of the governor; that is, to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.  Here's a question designed to trap Jesus so that either He may be reported to the Roman governor, or so that the people will turn against Him.  A "yes" answer would turn the Jewish people against Him.   A "no" answer means a charge of treason can be brought against Him to the Roman governor.  But instead, His answer defeats both outcomes.  It shows that a believer can render the state its due while also serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  My study bible says that as the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.

Jesus' truth works in particular ways.  A question that is designed to trap Him simply doesn't work, because He won't allow His truth to be subverted by false distortions.  For Christ, there is no conflict between living in the world and worshiping God.  There is only conflict when we feel we must choose between one and the other -- or worse, when we substitute one for the other.  To pay taxes to Caesar, even when Caesar was a despised figure by the Jews, was not in conflict with worshiping God.  Caesar had his own system of necessary taxes, just as any other government does.  But paying those taxes does not mean that our heart does not belong to God.  More importantly, those who would distort the doctrine of Christianity into a dire system of conflict between living a life as a human being and as a "spiritual" being are not upholding Christ's point of view.  And let us clearly understand from Christ's example that political parties and movements do not stand in as substitutes for faith in God nor worship practices.  Fully human and fully God, Jesus lives in the world to teach us how to be like Him, how to love God and be fully human at the same time, loving the creation given to us by the Creator, being good stewards of our world.  There is not meant to be a conflict between a material life and a spiritual life; the body itself is seen as a wholistic part of spirit and soul.  Indeed, practices like fasting are meant to teach us this; they offer the body as part of spiritual practice, not as something "bad" or "evil."  To fast is simply to make a choice, to assert loyalty to God over and above all else.  Such a practice is not meant to be severe and punishing, but rather to be "for" the body.  In fact, recent studies on methods of fasting (used, say, as diets, and not as spiritual practice)  conclude that fasting in some sense resets the body, and in particular the brain.  Our body begins to gear itself in different ways, actually activating the growth of neurons, synapses, and new neural connections in the brain, thus potentially improving memory and brain function in ways that may impact all aspects of life.  In fact, those who study this particular field for dietary purposes suggest (among other options) what they call a 5:2 diet; that is, a normal diet 5 days a week, and a restricted diet 2 days per week. This is identical to the tradition of fasting in the ancient church on Wednesdays and Fridays.  (Let us note that for religious purposes we speak of fasting as restriction from certain foods, not elimination of eating altogether.  These studies also suggest simply restricting total food intake on the 2 days, not eliminating food altogether.)  Another suggestion made by such studies is limiting eating to a particular window of time during the day, similar to routine practices in many monasteries.  Since prayer, fasting, and almsgiving have always been meant to go together in religious teaching, one thing we may conclude from these recent scientific studies is that, in fact, fasting really does help us grow spiritually when accompanied with prayer and almsgiving, done for the purpose of strengthening our relationship with God.  If the brain is "primed" in some sense for better function and memory, then how does prayer truly deepen within us - as those proponents of Prayer of the Heart have always taught -- when aided by fasting?   As Jesus Himself has implied, fasting can function as assistance to effective prayer.  Real fasting, in fact, in the sight of the church, is abstention from sin; fasting from food is a discipline to help teach us choice and self-mastery.  In this way, we can begin to understand the truth that our faith and our worldly lives are meant to go hand in hand.  Contrary to the picture presented to Christ of the choice to be made by His false questioners, Jesus' transcendent way of teaching that God is always in our hearts, even as we live our lives in the world, is the truth that we need for a truly good life.  Christ shows us that we are meant to live full lives, but within the overarching umbrella of a dedication to God, and this is the way that we must see the thrust of our faith and the kinds of choices we are called upon to make.  Do not be taken in by those who may suggest dire dilemmas to us, or worldly circumstances in which we are torn from our faith.  Christ has a way -- the way, the truth, and the life.  Let us find it through prayer and by His grace, even through a decidedly fallen world that will frequently offer us false dilemmas.