Introduction
As we continue our wanderings through
Matthew we have come to this fascinating little passage about the
temple tax. After the Transfiguration Jesus and the disciples were
making there way back to base, on their way they have healed a demon
possessed boy, and now they have arrived and there to great them is
the tax collector.
Taxes
I expect most of you have come across
tithing – we talk about it often enough, but I wonder if you have
heard of the temple tax before. So, in case you don't know about the
temple tax I will give you some background in a minute.
You may also be aware that Jesus
appears to have views on taxation that are a little bit different to
those he expresses here. That story is a few chapters further on in
Chapter 22. Jesus is asked about paying taxes to the Romans in one of
those entrapment questions that the religious leaders of the time
were so fond of. He surprised them all, as he usually did, when he
said “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
There doesn't seem to be any concerns about paying taxes to the
Roman authorities, yet here paying taxes to the temple seems to be a
bit of an issue. Of course you may say that they weren't asking
Jesus to pay the tax, but he isn't one who has one rule for himself
and another for those around Him. So we should try to understand what
is going on here too.
Offense
Then there's the statement about
paying the tax so as not to give offense. Jesus usually seems to
'tell it like it is'. Only a few pages back he called Peter 'Satan',
and since then has gone back to using his old name of Simon – that
must have given offense. He is more than willing to put the
religious leaders in their place, take the start of chapter 23 as an
example:
Then
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the
law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and
do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do
not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them
on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a
finger to move them.
How
could that not cause offense?
Missing Verse?
These things make the passage
interesting, but for me there is one thing that makes it absolutely
fascinating, and its not even in the passage. Why is there no verse
28? After a story like this I would expect a conclusion, but it is
unfinished. Does that mean that Peter didn't go fishing that day and
the temple tax was never paid and so offense was given? Or is it a
test of the readers faith, should we just accept, by faith, as some
preachers suggest that it happened exactly as Jesus said it would.
We will see – but the Bible is not usually quiet about prophesies
being fulfilled. Perhaps Jesus instructions are some sort of coded
message to Peter and Matthew didn't know what was meant. Perhaps its
is a metaphorical suggestion that Peter should pay the taxes out of
his earnings – he is a fisherman, so go fishing – that will make
you the money you need. During my preparation I have read sermons
that suggest all of these things, and have also read suggestions that
this never happened but was inserted by the author for other
purposes. I don't like to treat scripture like that – as soon as
the explanations start to get complicated and require us to read
something into the story I begin to look for a more straight forward
explanation.
What do you think – did the tax get
paid or not?
Scripture does not tell us one way or
the other.
Tax
Tax is always raised for something.
Even if you don't agree with the thing the money is being used for
you generally still pay the tax.
Wernher von Braun said “There is
just one thing I can promise you about the outer-space program –
your tax-dollar will go further.”
The temple tax was there to support
the temple – not the people in it, just the buildings and so on.
Thankfully we don't raise a tax to support our buildings, if we did
it would have to increase, but I digress.
The temple tax pre-dates the temple.
It had been around for a much longer time. It is first recorded in
Exodus 30:13 where the census is being described.
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.”
In Exodus it was use to support the
Tabernacle – the tent that the Israelites took with them that was
later replaced by the temple.
So the temple tax is a poll tax, by
Jesus time it was paid annually by each male of 20 years or more.
During its history the tax has varied in amount, but has never been a
huge. In Jesus time it was set at 2 days wages for a labourer.
Taking the October 2014 minimum wage for a twenty-one year old and
assuming an eight hour day that is £204.
Given the English attitude to a poll
tax – most of us remember the Community Charge and the public
reaction to it in 1990 – riots in the streets. You might think that
this tax would be unpopular. The English are not like the Jews. In
Jesus time it was collected by Jews all over the empire and there are
reports of armed guards taking the collection from Rome to Jerusalem.
Even when the Romans banned the removal of Gold from Rome, the Jews
still paid the temple tax. It was what you did if you were a good
Jew at that time.
Assuming that, it seems strange that
the tax collector would ask “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple
tax?”. There is some suggestion that not all the Jews in Palestine
paid the tax, some groups (or sects) did not pay. It is also worth
noting that the question is not always phrased in the negative – it
depends which translation you read.
As Adam
Hart-Davis told us “tax doesn't have to be taxing”, so that's
enough on the temple tax for now.
There are other mysteries to look at
and try to understand.
Detailed look at the passage
Matthew Only
As I start to look at a passage in a
little more depth, one of the first things that I do is to find
similar passages in other parts of the Bible. That is no help to me
here. This story is unique to Matthew.
How did Jesus know?
Following on from the tax question we
have another conundrum. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the
first to speak. He asks Peter who pays taxes. How does Jesus know
of the conversation that Peter has just been involved in. Again
there are a number of possibilities:
-
It may have been revealed to Him supernaturally. We know this is possible, but there are other possibilities
-
He may have overheard the conversation, or snippets of it at least. First century houses in Palestine did not have windows to block out the sound, if the conversation took place immediately outside the house it is possible that Jesus heard.
-
Jesus may just have been expecting it – the tax was collected at the same time every year.
I'm always reluctant to choose a
supernatural explanation, if a reasonable alternative can be found,
but for me on this occasion I think it is most likely a combination
of the first and the third. The reason for my choice of explanation
is that the Amplified version has “when Peter came home”, which
suggests he may have been further away that just outside. Either
translation is acceptable. And that's it as far as evidence goes.
So lets move on to something more
important.
Jesus is exempt from the Tax
Lets look at the details of the
conversation with Peter:
"What
do you think, Simon?” he
asked. “From
whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes
q
—from
their own sons or from others?”
Mt
17:26
“From others,” Peter answered. “Then
the sons are exempt,”
Clearly it would be a nonsense for a
King or Queen to tax their own children – families do not work like
that, so Jesus is showing Peter that, as the Son of God, He does not
have to pay the tax. After all it was Peter who first recognized
Jesus as the Son of God. That is recorded back in chapter 16, so
Jesus is still busy teaching the disciples and reinforcing the
lessons they are learning.
We are now in the same position as
Jesus, because we are adopted sons and daughters because of what
Jesus has done for all of us. No tax NEEDS paying to maintain the
temple because ultimately we are all the same family.
Go fishing
Then we have this final statement
from Jesus:
“But
so that we may not offend
them,
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 for my tax and yours.”
… and we are back at this very
strange sentence. Jesus does not want to offend the collectors of
the temple tax. He advises Peter to go fishing with a line rather
than a net, this is the only place in the New Testament where line
fishing is suggested.
What is really happening?
So what is really going on here. The
best explanation I found was in Tom Wright's commentary “Matthew
for Everyone”. To see what is happening we must take a step back
from the detailed events we have been looking at and see the big
picture.
Jesus is on a mission. He has come
from Heaven to Earth and is in the process of training his
successors. The first two verses we had read this morning show this
When
they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The
Son of Man
is
going to be betrayed into the hands of men.
They
will kill him,
and
on the third day
he
will be raised to life.”
And the disciples were filled with grief.
Through
His death and resurrection Jesus pays the price for our sins and
makes a way for us back to God. This is the plan that makes us the
adopted children who do not have to pay the temple tax. He is busy
on the latter stages of that training, and He is preparing himself
for a visit to Jerusalem where he will visibly and actively threaten
the life of the temple. Now is not the time to make a scene. Now is
not the time to upset a small time tax collector and bring the
attention of the temple authorities on him. Tom Wright says that “The
point of the story isn't that Jesus had the power to make a coin
appear in the mouth of a fish, … nor is
it that Jesus is simply a good citizen finding ways of paying the
necessary taxes. The point is that
He was a master strategist. He
was himself, as he told His disciples to be” as
shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
That
was a eureka moment for me. At last there was an explanation of why
the story was there and it meaning. It provides us with the model of
how to behave when we are planning to bring the message of Jesus to
the wider world.
So
did Peter go fishing with a line – well scripture doesn't say, and
now I know the story's true meaning it doesn't bother me that much,
so you can decide for yourself, but I can assure you that the tax was
paid, because Jesus was following the model he had devised for his
mission, which goes something like:
Make
your plans, keep your council, don't cause offense or bring attention
to yourself until you are ready. Then go and transform the world.
