天主的就應歸還天主

by FLL Editorial Team
2013-06-04

‘Render unto Caesar' by Peter Paul Rubens

‘Render unto Caesar' by Peter Paul Rubens

馬爾谷福音 12:13-17

在耶穌的時代,猶太人被專制的羅馬人統治,他們渴望有位默西亞拯救他們,有如達味王從培肋舍特人手中拯救猶太人一樣。法利塞人和黑落德黨人問耶穌該不該給凱撒納稅,就是要把祂陷於兩難。若祂說該,猶太人會視祂為叛徒;若祂說不該,羅馬人便會逮捕祂。

面對一些人不是出於尋求真理,而是虛偽的以提出問題製造陷阱,耶穌為我們提供了一個很好的示範。祂由被動的一方變成對話的主導者,揭穿他們的真正動機,再以另一條問題回應他們的問題。耶穌的回應:「凱撒的應歸還凱撒,天主的就應歸還天主」重點在於第二句。

耶穌的答案指出人應對政府盡義務,但當政府濫權,踐踏人的尊嚴(亦即冒犯天主)的時候,基督徒必須挺身而出,維護公義。

Mark 12:13-17

In Jesus' time, the Jews lives in the brutal Roman empire. They hoped for the Messiah who would free them from the tyranny, just like how King David freed them from the Philistines. The Pharisees and Herodians put Jesus on the spot by asking Him whether they should pay tax to Caesar. If He said they should, the Jews would see Him as a traitor; otherwise, the Romans would capture Him.

When we come across questions which do not come from a desire to know the truth, we can follow Jesus' example. Instead of letting Himself be controlled, He took charge of the conversation and asked another question instead. In the end, Jesus replied: "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. The punch line lies in the second part.

Jesus shows us that we need to support the infrastructure of the society, but when the government abuses power and attacks human dignity (which offends God), Christians must stand up and defend justice.

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