Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Tea party activist: ‘Jesus Christ is weeping in heaven’ over pope’s criticism of capitalism' [View all]eridani
(51,907 posts)--being arrested on the spot by Roman soldiers. The questioner asked him about paying taxes to Rome because "yes" guaranteed the former and "no" guaranteed the latter precisely to trap him.
So why didn't the anti-Roman crowd tear him apart when he said "Pay taxes to the Romans"? Remember that at that time the prohibition against idols was not just about making statues of God (Yahweh or otherwise), but also against blasphemy. Making images of any living thing was regarded as mocking the creative power of God--still is in Islam and Eastern Orthodox churches.
So here was a coin which not only had a picture of a living being on it, but that being was a conquering emperor of a foreign power who demanded to be worshiped as an adopted son of the Roman gods. Christ slyly pointed out that handling such coins was the grossest act of blasphemy, and they ought to stop blaspheming by getting rid off all the coins, sending them back to the emperor. The crowd likely appreciated both the humorous diversion and also the extra dig at rich people, by definition the biggest blasphemers of all.