Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?

 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 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 after coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John,  they had come to the multitude, and 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 prediction Jesus makes to His disciples of His death and Resurrection.  The first was just prior to the Transfiguration, and just after Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah.  My study bible says that by doing so, He shows He is going to His Passion freely and not being taken against His will.  This time the news sinks in more deeply; the disciples are 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 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."  The temple tax, explains my study bible, was an annual "head tax" on all male Jews -- except the priests -- over twelve years of age.  Its purpose was for the maintenance of the temple (see Numbers 3:43-51).  A "head tax" is a tax on individuals (not property nor income).  The term literally derives from a tax on one's head.   My study bible says that Christ, as Son of God, is both High Priest and "proprietor" of the temple, and thereby exempt from the tax.  But He pays it anyway -- this avoids unnecessary offense and also shows that He has totally identified Himself with mankind.    Many commentaries speak of fishing for the tax as a sign to Peter, who by training is a fisherman, and by calling becomes a "fisher of men."

The image of the fish brought up out of the sea is an intriguing one.  It's the first fish caught, as specifically instructed by Christ.  We think of the expression "all the fish in the sea" or there are "plenty of fish in the sea."  It is an image of abundance.  That this is the very first fish also teaches that Peter is not to struggle to search for this particular fish.  It gives us an attitude about money that reminds us of Jesus' earlier teachings on needless anxiety about material things (see this reading, worth reviewing in its entirety when thinking about this context).  The coin in the mouth of the fish is very suggestive of abundance, while at the same time having a kind of fairy tale quality to it.  But this is not a fairy tale, it's a teaching by Christ and a direct command.  The symbol of the fish, lest we forget, will also be an early symbol of Christ Himself.  The word in Greek for fish, "ichthys" or ιχθυς, works as an acronym.  In Greek, each letter of that word forms the first letter of the following phrase:  "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior"  (Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ).  In some sense, this scene is a kind of illustration of the words Jesus uses to sum up His teachings in the earlier reading against unnecessary anxiety about material things:  "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  It also reminds us that Jesus will teach to "render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s" (see Matthew 22:15-22).  There are ways in which the world will ask us for seeming compromises, even while we hold fast to the truth of faith.  Jesus' focus is not on revolution, on fixing every wrong or correcting everything that is imperfect in the world.  He teaches us to know who we are and what we are to be about, with a focus on knowing who we are within and dealing with the "plank in our own eye."  The one thing He's taught His disciples to beware of is the "leaven of the Pharisees," the hypocrisy that can come from too much of an external focus -- both in terms of self and others.  Our Lord teaches us a kind of "middle way" for living in the world, for dealing with the "sufficient" troubles of today.  He teaches us a way to live in peace -- and all about humility and grace.