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February 11, 2018 |
| The Children Are Free | ||
The verses for this lesson describe one of Jesus' more unusual miracles, when a fish becomes the source of a coin needed to pay a tax. We won't be looking at the miracle really but at some curious words Jesus uses - the children are free.
This is a very short passage and one that most people have read many times but have only seen a miracle by Jesus. Many don't even remember that. Because it's short, and to refresh memories, we'll read straight through the verses here and then work through them verse by verse.
24 And when they came to Kapernahum, those who take the two quarter-shekels head tax came to [Peter] and said to him: "Does not your Rabbi pay the two quarter shekels?"
25 And he said to them, "Yes." And when [Peter] entered the house, Yeshua anticipated him and he said to him, "How does it seem to you [Simon]? From whom do the Kings of the earth take taxes and head money? From their children or from strangers?"
26 And [Simon] said to him, "From strangers." Then Yeshua said to him, "Then the children are free."
27 "But lest we give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a fish hook, and the first fish that comes up, open its mouth and you will find a shekel. Take that and give for me and for you."
Now we'll work our way through the verses.
24 And when they came to Kapernahum, those who take the two quarter-shekels head tax came to [Peter] and said to him: "Does not your Rabbi pay the two quarter shekels?"
The people speaking to Peter are tax-collectors who were disliked and generally considered sinners.
After the return from the Babylonian captivity, all males among the Jews of twenty years of age and upwards (on the ground of the command in Exodus 30:13 [and others]) were required to contribute annually the sum of half a shekel, by way of defraying the expenses connected with the temple services. After the destruction of the temple the money went to the Capitol. The time for collecting this tax was the fifteenth of the month Adar1.
Their tone would have been much more demanding and accusative than it might seem here, "who does your master think he is." They would have also been making the point that their master was a teacher of God and the tax was for the temple of God.
The tax collectors were well motivated to make sure everyone paid the tax because they worked on a commission basis. A part of what they collected was their pay.
25 And he said to them, "Yes." And when [Peter] entered the house, Yeshua anticipated him and he said to him, "How does it seem to you [Simon]? From whom do the Kings of the earth take taxes and head money? From their children or from strangers?"
This verse marks a curious change in the references to Peter. Until this quote from Jesus, the text has been calling him Peter, the name Jesus gave him. In the quote Jesus calls him Simon and after that the text calls him Simon as well. If we think that Simon was his secular name and Peter his spiritual name, then Jesus appears to be saying, "from a man's perspective, what do you think?"
This also appears to be a reference to the mistake Peter has just made in thinking like a man. He has committed Jesus to do some thing. Remember how the tax collectors asked Peter if his Rabbi paid the tax. Even if Peter was a disciple of another Rabbi it would have been wrong for him to speak on behalf of his Rabbi.
Peter wouldn't have understood it immediately but Jesus' question has three levels:
Notice also that Jesus expands the context by saying "taxes and head money." He is going to be making a point that doesn't only apply to this head tax taken for the temple.
26 And [Simon] said to him, "From strangers." Then Yeshua said to him, "Then the children are free."
Peter answers the question "from a man's perspective", earthly kings and earthly children. The children of the king were exempt from the taxes of the king. If a king was challenged that his sons should also pay the taxes, he would answer, "what sense would that make? The money they would pay in taxes would come to me and I would pay them. If paying the taxes left them short I would pay them more."
In our society we like to think that everyone pays taxes and that is more just. The truth, however, is that all the taxes come from those outside the government and go to those inside the government and to whomever they might choose to give it.
Jesus answers that this shows "the children are free" by which he means they are free of the tax obligation imposed by the king. He is speaking to all three levels of his question though, and we'll see that in the next verse.
27 "But lest we give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a fish hook, and the first fish that comes up, open its mouth and you will find a shekel. Take that and give for me and for you."
When Jesus says "lest we give offense to them" he shows the other levels. His point is that there is no need to pay the tax, but failure to do so would offend the tax collectors and then there would be soldiers, swords, clubs, and jail. Therefore the tax will be paid.
We have to ask though, on what basis Jesus says the tax is not binding on them. The answer comes from the second level of his question, earthly kings, God's children. The people of the world have no authority to tax the children of God, nor to impose any laws on them. We are the children of a different king, whom we obey.
This is part of a much larger teaching on the "new man" change that occurs when one becomes a child of God. With this same change, slaves are no longer slaves in the eyes of God, marriage covenants are canceled, debts are freed, and so on. But Jesus speaks to the secular reality - they have the clubs and swords and the intent to enforce their will. Therefore we obey those whom God has placed in authority over us as we are commanded.
God provides the needed coin through a miracle. But why was a miracle required? We know that Jesus had a money box and Judas was in charge of it. The tax could have been paid from there and maybe it was for the other disciples. But for Peter, Jesus uses this miracle to emphasize the fact that the laws of the world are not binding on the children of God. Remember, when asked about whether Jesus paid the tax, Peter had responded, "yes", probably under duress. Jesus wanted him to understand why Jesus paid the tax.
Jesus also hints at the third level of his question, a time in the future when Jesus is king. At that time the secular world will not impose taxes or laws on us, neither will the king, and we will be the children of the king, free.
Once we grasp this truth it results in a big attitude shift. We obey the rulers of the world (including paying taxes) not because the world has the authority to impose them. We obey them not because we fear the consequences if we offend them (jail, etc.). We obey them because our king says we should.
We are not part of the world, yet we live in the world, as children of a different king.
A person could say that this freedom is just an illusion – whatever way we look at it, we live by the world’s laws. There is, however, both a difference in perspective and a potential difference in reality. The change in perspective changes the way we see things and establishes us as children of God and not of the world. This is the same as sacrifices in the temple. Two people could sacrifice the same animal but one would be accepted by God and the other rejected. The difference is the heart of the giver.
There is also a potential for practical differences. Paul says that a new believer spouse can divorce an unbeliever if the unbeliever will not accept the believer. The marriage covenant was broken by the unbeliever becoming a believer. So, the unbeliever can be spiritually divorced even if the civil laws don’t allow divorce.
Another practical difference comes when civil authorities demand Christians do things that violate God’s law. Though not a problem in our country and time, it is elsewhere and has been in history. In this case we obey God whether they are offended or not.
If we let Jesus' words here sink in, it really makes clear what our perspective on the world should be and we see that perspective echoed in other places in the Bible.
1 Meyer's NT Commentary http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/17-24.htm