Episode Transcript
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Was Morning in Matthew's Gospel. We
have a somewhat short passage for us.
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It's only a few verses long,
and yet already here there's a bunch of
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questions that spring up, aren't there? What is this tax it's being raised,
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who's collecting it? What's this for? And also, why does Jesus
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then pay this tax through a unique
miracle like this? I'm sure we've all
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grown up hearing the stories of Jesus's
miracles, his feeding the five thousand right,
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his walking on water, his healing
ministry, having a coin appear in
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the mouth of a fish. That
sounds a little bizarre, doesn't it?
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Or perhaps it sounds too simple.
Does this really demonstrate his Divine Majesty?
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Does this really demonstrate his heavenly authority, as is other miracles have done?
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Not only does this passage raise some
questions for us, it may also make
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us a bit uncomfortable. Though it's
only a few verses long, our Lord
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is here addressing a topic that we
all hold very close to our hearts,
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a topic we all take very personally. Here Jesus addresses our money, doesn't
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he, and not just our having
it, but are giving it away and
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in the midst of this unique conversation
and this unique miracle, our Lord is
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revealing himself. He is revealing his
own character. Here Jesus has much to
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say about his own identity and we'll
see how his identity has an effect on
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you and your identity. So,
just before our passage, in fact the
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last time I was here, many
weeks ago, we look at Matthew Seventeen
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and in verses, twenty two through
twenty three. Just before these events,
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we read that as they were gathered
in Galilee, Jesus said to them the
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son of man is about to be
delivered into the hands of men and they
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will kill him and he will be
raised on the third day, and they
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were greatly distressed. Right his disciples
were greatly distressed by hearing this. Jesus
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reminds his disciples that his sights are
set on Jerusalem, that he's about to
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engage in a great conflict. The
enemies have been slowly gathering around Jesus and
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they will eventually seize him and kill
him. He comforts his disciples by giving
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them the four now is that that
his death is not the end, but
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he will not remain in the grave, but he will be raised victorious on
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that third day, as our Lord
is therefore having us anticipate paid this this
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great coming conflict, and immediately we're
given this passage which seems to begin with
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a situation which could easily erupt into
that conflict, couldn't it? When they
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came to Kapernham, the collectors of
the half shuckle tax went to Peter and
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said, does your teacher not pay
the tax? Tax collectors come knocking on
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Peter's door and they'll just come with
a bill. Right, they don't have
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a statement. Here, here's what
you owe. They come with this challenge.
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They say, does your teacher not
pay the tax? You See,
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the tax that they were collecting was
for a very specific purpose. The to
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Dropma tax, or it was also
called the halfsheckle tax, was a yearly
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tax upon the House of Israel that
everyone in Israel was expected to pay,
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and the origins of this tax can
be found way back in the book of
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Exodus. They rooted it in Exodus, Chapter Thirty, verse eleven. Here
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what that says. The Lord said
to Moses, when you take the census
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of the people of Israel, then
each shall give a ransom for his life
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to the Lord, when you number
them, that there may no be that
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there be no plague among them.
When you number them, each one who
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is numbered in the senses shall get
of this half a shekel. According to
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the chuckle of the sanctuary, half
a shekel is an offering to the Lord.
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Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upwards
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shall give the Lord's offering. The
rich shall not give more. The poor
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shall, I give rest than half
the shekel. When you give the Lord's
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offering, to make atonement for your
lives. So this offering was taken up
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by Moses there in the Wilderness as
a way to fund and pay for the
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Tabernacle, and all of Israel was
to participate in its construction and in its
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maintenance. It was for the the
Tabernacle because this language of a ransom,
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this language of an atonement, is
used, because this is what would happen
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there, at the tent of meeting, there where God would dwell with his
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people, sacrifices would be offered,
prayers would be prayed. And yet,
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by Jesus Day, what what appears
to have been in exodus, a a
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one time tax upon Israel in the
Wilderness had now become appropriated and used by
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those running the temple in Jerusalem as
a way to keep all Israel compelled to
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support the activities of the temple.
So as taxes go, it was a
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controversial one. Some thought they were
exempt, some thought they only had to
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pay once in their lives. Yet
this was being gathered every year. So
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you can see why the tax collectors
would expect perhaps some pushback. Does your
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teacher not pay the tax it?
It comes with the expectation that there's probably
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going to be a debate about this
or perhaps a rebuke. But what does
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Peter say? He says yes,
he does pay the tax. He doesn't
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go ask Jesus about this controversial subject. He doesn't instantly reject their proposal,
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as biblically suspicious as it is.
He instinctively says yes, of course Jesus
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pays the tax. Having been around
Jesus long enough, Peter at least knows
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this much, that Jesus contributes,
he pays this tax to the temple.
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Notice that when Peter Enters the house, Jesus approaches him, and perhaps here
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we would expect something like the rebuke. After all, not to pick on
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Peter, but he can be rather
careless with his speech. Has Peter here
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spoken out of turn? Has He
been too quick to say yes? And
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yet, instead of a rebuke,
our Lord Asks Peter a question, as
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if he knew Peter was wrestling with
this subject, as if he knew Peter's
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suspicions regarding this tax. Jesus says, what do you think, Simon,
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from whom do kings of the Earth
take toll or tax? From their sons
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or from others? If Jesus Asks
Peter a very simple and pretty straightforward question,
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he's asking Peter to observe how the
world works. Kings have incredible authority
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over their subjects. So whom do
they charge when tax time rolls around?
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And who gets that free pass?
Here? Jesus gives only two options.
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Do they tax their sons or do
they tax others? Are those within the
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household being taxed? No, of
course not. Notice even Peter gets this
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question right. Kings don't tax their
own sons. Isn't that one of the
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benefits of royalty taxes? Would pay
for their palaces, it would pay for
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their meals. Sons share in that
abundance. They're not burdened to support it.
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Jesus even reiterates, so the scent. So then the sons are free,
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sons of the king are free from
the obligations of the others. Now
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Jesus here makes a point that is
plain enough to understand. But why?
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What does this point prove? Why
is he even engaging in this conversation?
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Well, here Jesus is bringing up
this subject, a subject of sonship.
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We're Peter and the tax collectors may
be concerned with the money, who's collecting
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it, where it's going. What's
Jesus concerned with? He's concerned with this
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topic, this idea of Sonship,
and this has been a part of Christ's
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ministry now, for for a while
in fact, in Chapter Sixteen, when
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Peter gives this good confession. What
is the Good Confession that Peter Confesses?
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When Jesus asks who do you say? I am Simon, Peter replied you
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are the Christ, the son of
the Living God. And when Jesus was
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transfigured on that mountain in front of
three of his disciples, a bright cloud
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overshadowed them and a voice from the
cloud said this is my beloved son,
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with whom I am well pleased.
Listen to him. A similar voice that
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was there at his baptism, at
the beginning of his ministry, declaring this
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is my son. And so Jesus
has been drawing us to make the same
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confession that Peter has made, that
this is the Christ, the son of
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the Living God. But what is
Jesus point by directing us to this illustration
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of sons and their relationship to the
king? Who is Jesus? He's the
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son of God, as we've heard. So, as the son of God,
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why is he paying the tax?
The tax collectors expected a challenge.
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Isn't this an incredible challenge? He
is the son of God. This makes
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him Lord over the temple itself.
Isn't he exempt then from having to pay
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for it? Here Jesus question is
identifying who he is. He's reminding his
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disciples what is true about him.
Yes, he will be handed over,
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he he will be burdened, he
will be oppressed, but none of us
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denies who he is. He is
the son of God, as son of
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the king, shouldn't that bring certain
privileges? Shouldn't he, of all people,
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be exempt then from this tax?
In fact, he's already made the
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point earlier in chapter twelve, when
questioned by the the Pharisees regarding his work
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on the Sabbath. Jesus declared himself, as the son of man, to
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be Lord of the Sabbath. And
as he compares his activity to the the
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priests in the temple, he says
in Matthew, Chapter Twelve, verse six,
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I tell you something greater than the
temple is here. For you see,
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the temple has been the place of
God's dwelling with his people. But
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now that God himself has become incarnate, as Paul says in cautions to verse
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nine, in him the whole fullness
of Deity dwells bodily, why would he
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now be supporting that temple which he
has come to replace? Why would he
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support that shadow that he has come
to fulfill? Do you see why this
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little half shackled tax has so much
to say about Jesus? He uses this
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transaction as a further instruction of his
true nature as the son of God.
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He is free. He's under no
obligation to pay this tax. And if
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this is true of Jesus, that
is what he also says about Peter.
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What does he say? He doesn't
say the sun is free. He says
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the son's plural are free. If
Jesus is the son of God, what
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is he now here declaring a is
true about Peter? Is Peter the outsider,
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while Jesus is a of the outsiders
outside the palace gates, while Jesus
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is comfortably at rest within the family
of God. Oh, what Jesus is
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declaring is that Peter too is a
son of the king. He includes Peter
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when he says the sons are free. Let us how he includes Peter in
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in paying for the tax, saying
let us not give offense to them.
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Go to the sea and cast a
hook and take the first fish that comes
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up. When you open set's mouth, you will find a shekel. Take
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that. Give it to them for
me and for yourself. See See,
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not only is Jesus saying that he
should be exempt, so is Peter.
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And what greater exemption is there then? Appealing to God's Heavenly Authority for you,
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identifies who he is as the son
of God. These privileges of sonship
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belong not only to Jesus but to
Peter as well, so that this disciple
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is included as a member of the
family of God. And yet given these
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rights, given these privileges, rather
than digging in his heels. What does
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Jesus do? He pays the tax
for himself, in for Peter. Why?
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What does paying the tax mean if
sons don't pay but outsiders do?
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And isn't Jesus identifying himself as an
outsider, though he has the full rights
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of membership in the household of God? Jesus counts himself here like the outsiders.
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Here, in this minor transaction,
don't we see a brief glimpse of
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what Christ's entire ministry is all about? Though he is the incarnate Lord of
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Heaven and earth? We see that
he came not to take up a throne
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but to be rejected, not to
be served but to serve, to be
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stricken, smitten and afflicted, all
the while being the Lord, which is
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demonstrated here by this miracle. Though
it sounds strange, though it sounds bizarre,
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notice how it demonstrates his absolute sovereign
control over all things. For why
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doesn't Jesus just make the checkle appear? Couldn't he have done that? Couldn't
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he have just spoken a word and
their coffers would have been full? Instead,
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he tells Peter, take your fishing
Rod, go to the sea.
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He gives them the old all these
steps. Think of all the circumstances that
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would have to have occurred in that
present is exact timing for a Shekele to
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find its way into a fish's mouth, to be pulled up at that exact
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moment, all the physics behind those
causes and Effects, all the circumstances of
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whether of nature of the sea,
the physics of that Hook, the crisis,
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demonstrating his control and his command over
all of it. But to do
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what? To identify himself as an
outsider. By paying this tax. Our
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Lord gives us an amazing picture of
himself, who he is and also what
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he came to accomplish free demonstrates,
at the one hit, his supremacy over
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this tax. He's able to pay
it with ease, though he doesn't have
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to. He demonstrates his supremacy over
nature itself. Yet he takes up the
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position of an outsider. Do you
see how this affects you, how this
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affects myself? To view ourselves and
our view of this world, isn't a
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great comfort to know that the Lord
of Heaven and earth has brought you into
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his family? Here we see Christ's
inclusiveness and we reminded that through Christ we
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have, we too have received this
adoption as sons. This comes with it
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the rights and the privileges as sons
and daughters of our heavenly father. As
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Christ has been preparing his disciples,
he will go to that cross, he
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will be crushed, but not for
his own sins, but for for yours.
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He goes to the cross to do
away with your sin, to provide
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you with the righteousness which can stand
before God, which can stand in the
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family of God, so that we
would be numbered alongside Christ as sons of
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God. What an amazing adoption we've
received, for this brings with it the
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inheritance of glory which Christ has provided, the promise of the resurrection, of
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life beyond the grave, from which
Christ himself was the first fruit. This
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is who you are in Christ,
this is what belongs to you in Christ.
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So then, how are we to
relate to these burdens? Burdens like
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taxes, which we experience in this
world as well? Jesus directs us to
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this earthly example of kings extracting taxes
from their citizens. This illustration points us
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to Christ, to his divine identity, but it also directs us to ourselves
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and our role as citizens of this
world. Surely we understand Jesus is illustration
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as as citizens ourselves, we ourselves
pay taxes often. But if, ultimately
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we belong not to this world but
to God, it'sn't that part of you
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that feels like we should be exempt
from such things? Perhaps we feel like
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we are, and that feelings made
all the more abundant when we see how
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taxes get spent in this world.
And if Jesus point is that sons of
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the king don't pay the tax,
who are we? Are we sons and
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daughters of the king? Why do
we continue in them? Why don't we
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resist? Since our citizenship is in
heaven, since God is our father?
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Sons of the king don't pay,
sons are free, Jesus says. Isn't
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that who you are? Aren't you
adopted into the family of God? But
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given Jesus is illustration, what does
our paying of taxes affirm about you and
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your citizenship in this world? Sure, it identifies you as a citizen and
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it identifies you as one in submission
to those God has placed over you.
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What does it say that you are
not? It demonstrates that you are not
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sons of these earthly kings. Perhaps
this is a bit foreign to us.
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Wasn't our country founded on taxes giving
us a seat at the table, giving
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us voice, giving US representation?
But do you see what Jesus is telling
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you about what even paying taxes says
about your identity in this world? Means
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that, by paying the taxes,
you're actually the outsider. Means that your
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inheritance is not tied to the things
of this world. It means that you
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do not ultimately belong to this Kingdom
of this world. So then, by
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paying what your government commands of you, even in this your Lord is directing
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you to your true citizenship, do
your true inheritance as sons and daughters of
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your heavenly father. The fact that
you're not exempt from the taxes of this
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world proves that you do not ultimately
belong to the rights and the privileges of
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this world, because you belong to
Heaven, just as Christ, who earned
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this inheritance for you and yet here
submits himself to the burdens of this world.
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And if this is how we view
our our giving to our governments and
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to our rulers says, have something
else to say about our offerings and our
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givings to the church. Isn't that
kind of what this temple tax was,
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something like a compulsory offering? Is
that how we're to view our giving to
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the church? Is is the tax
that God has imposed upon you? Is
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Our giving just an obligation that we're
expected to fulfill? I love hear how
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Jesus Compares our relationship to God and
our relationship to the kings of this earth.
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Let us how this further highlights the
contrast between how our king rules and
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how the princes of this world rule. Is Your God simply your king who
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commands payment? Look, even in
our passage, at the character of your
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King, as Christ demonstrates, he
is more than your king, he is
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your heavenly father, and look at
his love for you. In Christ,
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rather than just requiring payment from you. Even here in our passage, it
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is Christ who provides the payment,
it is Christ who gives. So there
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are giving to the church is going
to look very different from our giving to
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this world. You see, we
give out of the abundance of what he
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has given to us. The freedom
with which we give to the body of
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Christ is but a reflection of how
Christ has so freely given to us,
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and as Christ has given everything.
Therefore, we give not just money.
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We give our time, don't we
give our energy, we give our resources,
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we give our prayers, even our
tears. As sons of the king,
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our life in this world continually reminds
us of this dual citizenship that we
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possess. As citizens of this world, we have obligations, we have duties,
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we have burdens, and yet,
in our approach to these things,
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we are demonstrating who we truly belong
to, where our true identity rests.
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We're demonstrating what is our eternal glory
and our internal inheritance and our hope for
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a city with foundations whose designer and
builder is God. Amen.
