My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

Peter and His Master Pay Their Taxes (Matthew 17:24-27)

24When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"

25He said, "Yes."

And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"

26Peter said to Him, "From strangers."

Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. 27Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

The question posed to Peter was worded in an awkward way, so I can't exactly tell what Peter's answer means. Does he mean yes, Jesus pays the temple tax, or does he mean yes, Jesus does not pay the temple tax?

The tax is collected to pay for maintenance of the temple. Ought Jesus to pay the temple tax? The temple is the house of God. Jesus is the Son of God. Typically, king's sons do not pay taxes to the king. So, as Jesus stated, the sons are free. Therefore no, Jesus shouldn't have to pay the tax. But Jesus is going to pay the tax anyway in order to not offend them.

Note, this discussion is not like the one I read in Mark when someone asked Jesus if it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. The conclusion to that discussion was that people were to render to Caesar what was Caesars and to God what was God's. Today's topic is only whether the Son of God should pay taxes to the house of God. His answer that He should not have to pay, does not in any way imply that you should not have to pay taxes to the house of God. Our churches also need upkeep. We all have an obligation to help with that upkeep.

But the example that Jesus set here that I find very interesting is where Jesus got the money from. How did Jesus and His disciples live? I would expect that they must have had some money, somehow. I would think that either some of the disciples brought money with them when they joined Jesus, or they continued to work to earn a little money on the side, or people gave them money in thanks for what they are doing, or gave them money to help others. But the interesting thing is that Jesus doesn't ask Peter to dip into the little money they have, but to get it from a source that doesn't impact the money that is specifically for the work they are doing.

Yes, there are many obligations that require the use of our money. But this is a great example of how our Christian use of our money comes first. First determine how much you want to give to charities then set that aside. Don't let that money be used for other things. Money used for our other obligations should not take away from our planned giving to charities.

It is interesting that Jesus says to pay the temple tax "lest we offend them." Jesus has offended the religious leaders of the temple many times before. In Matthew 15:1-12 it says they were offended when Jesus called them hypocrites. But in all those times that Jesus offended them, Jesus was criticizing their teachings. In this case, He didn't want to offend them in their expectation that the temple tax must be paid to help maintain the house of God. Jesus had no desire to offend them just for the sake of offending them. He would only offend them when they were wrong. It was right of them to collect the temple tax, and Jesus would not offend them in this.

Sometimes this is a very hard thing to do. It is easy to lose all respect for someone who does so many things that are wrong. But Jesus shows us that you should still show respect for the things they do right.

And one last thing I saw that was interesting in this text was that Jesus provided Peter with enough money to pay the temple tax for the two of them. Who was expected to pay this temple tax? Just the teachers? Note, the person who received the temple tax had only asked Peter if his Teacher pays the temple tax. Yet Jesus said to pay the tax for Him and Peter. Is Jesus paying more than was asked of them? If so, then Jesus is doing more than not offending them, He is pleasing them. If not, then Jesus is giving of His treasure to others in need, for where would Peter have gotten the money for his share of the tax? In either case, Jesus is setting a very fine example of how to give of your treasure and meet obligations, even those which are not necessarily directly for the work of God: happily and with abundance.

No, Jesus had no real obligation to pay this tax, but He did anyway. And He did it happily and with abundance, all without taking away from what He needed for God's work.