The Pharisees and the Publicans of the Philippines
April 15 is a dreaded date to be and I am aware of how tax season is very stressful, especially with the government that misuse the taxes. The situation is no better in my home country the Philippines especially with how the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) are considered "Unchristian" especially by the HYPOCRITICAL Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Last year, a CBCP official called the BIR ad against tax evasion as "unchristian". While it's true overtaxation is indeed unethical, however the CBCP are more dangerous for the welfare of Filipinos than it would be for the BIR. Perhaps the employees of the BIR are the publicans of the Philippines while the CBCP's bishops are the Pharisees.
Let us remember the public ministry of Jesus, the Pharisees and the publicans. Tax collectors in the days of Jesus were outcasts because they worked for the Roman Empire. The Pharisees hated Rome with a passion (ironically, today's Pharisees are now seated in the Vatican which is located in Rome with the Pope as the successor of Caiaphas) and for them, they were cleaner than everybody else. The publicans were so distrusted by the Jewish society that you might consider, nobody even wanted go give way to Zacchaeus when he wanted to meet Jesus. When Jesus came to the ministry, He showed He was truly sent from God. The miracles were genuine, He was really from God. The Pharisees soon felt insulted when Jesus came to become a friend of sinners, the Pharisees felt their own good works were enough to save them.
Luke 18:9-14 tells us the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. I would dare assume that members of the CBCP would have the gall to go and pray out loud something like, "I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income." The Pharisee thought he was already good enough for God, never mind that he was just as rotten as the tax collector. When you notice how the Pharisee prayed, he was not giving back the glory to God but only to himself. Isaiah 64:6 says all our works are just like filthy rags as they are not good but dead, the only real good works are those that manifest as a result of salvation by grace though faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I am to talk, it's often how I feel that a religious tax evader may say, "Well why should I pay my taxes those filthy publicans?" referring to the BIR employees. It is very easy to look down at the publicans. If it was so easy to do that in the days of Jesus, the same problem still exists until today.
In Luke 19:1-10 we read of the encounter of our Lord Jesus and Zacchaeus. What one may consider here is the people's attitude when Jesus said something like, "Zacchaeus, I must eat in your house today." The people then murmured, "That man is a guest in the house of a sinner." as if they were not sinners themselves. You can see that attitude among devoted Filipino Roman Catholics who can say stuff like, "Wow I can't believe those Baptists still pay taxes and they even invite the staff of the BIR to dine with them or to attend church with them. I thought they believed in holiness. Man, I can't stand it that they would rebuke the priest and then talk about Jesus in the home of that filthy tax collector." It is also hypocritical considering that while they condemn the BIR for immorality, they hardly have a habit of objecting to the immoralities of the priest, the Vatican and how they are religious hypocrites at best. That was the problem with the people of Israel, that is also the problem with a lot of Filipinos today. What the Jews were also ignoring was the new life Zacchaeus had that he repaid everyone for all the damages that he did.
I was thinking of the possible hypocrisy that may happen for today's BIR employee who might be interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us just think if an open air revival happened, a preacher preached the Gospel so fiercely. A BIR employee wanted to attend that crusade, maybe some of those who attended the crusade were religious Roman Catholics who believed that the preacher should stroke their self-righteousness. Just then, the altar call happens and while the Roman Catholic attendees will say, "Well we don't need to go forward." Then it happens the BIR employee was there, nobody would let him pass through. Just then the preacher says to the BIR employee, "Sir, I must dine in your house tonight!" Those religious Roman Catholics might say, "That's it! That preacher should have invited us but instead, it's that wretched sinner!" Maybe and just maybe that night, the BIR employee who was notorious for cheating, receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Then he ends up returning all the cheated income he had out of gratitutde.
Jesus was also clearly against any form of tax evasion. Matthew 22:21 and Mark 12:17 says, "Render unto God what is unto God and to Caesar what is unto Caesar's." In short, He commanded them to pay their necessary taxes. The Apostle Paul commanded the Romans in Romans 13:1-7 to pay taxes, even if Nero was the emperor during that time. Taxes were part of society and government was there. When you think of it, Jesus did not come to Israel to help them overthrow the Romans but to expose the evil religious system that was indeed a greater threat than Caesar. Likewise, the CBPC is a much greater threat to the spiritual welfare of the Philippines than the BIR will ever be. While the BIR may get oppressive and unjust but the CBCP has been like the Pharisees of Jesus' day... they pretend to be holy and righteous but are indeed religious poison to the Filipino people.
Let us remember the public ministry of Jesus, the Pharisees and the publicans. Tax collectors in the days of Jesus were outcasts because they worked for the Roman Empire. The Pharisees hated Rome with a passion (ironically, today's Pharisees are now seated in the Vatican which is located in Rome with the Pope as the successor of Caiaphas) and for them, they were cleaner than everybody else. The publicans were so distrusted by the Jewish society that you might consider, nobody even wanted go give way to Zacchaeus when he wanted to meet Jesus. When Jesus came to the ministry, He showed He was truly sent from God. The miracles were genuine, He was really from God. The Pharisees soon felt insulted when Jesus came to become a friend of sinners, the Pharisees felt their own good works were enough to save them.
Luke 18:9-14 tells us the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. I would dare assume that members of the CBCP would have the gall to go and pray out loud something like, "I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income." The Pharisee thought he was already good enough for God, never mind that he was just as rotten as the tax collector. When you notice how the Pharisee prayed, he was not giving back the glory to God but only to himself. Isaiah 64:6 says all our works are just like filthy rags as they are not good but dead, the only real good works are those that manifest as a result of salvation by grace though faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I am to talk, it's often how I feel that a religious tax evader may say, "Well why should I pay my taxes those filthy publicans?" referring to the BIR employees. It is very easy to look down at the publicans. If it was so easy to do that in the days of Jesus, the same problem still exists until today.
In Luke 19:1-10 we read of the encounter of our Lord Jesus and Zacchaeus. What one may consider here is the people's attitude when Jesus said something like, "Zacchaeus, I must eat in your house today." The people then murmured, "That man is a guest in the house of a sinner." as if they were not sinners themselves. You can see that attitude among devoted Filipino Roman Catholics who can say stuff like, "Wow I can't believe those Baptists still pay taxes and they even invite the staff of the BIR to dine with them or to attend church with them. I thought they believed in holiness. Man, I can't stand it that they would rebuke the priest and then talk about Jesus in the home of that filthy tax collector." It is also hypocritical considering that while they condemn the BIR for immorality, they hardly have a habit of objecting to the immoralities of the priest, the Vatican and how they are religious hypocrites at best. That was the problem with the people of Israel, that is also the problem with a lot of Filipinos today. What the Jews were also ignoring was the new life Zacchaeus had that he repaid everyone for all the damages that he did.
I was thinking of the possible hypocrisy that may happen for today's BIR employee who might be interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us just think if an open air revival happened, a preacher preached the Gospel so fiercely. A BIR employee wanted to attend that crusade, maybe some of those who attended the crusade were religious Roman Catholics who believed that the preacher should stroke their self-righteousness. Just then, the altar call happens and while the Roman Catholic attendees will say, "Well we don't need to go forward." Then it happens the BIR employee was there, nobody would let him pass through. Just then the preacher says to the BIR employee, "Sir, I must dine in your house tonight!" Those religious Roman Catholics might say, "That's it! That preacher should have invited us but instead, it's that wretched sinner!" Maybe and just maybe that night, the BIR employee who was notorious for cheating, receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Then he ends up returning all the cheated income he had out of gratitutde.
Jesus was also clearly against any form of tax evasion. Matthew 22:21 and Mark 12:17 says, "Render unto God what is unto God and to Caesar what is unto Caesar's." In short, He commanded them to pay their necessary taxes. The Apostle Paul commanded the Romans in Romans 13:1-7 to pay taxes, even if Nero was the emperor during that time. Taxes were part of society and government was there. When you think of it, Jesus did not come to Israel to help them overthrow the Romans but to expose the evil religious system that was indeed a greater threat than Caesar. Likewise, the CBPC is a much greater threat to the spiritual welfare of the Philippines than the BIR will ever be. While the BIR may get oppressive and unjust but the CBCP has been like the Pharisees of Jesus' day... they pretend to be holy and righteous but are indeed religious poison to the Filipino people.