In Whose Image?

Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the blessings of this liturgical year has been our opportunity to spend time with Saint Paul. Today we begin reading from First Thessalonians, which is generally considered to be Paul's earliest surviving letter and probably the earliest book of the New Testament. Before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote their Gospels, Paul was already writing to Christian communities such as the one in Thessalonica.

That means when we hear these opening words, we are listening to some of the earliest Christian writing ever put on paper.

What is striking is how Paul begins. He does not start with rules or theology. He begins with gratitude. "We give thanks to God always for all of you." He sees in the Thessalonians a community alive with faith, love, and hope. Paul recognizes that the Gospel has taken root in them and is shaping their lives.

That insight helps us understand today's Gospel.

The Pharisees and Herodians approach Jesus with what they think is the perfect trap. If he says that taxes should be paid to Caesar, many of the people will be offended. If he says they should not be paid, he can be accused of rebellion against Rome.

Jesus responds by asking for a coin.

There is a delicious irony here. Faithful Jews exchanged Roman currency for acceptable Temple coinage before making offerings because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar and inscriptions that attributed divine honors to him. Yet when Jesus asks for a coin, his opponents are able to produce one immediately. In trying to expose Jesus, they end up exposing themselves. By carrying that coin, they are breaking the very first commandment whch prohibits graven images.

Then Jesus asks the decisive question: "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"

"Caesar's."

"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

The coin bears Caesar's image, so it belongs to Caesar. But every human person bears God's image and therefore belongs to God.

That is where the Gospel and Paul's letter meet.

The reading from Isaiah and the Psalm response prepare us for this discussion of “image.” Isaiah and the psalm both invite us to a larger vision of God. God is not confined to the boundaries of one nation, one people, or one moment of history. The Lord is at work even through rulers who do not recognize that divine presence. That is why Jesus can speak so calmly about Caesar. Earthly powers have their place, but they are never ultimate. Only God is Lord, and every human life finds its deepest meaning in belonging to God whose image we carry within us.

Paul looks at the Christians in Thessalonica and sees people in whom God's image is becoming visible through faith, love, and hope. He is grateful not simply for what they believe but for who they are becoming through the grace of Christ.

The same question comes to us today. We know whose image was stamped on the coin. The more important question is whose image is being revealed in us.

After a lifetime of discipleship, that is still the essential question. When others encounter us, do they see only our opinions, our accomplishments, and our possessions? Or do they see something of Christ's faith, Christ's hope, and Christ's love?

Paul gave thanks because the image of God was shining forth in the Thessalonians. May the same be true of us, so that our lives proclaim that we belong not to Caesar, nor to the passing things of this world, but to the God whose image we bear and whose love has claimed us as his own.