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Taxes to Rome
✦ One core of the Gospel narratives regards a common theme between John the Baptist and Jesus. John baptized tax collectors (Luke 3:12), told them it was righteous to "collect the appointed amount" and tax collectors were noted as his followers (Matthew 21:32, Luke 7:29). Jesus was a "friend of tax collectors" (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34), dined with many (or a large company of) tax collectors (Matthew 9:10, Mark 2:15, Luke 5:29), one of Jesus' disciples was a tax collector (Matthew 9:9-10), Jesus stayed overnight with Jericho's chief tax collector, Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-7), Jesus instructed Peter to pay the half-shekel tax and not give offense to the collector (Matthew 17:24-27), and "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25). ✦ In addition to tax collectors being highlighted as followers of John the Baptist (Matthew 21:32, Luke 7:29), they were highlighted as being followers of Jesus (Luke 15:1). A Jesus parable highlighted the righteousness and piety of a tax collector relative to a Pharisee (Luke 18:10-13). ✦ The Jewish people detested paying taxes to Rome – many considering the profession sinful. ✦ Jesus’ teachings and actions were well in line with Roman goals to change this attitude. |
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