Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity AD 2023

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is tempted with a question as to whether it is lawful to give triburte to the Roman emperor. Jesus answered: “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus gave this answer referring to the Roman coins used to pay the tribute: they had the image and inscription of the emperor; therefore, they were his.

Whose image and inscription do we carry in ourselves? Scripture says that man is created in the image and likeness of God. Just think, if every person really carried the image of God in himself and was in everything like Him who is perfect and holy – what would our entire nation, our country, the whole world be like?

We know – and this is also completely clear from the Scriptures – that, unfortunately, there is not and will not be a paradise on earth. But this does not mean that we, both as individuals and as a nation, do not have a duty to learn about our Creator and strive for perfection.

For the Word of our Lord says that “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the LORD require of thee; but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)