This Sunday we celebrate the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We are now just a few Sundays from the beginning of the new Liturgical Year. The theme of the readings this week is the idea of God as the Lord of History. God uses the events of human history in accomplishing His plans for His people. The first reading provides a prophetic view of Cyrus as the one called by God to conquer Babylon and free the Jewish people so that they could return to Israel. Paul’s letter gives a vivid picture of a community living the life of Christ in the real world. In the gospel Jesus speaks to the issue of our dual role as citizens of an earthly state and citizens of the heavenly kingdom. This would be a good time to ask ourselves several questions: Do I see God as the Lord of my own personal history? Do I not see Him there because He is not there or because I chose not to look for Him? What are the things of God that I have refused to give to God? To what extent are faith, love and hope present in my everyday life?

First Reading: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6

1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
Subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
Opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:

2 I will go before you
and level the mountains;
Bronze doors I will shatter,
and iron bars I will snap.

3 I will give you treasures out of the darkness,
and riches that have been hidden away,
That you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.]

4 For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.

5 I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,

6 so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
men may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.

NOTES on First Reading:

* 45:1 The Cyrus spoken of here is Cyrus II the Great, who founded the Persian Empire. In 539 B.C., he conquered the Babylonians who had defeated the Jews 50 years earlier and had taken many of them into captivity.
Anointed is, in Hebrew, meshiah, which is where the word “Messiah” is derived. Its Greek translation is Christos, from which we have the name “Christ.” The term , “anointed” as applied to kings originally referred only to the kings of Israel, but here it is given to Cyrus because he is the agent of the Lord. This is the only time in the Old Testament where a foreigner is called the Lord’s “anointed.” The term was also used for prophets and priests. Expansion of this idea of persons as agents of God may be the beginnings of the later usage of the word by when persons with a particular mission were spoken of as having been “anointed” for that mission.
The coronation of Babylonian kings included a ceremony in which the new king grasped the hand of the Babylonian patron god, Bel-Marduk. Here the prophet envisions Yahweh grasping Cyrus’ hand and recognizing him as a legitimate king to preside over the restoration of Israel. Cyrus later would somewhat shock the prophet by grasping the hand of Bel-Marduk and declaring in the name of Bel-Marduk that the Jews were to be allowed to return to Israel.

* 45:2-3 The verses in brackets are left out of the reading. I include them here for completeness.

* 45:2 The phrase, “level the mountains,” is meant to compare the march of Cyrus to the Exodus (40:3-4). Bronze doors refers to the gates of Babylon. The Greek historian, Herodotus, recorded 100 bronze gates in Babylon.

* 45:4 God was seen as causing all the various forces of history to converge in such a way as to do good for His people. The far more powerful kingdoms and nations were all acting out their own histories but the real purpose for it all was to provide for the preservation and restoration of the small captive nation of Israel.

* 45:6 This is one of the early prophecies that the Gentiles will come to know the true God. See also 45:20-25.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly 3 calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, 4 knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and (with) much conviction. [You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake.]

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 1 Thessalonians is the oldest book of the New Testament, probably dating from the early months of 51 A.D. Paul is writing to the church of Thessalonica which consisted of a group of converts from paganism. He had been with them for just three months, when he was suddenly forced to leave due to a riot.(Acts 17:1-10) Being very concerned for the newly formed Christian community, Paul sent Timothy there to strengthen them. The letter was written after Timothy had come back from the visit with a positive report about the state of the church there.

* 1:1 In Paul’s letters the greeting (technically called the praescriptio) follows a standard form which is based upon the common Greco-Roman epistolary practice of the time although he adds Semitic and specifically Christian elements. The three basic components of the greeting which are usually present are:
name of sender, (In identifying himself, Paul often adds phrases to describe his apostolic mission.) name of addressee, (He often associates co-workers with himself in the greeting such as Silvanus.) greeting. (In stead of the standard secular greeting which was the infinitive chairein, “greetings,” Paul uses the similar-sounding charis, “grace,” along with the Semitic greeting salom (Greek eirene), “peace.” These gifts were foreshadowed in God’s dealings with Israel (see Numbers 6:24-26) and have been poured out abundantly in Christ, so Paul wishes them to his readers.)

* 1:2-3 Paul’s thanksgiving is expressed in formal prayers where God’s name is invoked. In his prayer Paul commemorates the active faith, manifested love and steady hope of the Thessalonian community. Paul believes that the Christian life of the Thessalonians is lived out under the providence of God.

* 1:2 In the Paul’s Greek text verses 2 through 5 all form one long sentence. Paul expresses thanks addressed to God the Father (usually designated as He is here, by the personal name , “Ho theos”). The reason for his thanks is the reception of the gospel by the Thessalonians.

* 1:3 Along with 1 Thes 5:8, this is the earliest mention in Christian literature of the three “theological virtues” (see 1 Cor 13:13). The order used here is probably meant to stress the eschatological virtue of hope. This would be in line with the letter’s emphasis on the Lord’s second, triumphal coming, or parousia (1 Thes 10; 2:12,19; 3:13; 4:13-5:11; 5:23).

* 1:4 Paul’s manner of addressing them indicates a special affection for them. The word, “adelphos” or “brethren,” is used 19 times in 1 Thes. Paul uses the language that the Old Testament used for the chosen people of Israel to refer to the election of the Thessalonians. (Deut 7:6-8) The proof of election is their acceptance of the Gospel.

* 1:5 The term, Gospel, was used by Paul in several senses. Often it means the act of preaching by the ministers of the word and sometimes it means the content of their proclamation or the good news itself.. Here it appears to be used in both of these senses. Paul emphasizes that the power of the gospel was not in the force of his own rhetoric but rather it was the power of the Holy Spirit. In addition, while the proclamation of the Gospel was accompanied by demonstrations of God’s power in miracles, the proclamation of the Gospel was also in itself an expression of the power of God and His love. The last part of the verse [in brackets above] is left out of the reading.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:15-21

15 Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him the Roman coin. 20 He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” 21 They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” [22 When they heard this they were amazed, and leaving him they went away.]

NOTES on Gospel:

* 22:15-22 For parallel stories, see Mark 12:13-17 and Luke 20:20-26. This is the first of four sections dealing with controversies between Jesus and various Jewish leaders. In this story, Matthew follows the Marcan source with few modifications.

* 22:15 Matthew retains the union of Pharisees and Herodians in this account as it is in the Marcan version, but he clearly emphasizes the Pharisees’ part. The Pharisees alone are mentioned here, and the Herodians are joined with them only in a prepositional phrase of Matthew 22:16. The probable reason for this is that in Matthew’s time the Herodians were no longer a threat to the Christian community while the heirs of the Pharisees were still perceived as dangerous. Entrapment is still a legal problem today. Their plan is to get Jesus in trouble with either the people or the Romans. They had planned to ask Jesus a question that will force Him to take a position contrary to that held by the majority of the people or one that will bring him into conflict with the Roman authorities. Either way, they would have a pretext upon which to condemn Jesus.

* 22:16 The Herodians would tend to favor payment of the tax while the Pharisees would tend to be against payment of the tax to the Romans.
The compliment to Jesus literally means “faithful to your word.” The statement about regard for a person’s status is derived from a biblical notion of justice. It involves an impartiality that refuses bribes and tilts in favor of the poorer litigant.

* 22:17 The law being referred to is the law of God. For the Pharisees, this would have been a real question of conscience because it would mean acknowledging a foreign pagan sovereignty over Israel. For the Herodians, this would not have been a problem.

* 22:18 Matthew takes the word, hypocrisy, from the narrative and places it directly in the dialogue of Jesus. This is probably a reflection of the strong hostility between the church of Matthew and the Pharisaic Judaism of his day which had survived the destruction of Jerusalem and formed the roots of Judaism from then on.

* 22:19 They seemed to have no trouble in finding a Roman coin. Their readiness in producing the money seems to imply that they use it and therefore that they implicitly accept the financial advantages of the Roman administration in Palestine.
The denarius was a small silver, Roman coin which was the standard daily wage of a laborer.

* 22:20 The inscription read “Tiberius Caesar son of the divine Augustus, great high priest.”

* 22:21 The Caesar of the time was the emperor Tiberius (A.D. 14-37). Jesus seems to say that those who willingly use the coin that is Caesar’s should repay him in kind. The answer avoids directly taking sides in the question of the lawfulness of the tax. He also says that the listeners are to be as concerned with how to give to God the things that are God’s. They should be more concerned with repaying God with the good deeds that are his due. See Matthew 21:41,43.

While rejecting the claim of the state to being divine, Jesus accepts the state as the lesser of the two possible evils. The alternative of that time was anarchy. Rather than rebellion, Jesus sees nonviolent social change (5:38-48) and the coming of the kingdom of God as the solution to the things that are wrong with the state.</p

Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
Vince Del Greco
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)