Jesus and gummy bears

Everybody knows you like red gummy bears best. When you and your friends share a bag, they get the ones they like -- and you get all the red ones. If someone ate your red gummy bears, you'd be mad!

If they made gummy bears when Jesus was around, He probably would have had a favorite kind, too! Jesus thought it was important for people to get what should be theirs -- and especially, for God to get what's God's. In this week's Gospel (Matthew 22:15-21), He talks about that.

Some people were trying to trap Jesus into saying they could break the law, so He'd get in trouble. "Teacher," they asked, "should we pay taxes to Caesar?" Jesus looked at a coin and said, "Whose face is on this?" "Caesar's," they answered. "Then give Caesar what's his, and give God what belongs to God," Jesus told them.

Grownups have a rule of their own: to pay taxes, to give the government part of the money they make. People in Jesus' time weren't happy about paying taxes to Caesar. They tried to trick Jesus into saying it was okay to break the law and not pay taxes. They wanted their money as much as you want your gummy bears!

Sharing gummy bears with your friends can be easy if everyone has a favorite kind. But when two people like the same flavor, it gets harder! The people in the Gospel story were asking Jesus whether God and Caesar had the same "favorite thing" -- money.

Jesus told them not to worry, that Caesar could have his money, because God doesn't care about money. God cares about people. Jesus wanted people to "give God what belongs to God" by taking care of each other and treating each other well. Jesus would have liked gummy bears, too -- but He would have shared His, even the red ones!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, teach me to "give you what's yours" by sharing and caring about other people! Amen.

(10-14-99)