What if Jesus never said to give to Caesar?

[Ordnael]

What if Jesus never said to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar?

Since the Bible was edited by the Romans, it is very convenient to them that Jesus did not oppose the paying of taxes.

He often instructed his disciples to give to the poor, to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless, and also told them that it is difficult for a rich person to enter heaven, so why would he agree to enrich even more those who are already rich and submit to them?

In nature it is the rich Earth that supplies for its poor creatures. He once said to his disciples not to worry about ever being in need:

36. Jesus said, "Do not fret, from morning to evening and from evening to morning, [about your food--what you're going to eat, or about your clothing--] what you are going to wear. [You're much better than the lilies, which neither card nor spin.

If a lion ordered all the animals of the jungle to offer part of their food to him, would it be right or an abuse of power? It is a contradiction of Christian teachings!

Jesus instructs the rich to give to the poor without vanity or interest:

95. [Jesus said], "If you have money, don't lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won't get it back."

So everyone must obey and follow Him except for Caesar and his tax collectors, who are allowed to demand money from Jesus and His poor followers?

"But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

Why would he be worried about offending them? He came from heaven to offer Salvation to humanity and is now concerned about not offending the greedy rulers of this planet? That instruction must be a joke, maybe people were throwing their money away in the sea (like ancient philosopher Crates of Tebes) and the fishes were eating it, so he made an inside joke about it with his friends.

[Miss Hepburn]

Hi,
I would think he said it to save their lives? Pay your taxes here while on earth, iow, follow your country's laws.

You follow the policy on earth and then you follow the policy for
the Kingdom of Heaven, as I see it.

And he didn't make any huge point about about giving $ to the poor, as I recall, one time to one rich guy...
but first he said follow the commandants, which the man did...so 2nd -
he then said to THAT one man,
knowing his attachment to his wealth, to give it all away.

I'm no Bible expert - this is what I rem. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[inavalan]

Paying Taxes to Caesar
(Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26)

15 Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
16 They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.
17 So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?
19 Show Me the coin used for the tax.”

And they brought Him a denarius.a

20 “Whose image is this,” He asked, “and whose inscription?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they answered.

So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

22 And when they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.

It seems that JC meant:

Give the money owed to Caesar, but your faith to God.

[Ordnael]

I'm not a Bible expert either, this link (https://www.openbible.info/topics/jesus_and_the_poor) may help, though:

Proverbs 22:16 ESV
Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Luke 14:13 ESV
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

Proverbs 28:27 ESV
Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

Luke 3:11 ESV
And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”


Give nothing to Caesar, I say, give it to the needy instead, that's what charity is all about. How dare people equate Caesar with Jesus and God, causing him to compete with Christ's divine authority!

Jesus was harsh to a man who wanted to bury his deceased father, urging him to leave everything behind and follow him, yet he asks his disciples to excuse their saintly duties for a moment to go get money to pay the tax-collectors. That's ludicrous.

Another of His disciples requested, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father. But Jesus told him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." (Matthew 8:21-22)

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Ordnael

Luke 3:11 ESV
And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him
who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

I especially liked this one - I was not familiar with the wording from the ESV. Thank you, m'dear.

[Ordnael]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I especially liked this one - I was not familiar with the wording from the ESV. Thank you, m'dear.

You're very welcome :)

This one is good too

Mark 14:7 ESV
For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.

I think Jesus is addressing that age old quandary that we face between the needs we have to meet when living life as part of that proverbial food chain, and following the principals of our beliefs, ethics, and morals.
The physical world and societies we live in often make many demands of us. If we were to strictly follow the tenets of our faith or morals, we might end up in jail for not paying our taxes to an immoral state like Henry David Thoreau (or of course much worse things can happen). It is a dilemma in life we all must find our balance in.

Arjuna faced a similar dilemma in the Bhagavad Gita when he was faced with going to fight a war for justice against his own kinsmen. The advice given by Krishna is similar the the advice given by Christ. Live your life, do what you feel is right and what you must, but always know that you do not know what is ultimately right and what the fruits of ones actions may be. Do your labors in life, but surrender the fruits of those labors over to God. In all things you do, keep God in your mind. Give Cesar his taxes if you feel you must, but give your mind over to God.

Inside each of us there is both Pi and a tiger.
In life, we must find a way to accommodate both, as they depend on each other to survive the journey.

.

[Ordnael]

Yes, good points. We must not forget then that by following society's laws we're acting under the premise that it will prevent us from getting in trouble, however, no human ruler can guarantee that no ill befalls us for obeying them.

We thus enter the domain of the supernatural, whereas by pleasing God we are blessed by good fortune, and by displeasing we invite misfortune into our lives.

Originally Posted by Ordnael

Yes, good points. We must not forget then that by following society's laws we're acting under the premise that it will prevent us from getting in trouble, however, no human ruler can guarantee that no ill befalls us for obeying them.

We thus enter the domain of the supernatural, whereas by pleasing God we are blessed by good fortune, and by displeasing we invite misfortune into our lives.

The problem is that it is hard to know exactly what pleases God as there are so many different voices telling us what that is, and more often then not, it turns out that what those voices really want is that we should please them. Not to mention that what seems life fortune often turns out to be misfortune and vice versa.

I like to think that if I am doing my best to do what I believe is right, because I believe it is the right thing to do, then that will please God. It is more important why I do what I do, then what I actually do. If it turns out to be wrong, then I can learn, but if I only act from a selfish desire for rewards from God, then my fruits will all be rotten from the start.

"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit."

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by ketzer

The problem is that it is hard to know exactly what pleases God as there are so many different voices telling us what that is, and more often then not, it turns out that what those voices really want is that we should please them. Not to mention that what seems life fortune often turns out to be misfortune and vice versa.

I like to think that if I am doing my best to do what I believe is right, because I believe it is the right thing to do, then that will please God. It is more important why I do what I do, then what I actually do. If it turns out to be wrong, then I can learn, but if I only act from a selfish desire for rewards from God, then my fruits will all be rotten from the start.

"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit."

Sometimes it appears most have never really studied the Bible.

In some cases, they go to Google and relate what somebody else has posted, which may just be flat out wrong.

Knowing the major themes of the Bible and then the minor themes will put a person on a course approving with God.