17:25
Peter replied that Jesus does pay the temple tax. Whether he knew this was the case or not is not stated, it may be that he just said this out of fear. When Peter got back to the house “Jesus was the first to speak”. It seems that Jesus knew what had happened and was now going to teach them something. He does this by asking Peter a question, though he addresses him as Simon. Possibly this is implying that Peter was approaching the matter in a worldly way, or I could be reading too much into it. “Do the kings of the earth collect duty from their own children?” Jesus, of course, is the Son of God, so it would actually be ridiculous for Him to pay the temple tax.The temple was dedicated to Him! It could also be referring to all believers. We are God’s children, a Father does not tax His children! Now tithing is a good thing to do, but we are going wrong if we view it as a tax. And there are some who promote tithing who do so almost as if it is a tax. Giving should be generous and joyful, for we are sharing in the work of the kingdom.
17:26,27
Peter gives the obvious answer, “from others”, and Jesus confirms that “the children are exempt”. The whole temple system was badly missing the point. But Jesus then does, or says, something surprising, as he often did. The first surprising thing is that Jesus said they would pay the temple tax, so as not to cause offence. Now Jesus was not averse to causing offence, sometimes He deliberately provoked it. But He always did this for a reason, not for the sake of causing offence. The second surprising thing is the means of paying the tax. Peter was to go and catch a fish, and the fish would have the requisite coin in its mouth. Not unnecessarily causing offence costs nothing!
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