That Jesus paid taxes may seem very strange to us. There are perhaps some lessons to be learnt from this. Maybe we ought to realize that Jesus was fully human just as He was fully God. A difficult concept, perhaps, but what it means is that Jesus, while being God, freely chose to take on the state of humankind. As a human being, He chose freely to be part of society responsibly playing his role in it.

Today, it would seem that many of us try to find ways and means to reduce our tax bills but what the Gospel presents is Jesus Himself submitting to this human institution.

Perhaps, we need to consider our own role in society and to see if we have been playing our part. As Christians, we are not to isolate ourselves from the larger human family but should be very much part and parcel of it, playing our roles as "salt of the earth" and "light to the nations" (cf Mt. 5:13ff).

Another point to note is that Jesus took pains to avoid offending people. So often, we are so uncompromising in our attitudes that we stick to our guns no matter what - to the extent that people get hurt. Jesus' action may be a gentle reminder to be flexible and to give priority to people and their feelings, so long as truly legitimate principles are not compromised. In this way, we will truly be playing our role in building unity among humankind.