When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor.
So they asked him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth.
Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’
But he perceived their craftiness and said to them,
‘Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?’ They said, ‘The emperor’s.’
He said to them, ‘Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’
And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent. Luke 20:19-26
One Coin
One coin tossed in a fountain
wishes, prayers and dreams
other tossed in for a toll
more collected by little children.
One coin cannot change the world
yet one plus one and more can
tell a story of love or deceit
demonstrate where is one's heart.
Tightly held coins do not grow
refusing to pay taxes and levies
leaves the children to starve
stubborn hearts breed broken ones.
Let us not dispute where God is found
love does not grow from wealth
the source of all that is goodly grown
asks us to live as holy signs.
One coin tossed in a fountain
another handed to a small child
others given to hungry beggars
there will love be again found.
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