The Lectionary.
A lectionary is a list of readings. As a spiritual discipline, a person may simply open The Bible at the beginning, and start reading. They might read a chapter or more each day. The weakness of this kind of reading is that it is the reading style of our time, the method for reading a novel, or even a text book. It assumes a narrative thread from beginning to end. However, a text book is often not read from cover to cover. It may be designed as a resource with discrete sections to be consulted at appropriate times.
The Bible is even less novel-like. With 39 "books" in the Hebrew Scriptures, and 27 in the Christian Scriptures, there are multiple authors, times, geographic locations, and theological perspectives represented. This considers only the main collection (Canon) of the books common to most Christian traditions. There are also the books not present in the Hebrew Scriptures or "Old Testament" which are often known as the deutero-canonical books. How does one read all this and make sense of it?
Christian groups have traditionally created lists of texts that are considered important to read. They sketch out some of the key planks of that group's tradition, and its understanding of the Christian faith.
One well known modern lectionary is the Revised Common Lectionary, which is used by many churches world wide. It divides the bible over a three year period, based around the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The readings are chosen to reflect the cycle of church year as it progresses from the hope for a Messiah (Advent), through Christmas, and on to Easter. Each week also has a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Psalms, and from the letters of the New Testament. The Gospel of John is used in each year around the times of the major festivals. There are often readings assigned for special days which do not occur on a Sunday.
Many ministers preach from a lectionary. It provides a discipline which works against the temptation to avoid uncomfortable subjects and concentrate on favourite themes.
A lectionary provides an overview of the Christian tradition. Unfortunately, it also represents a particular theological and historical outlook. Some people point out, for example, that women's stories, often already marginalised in Scripture are further submerged by the RCL . The lectionary is also constructed of short readings, excerpts from the whole, so that some parts of the bible will never be read in public worship under this scheme. It also means that the wider flow of a narrative is interrupted, and perhaps divided in ways never anticipated by the authors. In their own devotions, many people will at least read from the end of the previous week's readings to the end of the designated readings of the current week, in some attempt to overcome this disintegration of the narrative.
A Smart Answer and a Wise Word
Week of October 19
Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 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. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?' But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.' And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?' 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.' When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Take One:
The drama in Matthew' s Jerusalem is getting more serious. The Pharisees and the Herodians are natural enemies. Here we see them combining; Jesus is clearly seen as a bigger threat than their own partisan positions. They come up with a neat ploy to trap him. The style of debate here is not truth seeking, it's trap making. The game strategy is to be the first one to ask the impossible question. If you pay the tax you upset the Jewish purists; if you don't, you get into trouble with the Romans. It's the old "When did you stop pilfering the office stationary?" question.
Effectively, Jesus answers, "I never started."
The answer works because it sidesteps the trap, but also because it is correct; in this life we need to give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's; we have to be a functioning part of society. We also need to pay attention to the things which are ultimate; ie God.
Bill Loader says this "quick witted reply of Jesus bristles with ambiguity in its second part..." It's very easy for us to comfortably assume we can draw a neat line between God and Caesar, except... is not everything God's?
Where Christianity gets into trouble with the State, is that it wants to say the State belongs to God, ultimately. The statement of Jesus here in Matthew, along with Paul's Romans 13 statement "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God." have been infamously used to give the State carte blanche. The prophets and the Christ everywhere fiercely criticize the State when that divinely instituted authority is abused.
Take Two: A Second Look.
"Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius." Jesus, is not carrying the specially minted coin for paying tax to the emperor. One of the Pharisees or Herodians obviously has a denarius. "Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?' They answered, ‘The emperor's.' " The head is that of Caesar Tiberius. The title, not made explicit by Matthew would be "Ti Caesar Divi Aug F Augustus" - "Tiberius, Caesar, worshipful son of the divine Augustus". (Picture)
Why did they leave him and go away? The very coin they were carrying caught them in their own trap. Pretending piety, they themselves were carrying the coin- remember Jesus did not have one- which claimed that the emperor was divine.
Not repeating the title on the coin means we can miss the subtlety of the story. I'm guessing that in an environment where Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Roman army, Matthew didn't feel the need to make his criticism of the Roman state more explicit! There is a further subtlety in the Greek of the original. It does not say "give" (dote). It has Jesus say apodote , "give back". "Give back to Caesar whatever is legally owed to him - but nothing more! Do not give to Caesar what Caesar has no right to demand - divinity, sinlessness, idolatry." (from PIUT)
Andrew Prior
Direct Biblical quotations in this page are taken from The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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