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Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."
- Matthew 17:22-27
Yesterday we read that when Jesus, Peter, John and James had come to the multitude (after the Transfiguration), a man came to Jesus, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. This is the second time that Jesus has warned the disciples about what is to come. The previous time, Peter objected strongly. But in today's reading, this news, given once again, produces an "exceeding sorrow." My study bible says, "The Son of Man is not led by compulsion, but He is going to the Passion willingly, so that 'He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone' (Hebrews 2:9)."
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you." My study bible says that the temple tax was an annual head tax on all male Jews twelve years of age and up, excepting priests and rabbis, for the maintenance of the temple. "Jesus," it notes, "as Son of God is supremely free of this tax. Nevertheless, He does not refuse to pay it, nor does He tell His disciples to pay it for Him. But, having proved Himself not liable to it, He gives it. He pays it not as a debt, but in consideration of their weakness and to avoid unnecessary offenses."
Many Patristic commentators note that this tax was commanded by law as written by Moses (Exodus 30:13); it was a half-shekel for redemption or "ransom" of soul and body. The same small amount was required of rich and poor alike. Jesus, as Son of God and descendent of David, is free of the tax -- but as the text notes, pays it willingly for both Himself and His disciple. Or, more truly, He bestows it miraculously, not from the collection of the disciples but a fish in the sea. The fish, of course, indicates great abundance, and at the same time will become an early symbol of the Redeemer, as well as those "sons" who are caught by the "fishers of men." The word for fish in the Greek was ΙΧΘΥΣ/ixthys. Each letter stood for a word to create an acronym that is translated "Jesus Christ God's Son Savior." So here, there is a correspondence to the "redemption" of the half-shekel for soul and body, and the Redeemer Himself, who redeems each of us as "sons" of the kingdom by adoption, and the apostles who "fish" for the faithful. In this is the "freedom" of the sons, that the Redeemer has made one sacrifice for all. Therefore our reading comes together, in the announcement of His sacrifice of suffering and death and Resurrection, and the tax paid for "freely" in the symbolic abundance of the God-man who also bestows us with the gift of His grace. This event therefore becomes a sign of our own free redemption -- and another example of the fulfillment of the Law in Christ. Cyril of Alexandria has written: "He was also able to take the coin out of the earth, but he did not do so. [Instead he] made the miracle out of the sea, so that he might teach us the mystery rich in contemplation. We are the fish snatched from the bitter disturbances of life. It is just as if we have been caught out of the sea on the apostles’ hooks. In their mouths the fish have Christ the royal coin, which was rendered in payment of debt for two things, for our soul and for our body. Also for two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles. Also in the same way for the poor and the wealthy, since the old law clearly demanded the payment of the half-shekel from both rich and poor alike." Thus Christ's freedom here also represents a tremendous leavening, a deep equality of all before God, a powerful mystery of the Kingdom. The true depth of that freedom we have yet to fathom; the mystery of His gift to all of us is immeasurable. But it will continue to produce the abundance in the promise of this symbol.
