This is a very interesting section of where Jesus does three things. He claims his divinity of being the Son of God, he subtly includes Peter in this freedom when he says “sons” not “son,” and he also shows He is Lord over nature and humanity when he commands nature to provide the payment. First, he tells Peter he has the freedom to go into His father’s house because He is the son of God. He declares that he belongs directly to the Father and that because He belongs directly to the Father He has the freedom to dwell in His Father’s house. Second, he includes Peter in this promise. Peter can also freely dwell in the Father’s house (which is the temple) because he is a follower of Jesus. The final point is the most important point. Jesus shows Peter that establishing his spiritual freedom and power to others is not his main goal. Jesus is the Lord over creation and Lord over the universe. If anyone had the right to put their foot down and not pay a tax to enter the temple it would be him. What is Jesus showing us here? He is showing us that being right is not always the right answer. He shows us that he cares more about not creating separation between himself and the Pharisees. He knows they are wrong and he is right but he is more worried about not offending the Pharisees. Why is that? Jesus displays humility when he definitely did not have to. He understands how sin and Satan operate. They divide and conquer. We must ask ourselves is it more important to be right or to show humility and love? Jesus shows us that it is ok not to exercise our spiritual freedom if it is just going to divide us from others. Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, and with all of your soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. Do we honestly do this? Do we go through the day trying to show everyone how right we are or are we more worried about serving and loving others? People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. It is not always the right time to be right. Sometimes it is more important to just be quiet and not create division in a relationship with someone so that way you start don’t break trust with someone. Did Jesus have to pay a tax to enter the temple? No. What did it hurt for him to pay it? Nothing. Remember the main goal today and everyday. The main goal is to love. The way we lead people to Jesus is by serving and loving people. Not by showing people how right we are. We show mercy and grace to others because of the mercy and grace Jesus showed us. He could have not died on that cross and said “I’m right” and “y’all are wrong” but he didn’t. He looked at us in our sin and loved us anyway. That is how we are supposed to love others. Loving someone is being able to forgive and love them no matter what they have done to us. Showing forgiveness is something you can’t do without a relationship with Jesus. He gives us the power to love through forgiveness through his Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. We love because we didn’t deserve love and we forgive because we didn’t deserve forgiveness. Love y’all! Have a great day!
Matthew 17:24-27
Read scripture…
“When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax? ” “Yes,” he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? ” , “From strangers,” he said. “Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him. “But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”
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