Matthew 17:24-27 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them.
The temple tax was used to take care of the needs of the temple and its upkeep. This tax was an atonement tax when collected by Moses in the wilderness. The tax was levied on all who were twenty years or older. The money was used for the upkeep of the tent where Moses met God and spoke to him face-to-face. God ordered Moses to take a census of all the people who were twenty or older. These people were to give a half shekel to God as a payback for sparing their lives from the hands of Pharaoh. God had set them free, so now they should express their thankfulness to him by paying this fee for their deliverance. The tax would remind the Israelites that the God of heaven had separated them from all other people in the world. They were not just any people: they were God’s chosen, so they should show their thankfulness by paying this money. God delivered them from the hands of slavery to the ways of the world; no other power or god did this wondrous deed. This tax was to be a perpetual memorial to that fact. A plague would descend on Israel if the people did not acknowledge God as their deliverer and no one else. Then the Lord said to Moses, “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.” (Exodus 30:11-16) All the Jews released from slavery were considered by God of equal value, all precious in his sight. Therefore, the rich and the poor gave the same ransom payment. No man or woman was considered above the other. Also, the price God will eventually pay for each soul released from the hands of the Evil One, the blood of Christ, would be applied equally to all men and women. No one would be more important than the other. By paying the tax, the Israelites confirmed their awareness as children of God and their acceptance that their lives were in his hands. This understanding gave them strength to know their futures were also in the hands of God, but they must follow this Moses who met God in the tent of meeting. Moses knew God as a friend. His face shone like the Sun when he came out of the tent of meeting, so they were willing to pay the tax for their atonement, knowing God had directed Moses to levy this on them. With thankfulness the Jews would say with the psalmist, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2 KJV)
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. Jesus paid this tax of atonement even though He did not have to pay it. Jesus never sinned; therefore, He was never in the hands of the Evil One. He always followed God’s will, so He did not need a tent of meeting to meet God face-to-face. His hands, his feet, his face were always in the center of God’s will. He would not be disciplined as Moses was disciplined for striking the rock twice with anger to satisfy the thirst of the Israelites for water. Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (Numbers 20:11-12) Moses used force his anger, his human strength, when he struck the rock. Jesus used his words to change the nature of things. He calmed the wind and the waves with words. He touched the eyes of the blind and set people free from diseases and infirmities with his words, always following God’s will even under difficult situations. Jesus led the people through his teaching, his words of wisdom and light. He was revealing that He was the true Shepherd. When Moses struck the rock in anger, he did that because the people were angry at him for bringing them out into the wilderness. They wanted to go back to Egypt where they had food and shelter. They did not want Moses to shepherd them. Moses understood they did not want God to lead them anymore, for their bodies were in need of water and food. They were asking, where is this God of Moses? So Moses used force to prove that God was with him and that God, not he, had placed them in the wilderness. Jesus used miracles and wonders to let the people know that God was in their midst and that Jesus was the true shepherd who would bring them to the Promised Land. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11) Jesus as the good Shepherd, the sinless One, did not have to pay the atonement fee, for He was the King of all people. He was the hand of God, the Son of God. Sons do not pay the tax of atonement, for they are already in the household of God. No need for a ransom for those who are already in God’s dwelling place. But for the people’s sake, Jesus paid the tax to keep the temple of God in order, so that men and women might find God there. But He as the Son of God always was in the presence of God, so He had no reason to pay the tax. Neither do we who have already had a ransom paid for us, Jesus Christ’s blood, need to pay a price to ransom our souls. Jesus has paid the complete and satisfying payment to God for our redemption. Because of this payment, we are children of God with no need to offer any other price, for we are not strangers to God. We are his sons and daughters in his household, secure because of Christ Jesus, our elder brother.
Because of being children in the house of God, we are exempt from paying any further price for our ransom. Jesus tells Peter, "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. Often Christians attempt to pay another price for their release from slavery. They place their lives on the altar as a sacrificial animal was placed on the altar. To give all to God, not a bad idea unless one places his life on the altar in an attempt to win salvation for himself. If we desire to win salvation by giving our lives for God, we dismiss the work of God; we count his sacrifice of Jesus Christ as not being very important. Yes, we might think, it was a wonderful idea to give Jesus to the world and to have him give his life for our sins, but we must win the pot of salvation by placing another integral card on the table: good works or self-immolation. But a hand of good works will never win the prize of salvation—only the card of Christ’s sacrifice will win eternal life. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. (Romans 3:25) Jesus Christ’s sacrifice atones completely for our waywardness. Not the sacrifice of animals or our good works, or our self-sacrificing will be acceptable to God as an atonement for sin. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:14) He through our faith in his works is our salvation. We enter into him, the Temple of God, where we serve God forever, part of the body of Christ, children of the living God. Jesus fulfilled the demands of the temple tax collector: Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them. God had placed the coin in a fish. The coin did not come from Jesus’ hands, for He IS THE TEMPLE! No reason for him to pay this tax, a fish pays it. But He does satisfy the demands of the religious community by paying the four-drachma. He does not cause offense by not following the rules of the temple. His fight was not with the officials of the temple; his fight was against the devil and the powers of the high places. He intended to deliver mankind from the control of the Evil One, not from human bondage to laws and regulations. His battle was for a greater cause, the freedom of all mankind from Egypt. Dear friends around this breakfast table, your freedom has been accomplished through Jesus Christ’s works. Believe on him, the Good Shepherd, who will lead you to the Promised Land without one fault. To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)
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