Matthew 17.24-27

Matthew 17:24-27
24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. 27 “However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

Death and taxes are said to be the two unavoidable things in life.  Jesus has clearly stated that He would experience death at the hands of evil men and in today’s text we see that He “paid” taxes as well.  In this passage we see both the human and divine nature of Jesus clearly on display.  He was seen as a man and treated like a man in the way that they charged Him taxes.  He responded to this situation in a divine way by knowing about a conversation for which He was not present and in the way He paid the tax.  This narrative gives us some interesting insights into the nature of Jesus which should produce responses in our lives.

A NATURAL QUESTION WITH A SUPERNATURAL ANSWER: When Jesus and His disciples came into Capernaum, the officials of the temple were apparently in town collecting taxes for supporting the temple.  The temple should have been supported by the tithes and offerings of the people, but apparently a system of taxation was implemented.  Whatever the history or purpose of this tax might have been; the officials confronted Peter on whether or not Jesus paid His taxes.  Peter answers in the affirmative and then goes to find Jesus to let Him know about the tax collector’s question.  It must have been a difficult subject for Peter to bring up, taxes always are.  In the end Peter does not have to say anything because Jesus brings the subject up.  Peter thought he was going to be alerting Jesus to a potential problem, but Jesus was well aware of exactly what was going on.  Just like He is always aware about anything that is going on in all of our lives all the time.  We don’t need to inform God about anything.  He knows about everything we face all the time.

A NATURAL PROBLEM WITH A SUPERNATURAL SOLUTION: Jesus asks Peter a question about how taxes were charged by the rulers of that day.  Kings would not charge taxes of themselves or their family members because they would have, in reality, been paying taxes to themselves.  Jesus wanted Peter to know that, as God, He should not be expected to pay this tax.  However, He also does not want to be an offense to the people at this point in time so He agrees to pay the tax but does so in a strange and supernatural way.  He sends Peter on a fishing expedition and tells him that the first fish he catches will have a coin in its mouth that he was to use to pay the tax for both of them.  God not only knows about our problems, but He has the ability to meet all of our needs in ways that we can never expect or imagine.  He wants us to trust Him with every circumstance of our lives, including death and taxes. 


APPLICATION: Rest in the fact that God knows about every problem we face.  Trust in the truth that God is able to meet every need we have.  His supernatural knowledge and power should produce peace in our hearts as we trust in His provision.  We should seek to keep from offending others as much as is possible.

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