Dear families of Emmanuel,
This is the second week of our newsletter to help your family to engage with the scripture each week. Last week’s newsletter had a few teething problems. We think we have those fixed.
This week’s Gospel lesson is from Matthew 22. (to view the lesson click here) It involves the temple leaders confronting Jesus and trying to catch him in a trap. They often asked him trick questions that they hoped would get him in trouble with the Romans or with the religious leaders. This time they ask Jesus if it is proper to pay taxes to Rome. They hoped he would say “no” so that he would get in trouble with the Romans. He asks them to show him a Roman coin. He shows them the image of Caesar on the coin. He tells them that since it is Caesar’s coin they should give it to him. To God they should give their souls.
- I wonder about how smart Jesus is that he could think of such a thing. Do you think he was smart too?
- I wonder why the Pharisees and Herodians wanted to get Jesus in trouble?
- Do you know who the Pharisees were? They were a group of religious people who believed everyone had to follow the rules in the Bible very strictly. They did not like Jesus because they thought he was teaching people things about God that were wrong. They also worried that the people liked Jesus more than they liked them.
- Do you know who the Herodians were? They were people who worked for King Herod. King Herod’s people were not particularly religious, but they did not like Jesus because they thought he wanted to start a war with Rome. That made them scared.
- Do you know who Caesar was? He was the Emperor or King of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was a very large area of land that the Romans conquered and ruled over.
- I wonder why Jesus didn’t ignore them since he knew they were trying to trick him? I think it is because he wanted to teach all people about the goodness and glory of God, even the people who were his enemies.
Did your children have some questions that you want to get an answer to? Send it along to Fr. Gene and he will help you come up with an answer.
Did your children say something particularly profound that you would like to share? Please send it to Fr. Gene. He wants to learn from them.
