Introduction
The American founding father Benjamin Franklin is responsible for coining several everyday sayings that are still in common use today.
“Time is money” is one of them. Also with a financial theme, “A penny saved is a penny earned”- that’s one of his as well.
The quote for which he is probably most well-known though is from 1789 and the full quote is as follows; “Our new constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, [and here’s the famous bit] in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.”
Death and taxes. Unavoidable death and inevitable taxes. There’s no escaping either, even this morning, because death and taxes are what today’s passage of scripture is all about. So let’s read it together, it’s Matthew 17.22-27.
When they came together in Galilee, [Jesus] said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered 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.
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 offence, 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.’
I’m going to approach this in reverse order; we’ll come to death at the end (appropriately) but let’s begin with this little story about tax. It is surely a candidate for being one of the strangest things in the Gospels.
As with all Bible stories containing animals, it’s a children’s favourite, and the range of possibilities for creative craft ideas is almost endless.
But it is slightly weird, let’s be honest. Matthew is the only Gospel to include it, and that is perhaps understandable given that Matthew was himself a former tax collector, so he was naturally interested in all things fiscal and financial. Jesus is going to die and rise again, oh and by the way, please make sure you're all good with the Inland Revenue...
The story also preserves the disciples’ proud record of never catching a single fish in any of the four Gospels without Jesus doing some sort of miracle. Check that out. If you can find one occurrence in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John where any disciple catches even one fish without Jesus having to do a miracle, I’ll eat my Bible. And if you can find two, I’ll eat yours as well!
The story raises many questions. You might be wondering about some of them already.
Including - did this miracle even happen? The Bible doesn’t say if Peter ever took the instruction seriously enough to carry it out. If it was me, I’m sure I’d be tempted to say to Jesus, “Really? What, seriously?”
I presume Peter did, and if so, I expect 100% that everything turned out exactly as Jesus predicted, but Matthew never actually records the incident.
Anyway, let’s do a bit of digging and try to get to the bottom of this story. What’s it all about? What’s going on here?
Privilege, position and provision
The two-drachma tax was an annual toll levied on every Jewish male 20-years-of-age and older and the revenue raised was used for the upkeep and maintenance of the temple.
It amounted to about two day’s wages, once a year, so it was not extortionate. And it was not even compulsory; it was a voluntary contribution, but it became a badge of patriotism for public figures.
It was a little bit like the custom here of wearing a poppy every November. You would stand out if you presented the news on the BBC or spoke in parliament without a displaying a poppy – some people would mutter that it was a bit off, and in the same way, you were seen as disrespectful or disloyal if you didn’t pay this tax.
But the temple tax, like buying a poppy, is nowhere commanded in scripture. Nor was it required by Roman law. It was more a social expectation in the culture of the time.
How is Jesus going to respond? Will he conform to these man-made religious rules? Or will he ignore them? Does he pay this tax or not?
William Barclay in his commentary says, “There is little doubt that the question was asked with malicious intent and that the hope was that Jesus would refuse to pay; for, if he refused, [they] would have grounds for making an accusation against him.”
I think that’s right. The way the question is phrased, “doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” suggests that they don’t think he does and they are hoping to slur Jesus as disloyal and unpatriotic, hating his own nation.
Why do they ask Peter? Jesus is not all that far away; they can ask him if they want to. The answer, surely, is that they know that if they ask Jesus, he will, as usual, make utter mugs of them with a reply so perfect that they will fall into the very trap they are laying.
In Luke 20.40 it says, after another determined effort to catch him out with trick questions, “And no one dared to ask him any more questions.”
So they chicken out and ask Peter instead. And Peter replies, without hesitation, that Jesus does in fact pay it.
In v25, Peter then goes into the house where Jesus is sitting, and before he has a chance to speak, Jesus asks him another question.
“What do you think? From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes – from their own children or from others?”
Well. According to my research last week, the royal family doesn’t by law have to pay tax. There is no act of Parliament that requires them to do so. In fact, they are actually beneficiaries of the public finances through what’s called the Sovereign Grant.
As it happens, since 1993, the royal family has voluntarily paid tax on income from the duchies and personal investments. But, unless I’m mistaken, it was not then, and is not now, mandatory.
So King Charles is not going to knock on Prince William’s door and say, “Now look here, Wills old chap, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (that is to say my Revenue and Customs) are telling you to jolly well stump up a few grand for a new lick of gold paint on one’s royal carriage.”
The king isn’t going to be sending HMRC demands to his children or grandchildren any time soon.
So: “What do you think? From whom does Charles III collect duty and taxes – from William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis, or from others?”
Answer: “from others.” Us, basically. And that’s what Peter said too.
Prince William’s status as a child of the king frees him from all tax obligation to his father. “So,” says Jesus, “the children are exempt.”
Jesus is comparing the realms of this world with the kingdom of God. And his point is that in the kingdom of God, the children of God, have privileged access to the presence of God. Jesus is where heaven meets earth.
Jesus himself, Immanuel, “God with us” is right there with them all the time. It’s better than any man-made temple with its constant need of maintenance and repairs.
In the same way, we, as disciples, have privilege and position as children of God. We’ve got everything we need.
“But,” says Jesus, “we don’t want to put up an obstacle that prevents people from coming to faith, do we? So let’s avoid giving unnecessary offense.” The children (like our royal family) are happy to pay anyway. God, the king of all the earth, has a supply of unlimited resources.
God can provide directly, and superabundantly, whatever is right. Philippians 4.19 says, “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
We are princes and princesses, royal children. We have an astounding position and standing. We have unparalleled blessings and privileges. We are blessed in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We have an open door to God, not earned by our own works but through knowing Christ. And we are blessed in creation by living in a beautiful world.
Here’s another Benjamin Franklin quote for you; “Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”
Amen to that! It is my testimony that God has blessed me by orders of magnitude more than I deserve all my life. I have never really wanted for any necessity.
Whenever I have gone to him with a real need, he has always supplied what I lacked. Significantly, the only time my bank account has ever been in the red was when we were first married, and we weren’t tithing.
It’s the same with every church I have belonged to. Inasmuch as it has stayed faithful to scripture and looked to the Lord to supply every need, every church I have been part of has always had sufficient funds to do everything God called it to do, and an excess to give away.
Even after a wealthy member moved on or, as happened here last year, we were faced with totally unaffordable bills and were three months from bankruptcy, God has always provided.
It sounds counterintuitive, but this is my experience; if you want God’s miraculous provision in your life, start by being a giver yourself. Bless someone in need. Invest in the Lord’s work. Give away gladly the first fruits of what God has given you.
That is the evidence of your faith in God to be able to meet all your needs. And God never owes anyone anything. You can’t outgive him.
The Bible is clear that we are not allowed to put God to the test. Time and time again it says that to us - with one notable exception. The only area in life where we are permitted, indeed commanded, to test God is in the area of finances.
In Malachi 3.10 God says, and he means it, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
So Jesus is generous here as usual. This action in no way compromises his mission, like so many of the religious traditions of his day did. So he conforms. Why cause unnecessary offence?
“Yeah, we’ll give a contribution for the temple, it’s a place where people can meet with God, fine.” And God supplies the money for it with a very strange miracle in v27.
“Go to the lake, open the mouth of the first fish you catch and take the coin you find which is enough for my tax and yours.”
I should make a note to remember this when I’m filling out my tax return next year…
God’s omniscience
If you’ve ever been a tourist to the Sea of Galilee, as I have, there’s a good chance you’ll have been served what they call Saint Peter’s fish, as I was. Otherwise known as the tilapia, this is one of the main species of fish in that lake.
According to the Zondervan Study Bible, this fish “frequently scoops up objects fallen on the lakebed and people have caught fish there with coins in their mouths even in modern times.”
As all freshwater anglers know, fish are attracted by bright flashing objects – that is literally how tons of trout and salmon are caught every year.
And Michael Green, in his commentary on Matthew adds another testimony. With respect to fish from the Sea of Galilee, he writes, “I have myself placed a silver coin much larger than the drachma mentioned here in the mouth of a tilapia fish.”
So the miracle is not so much that there was a fish with a coin in its mouth; it seems that does happen. The miracle is that Jesus knows that a coin will be in the mouth of precisely the very first fish Peter catches with his rod, and that it will be the exact sum necessary to pay Peter’s temple tax and his own.
Jesus also knows that Peter has been engaged in a conversation about all this with the tax collectors before he walks into the house.
Before that, in v22-23, and we’ll come to this shortly, he knows that he will soon be handed over and killed, and on the third day raised to life.
Jesus knows everything. He knows what we’re thinking. He knows our ambitions. He knows our motivations. He knows our past and he knows our future. Nothing takes him by surprise.
There were two men who retired in a certain town. Every day they met up on a park bench. Ten years passed, then twenty. One day, one said to the other, “You know, my memory isn’t what it used to be. Can you remind me of your name?” There was silence. So he repeated the question. Again, there was a long silence. Finally, the other bloke turned to his friend and said, “When do you need to know by?”
Some of us can relate to that. But God knows everything, remembers everything, understands everything. It’s what theologians call his omniscience.
Pastor and author Gavin Ortlund is really helpful on this. He outlines seven areas of God’s omniscience (what follows is slightly abbreviated and adapted).
First, God fully knows himself; his infinite knowledge encompasses his infinite being. The Father knows the Son, and the Son knows the Father and the Holy Spirit searches all the mysteries of the God.
Second, God fully knows his own decree or eternal purpose; all the events that transpire as the outworking of his sovereign will.
Third, he fully knows the past, which is as vivid to him as the present. Accordingly, God’s “forgetfulness” of our past sins refers to his commitment to never count them against us.
Fourth, he fully knows the present, from the number of the stars in the universe to the number of the hairs on our head.
Fifth, God fully knows the future, even the free will decisions and actions of his creatures, years from now.
Sixth, he fully knows all people that actually exist and events that happen.
And seventh, he knows all possible things, that is, all people and events that could possibly exist and happen but never do (for example, he knows the would-be response of people long dead if they had witnessed Jesus’s miracles centuries later, and he knows the would-be response of people who never heard the gospel if they had heard it).
God knows it all. The manifold wisdom of God!
Some people mistakenly think this is a bit creepy. God knows all my secrets. He knows when I get up, when I lie down, my deepest thoughts, my hopes, my fears.
But, as Psalm 139 shows, it’s actually a great comfort, because it means that God knows in exhaustive detail the whole truth all about you, everything, and he still loves you with a steadfast heart and an unwavering commitment.
He will be delivered
As I said at the start, this is now Jesus’ second of three predictions of his death. Each time, Jesus adds more detail.
This time, he tells the disciples not only that he will die and rise again, he says that he will be delivered into the hands of men. Someone is actually going to hand him over to those who will do the deed. He will be betrayed.
Jesus, the most wonderful life ever lived, who showed such loyalty to his people by paying the temple tax, will be repaid by the most grievous disloyalty by one who will surrender him to the murderous will of evil men.
In v23 we notice that this second disclosure prompts a different reaction from the disciples. In chapter 16, their response was one of denial. “No. Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
This time, it says they are “filled with grief.” Still, it seems, they don’t really register what Jesus says to them about the resurrection. They only hear the bad news.
But the gospel is good news, and when we come to communion in a moment, we are not mourning and laying flowers at a grave. We are enjoying the presence of the one who has overcome death forever and is with us as we eat and drink.
Ending
Sometimes people, going through a hard time, say something like, “What have I done to deserve this?”
But, as I end, and as we gather at the Lord’s table, the real “What have I done to deserve this?” is not one of grievance, but of gratitude.
What have I done to deserve such grace, such mercy, such favour, salvation, freedom from slavery to sin, eternal life, adoption to be a child of the King, spiritual gifts and provision every day from the God who keeps on giving?
Let’s stand to pray...
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 25 August 2024.
