Matthew 17:24-27
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes-from their own children or from others?" "From others," Peter answered. "Then the children are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not cause offense, 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."
The Lord has once again taken this opportunity to educate the disciples, which again demonstrated His true identity to the disciples. When Jesus was on earth, not only was He the Son of Man, but He was also the Son of God. As a Son of Man, He needed to obey the law of the world; as a child, He also needed to obey His parents. One time, when His parents brought Him to the temple, Jesus was discussing about God's word with the rabbis. His parents, after they left for a while, found out that Jesus did not follow Him, so they rushed to find Him. After they found Jesus, Mary said to the Lord: "Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." Jesus replied: "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Indeed, from the perspective of the Son of God, He should be concerned with matters of Father God; on the other hand, as a son of man, He still obeyed the guidance of His parents, so He went home with them. Also, when Jesus was baptized, He went to John the Baptist, and John said to Him: "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied: "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." It is evident from these stories that when the Lord was on earth He tried His best to obey the rules of the law.
All authorities in the world are actually from Father God, same as the authorities of the kings. Romans 13:1 says that "there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Therefore, the Lord asked here: "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes?" If the world belongs to the Kingdom of God, then the kings need to pay tax to God. Jesus is the Son of God, so He shouldn't have to pay tax. Nevertheless, because the Lord cared about the weakness of the disciples and saw that Peter didn't know what to say to the tax collectors, He performed a miracle to show that He's indeed the Son of God. Jesus truly has mercy on us; He sees our weakness and cares about us, and He will proactively solve our difficulties. He didn't forsake Peter for the truth, but instead performed a wonderful miracle. Do you know that He will also perform miracles for you today in big and small things in life? Just focus on Jesus, and He will personally work in your life!
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, I thank you because you have mercy on our weakness and you make way for us during difficult times. You will even perform miracles for us in order to show that not only are you the Son of Man, but also the Son of God. May the Lord help us to follow your will in our daily life. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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