Matthew 17

²² As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed. 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.”

We have in our church folks who have been to Israel and who have visited Peter’s house in Caperneum. Fred Baltz writes of the site:

In the 19th Century the abandoned site of Capernaum was recognized and recovered from Bedouins. Excavations began in 1905. Franciscans Vendelin von Benden and Gaudenzio Orfali continued the work. These excavations uncovered the ruins of a synagogue and an octagonal church that had been destroyed by the early Seventh Century.

In 1968, Virgilio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda resumed the work. They established that the central room of the octagonal church was from a First-Century B.C. Capernaum house which had become a place of worship for Christians from very early on. They also established that the white limestone synagogue was from the Fourth Century, probably built on the black basalt foundation of the synagogue from Jesus’ time.

The central room of the octagonal church had been plastered, re-plastered, and painted with intricate designs—remarkable and unique in Capernaum. Found on pieces of plaster were prayer expressions like “Lord Jesus, help your servant” and, “Christ have mercy”. There is debate about whether Peter’s name actually appears in the graffiti…

Baltz then offers an interesting observation about an intriguing find there:

It became clear that the use of the central room had changed with the passing years. The lowest level still held evidence from daily home life—lamps, coins, cooking pots. Even fish hooks were found in that lowest level.[1]

That may sound insignificant—fish hooks—but those familiar with the biblical story will know that it is not. Peter was a fisherman. Jesus called him away from his nets in order to become a “fisher of men.” After the crucifixion Peter seemingly returned to his nets until Jesus appeared to him and commissioned him for greater things. So fishing was always kind of lurking around Peter.

But here in our text is one of the more curious fishing episodes in Peter’s life. And, strangely enough, it involved paying taxes!

Jesus is confronted with a law.

Immediately after the Mount of Transfiguration and the healing of the demon possessed boy, Jesus offers a telling and jarring prophecy of His coming crucifixion.

²² As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

They are “greatly distressed” at this news, as we might expect. We would be too. But Jesus is moving now closer and closer to the events of the cross and His disciples must be prepared for the trials and testing to come. Suddenly the text pivots and Jesus and His disciples are confronted with a law!

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?” ^25a He said, “Yes.”

This transition might seem strange, but I would like to challenge us to take note of something. This positioning of the demands of the law and of religious duty in such close proximity to a pronouncement of the coming crucifixion can itself be seen as a prophetic statement. After all, it was in no small part Jesus’ alleged and perceived violations of “the law” as understood and articulated by the religious establishment of the day that led to His crucifixion (at least as seen “from below,” from a human vantage point).

Regardless, the tax collectors come and ask that the temple tax be paid. We must note that this was not a Roman political tax, but a Jewish religious tax. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary explains.

The Old Testament gave a directive that at the annual census each person over the age of twenty was to give a half-shekel (beka’) offering to the Lord for the support of the tabernacle (Ex. 30:11-16). A half-shekel was approximately one-fifth of an ounce of silver…which after the Exile, with devaluation, equaled one-third of a shekel for temple support…The half-shekel is the equivalent of two days of work wages…The half-shekel temple tax was the equivalent of the Greek silver didrachma, a “two-drachma” coin. But the most common coin used among the people was the denarius, equivalent to a day’s wage, so a person would pay two denarii, the equivalent of the didrachma, since the latter was seldom minted…[2]

The tax collectors come, as tax collectors tend to do. Perhaps they have some desire to instigate a conflict or perhaps not. Their question about Jesus paying the tax need not necessarily be read with an affected sneer, though we cannot rule out that this is how it was delivered. They were simply doing their job, whatever other motives might come about. Jesus, the incarnate God-man, was rightly confronted with the irksome earthly reality of taxation. This is, in part, what it means to be a human being in a governed land. Peter, when asked about Jesus and taxes, responds simply, “Yes.”

Jesus reveals the new reality of life in the Kingdom.

When the band of disciples and Jesus gather in Peter’s house Jesus asks Peter a series of questions. This is oftentimes dangerous territory, the questions of Jesus! But here Jesus wants to reveal something about life in the Kingdom, even as it is lived out in the world.

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.”

Here are the three questions:

• What do you think, Simon?

• From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax?

• From their sons or from others?

It is not the last time that Peter will be asked three questions, either by onlookers or by Jesus after His resurrection. Regardless, the questions are meant to take Peter and the disciples to a new understanding.

The root question is simple enough: Do rulers tax their children or those who are not their children. Peter answers simply again: “From others.” That is to say, the children of the powerful are exempt from the burdens that the powerful put on others. Such is the way of the world.

Then Jesus makes a loaded statement that is intended to be read on two levels: “Then the sons are free.”

On a lower, earthly level this means, “Yes, Peter, you are correct. The sons of the powerful are not burdened with taxes and tolls.”

On the upper level, however, what we might call the Kingdom level, it means this: Since Jesus is the Son and brings all who come to Him into the family, we are truly free in a higher sense from the demands and burdens of the world. Put another way: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

This does not mean that followers of Jesus are freed from obeying earthly laws! Clearly not. But it means that we have tasted a freedom that cannot be hindered by earthly burdens even as we seek to honor and obey the earthly burdens that come with the stewardship of citizenship. We will pay taxes, yes, but we are truly free of all taxes! We will suffer, yes, but we are truly free from all suffering! We will do our duty, yes, but our ultimate duty is the glory of Christ!

Make no mistake, we are children of the great High King, the Lord God, and have been brought into the family by and through the work of King Jesus! We are residents here, but we are not citizens here. We will honor the earthly powers, but never in an ultimate sense. We have seen the truth of the matter: there is a King above the kings and a Power above the powers!

“Then the sons are free.”

Yes! Indeed we are!

A miracle of accommodation and of prophecy.

And yet, we free sons and daughters of the Kingdom live in a fallen world with its taxes and its laws, and we will comply so long as conscience allows before God. Jesus speaks of this in terms of avoiding offense. But it is the specific way that Jesus pays their taxes that is most fascinating!

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.”

My my! Pull a fish out of the sea and you will find the money in his mouth, Jesus says! Amazing! Many people have tried to explain or understand this miracle. I have no idea why! Let it be. It is gloriously strange and odd and wonderful and beautiful, this act of provision and of grace! One commentator has noted, “The fish known popularly, but probably inaccurately, as ‘Saint Peter’s Fish” is the musht…More likely Peter caught the barbel…”[3] Fine and good. But the bigger point is what this means.

First of all, it is an accommodation. Meaning, Jesus accommodates the tax collectors and the laws of man by paying his taxes. Let us remember that the early church sought to live in peace with the fallen world so far as it could do so. In Acts 2 we read:

⁴⁶ And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

This “having favor with all the people” includes being good citizens, which they were. We should be as well! The church will necessarily cause offense as it preaches the gospel. When called upon, we must be willing to die for Jesus and stand against the rage of the fallen world. That is as it should be. But there is certainly no reason for the church to cause offense by disobeying the laws of the land that come with responsible citizenship.

I notice two more dynamics at play here. This episode again plays like a prophecy.

A prophecy of atonement.

First, there is a note of atonement here. Obviously a tax is a payment, but when we look at the biblical basis for this tax in Exodus 30 we notice that it was about more than mere funds. Listen:

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³ Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. ¹⁵ The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord’s offering to make atonement for your lives. ¹⁶ You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

What is this “ransom for his life” that lies behind this tax. Old Testament scholar Robert Alter makes a fascinating observation about this when he writes:

It was a belief common to Israel and to the Mesopotamian cultures that it was dangerous for humans to be counted. Perhaps it was felt that assigning individuals in a mass an exact number set them up as vulnerable targets for malefic forces. The story of David’s ill-fated census in 2 Samuel 24, which triggers a plague, turns on this belief. The danger of destruction inherent in census taking could be averted by the payment of a “ransom” for each threatened life as a donation to the sanctuary.[4]

The original impetus for this tax, then, was, in some way or another, seen as a payment that kept destruction and death at bay.

A price was paid so that the one paying the tax would not face destruction.

It is powerful to see the Lord Jesus, who, again, has just prophesied the cross, agree to make payment so that, in the popular mind anyway, destruction will be avoided. It was a foreshadowing of the reality to come: that on the cross Jesus would indeed make payment so that no one need enter eternal condemnation!

A prophecy of substitution.

But more than that, let us observe that Jesus makes payment not merely for Himself. He says to Peter, “Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

For me and for yourself.

Jesus pays the price for Peter.

Jesus makes a tax atonement for Peter.

Jesus makes provision and it is His provision that removes Peter’s debt.

See here another prophesy of the cross. There Christ will make a payment not only for Peter, but for us, and, indeed, for the whole world, “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18)!

It is a powerful thing to see, this tax payment that was more than a tax payment. It was also a prophecy, a type, a foreshadowing, a sign of what would soon come.

Jesus offers miraculous payment to erase the debt of another.

Once again He was preparing our hearts for the cross. For on the cross He did the exact same thing!

 

[1] https://patternsofevidence.com/2021/03/26/capernaum-home-of-simon-peter/

[2] Michael J. Wilkins, “Matthew.”  Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Gen. Ed., Clinton E. Arnold. Vol.1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p.109-110.

[3] Michael J. Wilkins, p.111.

[4] Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses. The Hebrew Bible. vol. 1 (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 2019), p.334n.12.