Ned Netterville

2016-01-02 18:55:54 -0500

Bemused, thanks for graciously responding.



First an explanation for my unintended hypocrisy. In my intitial comment I mistakenly put my own words in quotation marks implying—accidentally—that they were Jesus’ words and doing exactly what I was chastising Jeffress for doing. My bad. But let me try again and see if I can get it right. Jeffress said, "…he (Jesus) also said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” In other words, support government with your taxes because they have a legitimate function.



My point was that Jesus neither said nor meant anything like “support your government with your taxes,” Actually, quite the opposite, rather what Jesus said is what he meant, and there is no need for “in other words” because his words are unmistakably clear and precise. He said exactly what he meant and he meant exactly what he said. He said, “Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” and he said nothing more than that, nothing less than that, nothing but that, and his words, cannot be misinterpreted by a rational mind; cannot possibly mean pay your taxes. If that was what Jesus meant, he could and would have said so. Therein lie the stark brilliance of his reply, because what he said would have been readily understood by most Jews who witnessed the incident.



Jesus’ response, “Give Caesar what is his,” requires that we know what belongs to God and Caesar respectively, or rather what Jesus thought belonged to each. And since Jesus repeatedly justified his teaching and actions by reference to Sacred Jewish Scripture, I think it is safe to say the division of property between God and Caesar was to Jesus as it is stated at least five times in Scripture, such as in Psalm 24 verse 1: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything it it,” which leaves nothing for poor old Caesar. Most Jews would not have been fooled, as those duplicitous spies were, by what Jesus said and meant, to wit: THEY (most of his listeners would have known he had told the spies to give Caesar nothing.



My understanding of Jesus’ take on taxes and human government does not depend on this one incident recorded in three of the four canon Gospels. I have consulted the Gnostic gospels as well. My understanding is based on everything he is reported to have said or done regarding taxes and tax collectors in those sources.



During the 33 years I have spent studying the Gospels, I have not, as you suggest consulted "all the versions of the Holy Bible, but primarily regarding the New Testament I have consulted many. And whenever I need to check something quickly, I usually use the Internet resource, biblegateway.com., which makes over 50 versions available on line. I often do check several versions. My favoriet is The New Living Translation, because the authors/editors must have a worldview somewhat similar to my own.



If you think I have twisted anything Jesus said or did to fit my agenda I would appreciate it if you pointed that out. I do wholeheartedly concur with a comment made by Albert Schweitzer in his THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS , that anyone who writes of the life of Jesus invariably reveals more about him or herself than about Jesus.



I also appreciate you calling attention to my near-invective in my comment(s). I’m a recovering snark-a-holic trying to live up to Jesus’ instructions to love my neighbor as myself, but I fall short as often as not.



P.S. The letter from Rabbi Roth is my fictional creation. It is based on an exegesis of Romans 13:1-7 by a friend of mine in NZ, although David got the ironic interpretation from someone else whose name escapes me. Unfortunately, I left out an explanatory paragraph—also fiction. Here it is:



This letter was sent by Rabbi Roth to the members of his synagogue in Stuttgart from a Nazi “labor” camp" shortly after he was arrested as an enemy of the state for his rather open condemnation of Hitler and the Nazis. The letter was, of course, opened and read before it was allowed to be sent, but given the content it received the approval of the prison-camp’s Gestpo censors.



It was seen immediately by all but one of the members of his synagogue for the irony that it was meant to be, and it led many of the members to do exactly the opposite of what the Rabbi seemed to be directing them to do, knowing the opposite is what he really wanted of them. Resistance to taxes was higher among members of his synagogue than anywhere in Germany, and many went to their deaths for resisting Hitler’s taxes. The one member who took his letter at face value was Ike Z. When the letter was read to him he took it to heart and immediately joined the Nazi Party. However, when it was discovered that he was a Jew, the Gestapo assumed he had joined in order to spy on Party members, and he was immediately shot dead.



Ajoy filled New Year to you too.

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