Sin, Death, Taxes, and Fishing
Matthew 17:25-26
Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?”
They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.
“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!"
Here we are in Capernaum, Peter's hometown, after the mountaintop experience, at the foot of the mountain where Jesus was transfigured right before the eyes of a few of his disciples. Jesus is immediately tackling demonic spirits and having to cope with the schemes of religious extremists.
Isn't that the way it is? Satan is always right there, on the other side of that mountaintop experience. He's right there in the valley, waiting to erode any of God's glory that remains in you. He's always prowling around trying to find an avenue for his lies and doubts to seep into your heart and mind.
In today's scripture focus we see Satan encouraging dissonance among the followers of Jesus. He's trying to stir up distrust among the crowds by suggesting that Jesus and his followers are unpatriotic because they speak against the temple and are teaching people to not pay the temple tax. Of course this isn't true. Jesus has tremendous respect for the temple and its role in the spiritual life of every Jew. He does however speak out against the hypocrisy of the Priesthood, and their motives surrounding certain teachings they invent to subjugate the people to their order and its economic systems. These religious leaders have established what's known as the "two-drachma temple tax." This was not a Roman tax, but a Jewish tax for the Jewish people for the upkeep of the temple. It seems appropriate if you ask me. If I'm a Jew who keeps the faith, I probably should support the religious community with my tithes and offerings. But this isn't that. This is something else. This was a tax that the priesthood had loosely based upon Exodus 30:11-16 which was a ransom tax. The people were literally paying to save their lives, as if they were hostages.
And so, the disciples catch wind of rumors that were circulating about how Jesus said unpatriotic things about the temple. This sort of brings to my mind the current events of the recent presidential election campaigns. And all the fake news propaganda making the rounds about how "some say" that President Trump said unpatriotic things about our military, and "the troops". And of course, dishonest people try to make hay from these accusations.
Have you ever heard that idiom, "make hay"?
It's derived from the proverbial phrase, "make hay while the sun still shines." And it basically means that we should make good use of an opportunity while it lasts.
Or in the words of former President Barack Obama's Whitehouse chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."
Propagandists are opportunistic agents of misinformation sent by Satan in my opinion. I said it. And I mean it. They are professional liars. And they worship and revel at the altar of fake news. And this age of fake news propaganda is no different than it was in Jesus' time. Some propagandists from the priesthood started questioning the patriotism of Jesus and his followers. They wormed their way into the crowds and planted seeds of doubt. And then finally they corner Peter and ask him:
"Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" Matthew 17:24b
This was no doubt a test to see how supportive Jesus would be of the temple service in Jerusalem. They're trying to pin down Jesus and his doctrines, corner all his teachings into the corner of the unpatriotic Jews who hate the temple and refuse to accept the temple tax. If they can get the crowds to vote against Jesus based upon this one infraction, they can throw down everything Jesus teaches as polluted by this one unpatriotic position. Very similar to the lawfare we have seen recently in regard to President Trump.
True to form, Jesus is not going to let this go by without a lesson being taught. So he asks Peter his thoughts about an analogy on how kings on earth collect taxes from their citizens. The analogy pictures God as the king and the temple service as the running of his kingdom. And in this analogy, it is made clear that the king taxes people who are not his family, they are not his sons. They are "citizens" inhabiting his kingdom.
What's The Point?
So the point Jesus is making is that those who are God's children are free people. Free from the need to pay a ransom tax that was meant to bring about their release from their hostage situation. The hostage taker is sin and temptation. The king is he who has set them free from that hostage situation. And the ones who have been set free are they who have been given the opportunity to become an adopted family member in his kingdom. It is the king who sets them free. It is not the temple. It is not the priesthood. It is by God's grace that they have been made children of God.
Jesus is drawing a distinction between strangers and the children of God. So, Peter's answer is the correct one, "strangers", the "inhabitants" who are not free are the Jewish people who are rejecting Jesus as the Son of God. But those who follow Jesus, and obey his commands, are those who have been made free, they are "sons of God".
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." - Matthew 5:9
Not a corporate sonship, but a personal individual relationship of sonship.
This sonship is described in Romans 8:16-17
"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ."
No ransom tax needed, Jesus has already paid that debt. We are sons along with Jesus Christ when we are in Christ. And we are made righteous because we share in his righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
That's what Jesus means to say. We are free. Free from the temple that is passing away in its corruption. Free because the temple of God is Jesus Christ who resides in those who abide in Him, they are those who are called the children of God. The true children of God, the followers of Jesus, we are free because Jesus takes the place of the temple when he takes his throne in the kingdom of God.
And later on, the fake news propaganda machine tries again to make hay from that truth...
Matthew 26:61
“This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ”
Jesus himself is the new "meeting place" for the children of God.
"Something greater than the temple is here" - Matthew 12:6
As Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well...
John 4:23-24
"the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."
Those who trust and follow Jesus as the Son of the living God are the true children of God and are, therefore, free. Free to give freely and joyfully because you're supporting your family, not strangers who hate you. They are free to give everything they have because they trust in the One who has set them free. They trust he will provide everything for them.
And provide he does. He sends Peter on a fishing trip to catch that truly blessed goldfish. I mean imagine catching a lunker and being amazed at pulling this monster out of the water. And as you're trying to remove the hook from its mouth you find gold coins!
Hot dog!
Cha-Ching!
Once in a lifetime catch...what a fish tale that must have been.
Too bad for Peter that they didn't have iPhones then...guarantee many people scoffed at this one.
God bless and prosper you now and every day.
Amen.
#Taxes #Fishing #Sin #JesusIsKing