Matthew 17:24-27, The Temple Tax

24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the 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 kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast 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 me and for yourself.”

Comments

Male Jews paid a tax for the upkeep of the Jerusalem temple whether they lived in the city or not. Collected at Passover by the moneychangers at the temple, it was also collected the month previous in other areas of the nation. Rabbis and priests were exempt from the tax. Should Jesus as a rabbi pay the tax or not? Many understood paying the tax as a patriotic duty. The question set another trap for Jesus. Would he side with the Sadducees, who disapproved of the tax, or would he offend the “patriotic” people?

Jesus is the Son of God, the Son of the King of Israel and is exempt from paying the tax because the tax is being collected for God’s house. Yet Jesus says he will pay the tax. Matthew gives us no evidence that Peter ever went after the coin-carrying fish. Instead, the point of this story is that Jesus was willing to go along with societal rituals rather than to cause an unnecessary offense that would detract from his mission.

Prayer

Let your ways be known upon earth, Lord Jesus, your saving health among all nations.