What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?

 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, James, John and Peter, returning from the mount of Transfiguration, had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, 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 Jesus has given a warning to the disciples about His death and Resurrection.  The first was at 16:21, and at that time was met with great resistance from Peter, for which he was rebuked by Christ (see this reading).  But now, the disciples respond by being exceedingly sorrowful.   Jesus shows that He is going to His Passion freely, and not against His will.  The experience of the Transfiguration has also conveyed to the disciples (through Peter, James, and John) that Jesus' divinity is ever-present and powerful, thus He could not go to His human death except voluntarily.

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."  Peter, as is habitual for his character, immediately answers "Yes" when asked if Jesus pays the temple tax.  Throughout varied incidents in Scripture, Peter will show a sensitivity to what we might call "social pressure" or expectations.  And, as is also in some sense typical, Jesus anticipates what has happened with Peter.  He is aware of what has already transpired as Peter comes into the house, which is Peter's family home in Capernaum.  My study bible says that this was an annual head tax on all male Jews (with the exception of priests) over twelve years of age for the maintenance of the temple (Numbers 3:43-51).  Jesus, as Son of God, is both High Priest and "proprietor" of the temple, and therefore is exempt from the tax.  But Jesus pays it anyway, both to avoid unnecessary offense and to show that He has totally identified Himself with mankind, my study bible explains.  The coin taken from the mouth of the fish is given in the original Greek as one worth the precise amount for two people.

What do we make of the temple tax, and its being taken from the mouth of a fish?   We remember that it is Peter the fisherman to whom, along with James and John Zebedee, Jesus told, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men"  (4:19).  In a sense, from the beginning, Jesus uses the talents and "metier" of Peter -- and by extension, all of His disciples and followers -- to redeem souls in the service of God.  The temple tax was a redemption tax, paid for the redemption of the soul of the individual for whom it was paid.  But Christ -- who is Himself both King and Son -- comes into the the world seeking other "sons" and "heirs."  It is these who are exempt from tax, according the conversation of Peter and Jesus.  St. Cyril of Alexandria comments, "For 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."  In other words, this fish caught by the one commissioned by Christ to be a "fisher of men" becomes itself symbolic of the fact of redemption, the payment of the price for the soul, and at the same time the means by which sonship is conferred.  That this is by divine action is made "abundantly" clear as this miracle takes place in the depths of the sea, and by means of the first fish caught.  It is a prefiguring of the action of the apostles as fishers of men, and the reality of redemption and sonship in the Church, as transfiguration and fulfillment of the law in Christ.  The miraculous coin is a sort of gift, like those of the Magi at Christ's birth (2:9-11).  But its significance is not lost, as it is a Greek silver coin (a στατῆρα/stater) worth the equivalent of a shekel.  Given to Christ, it stands for the world transformed by God's action and command.  It becomes symbolic of a world redeemed, for both Jew and Greek, poor and wealthy, and our souls and bodies, as St. Cyril also tells us.  Peter immediately responded "Yes" to those who come with malicious intent, trying to trap the Master through His disciple.  But Jesus redeems all things, even in the most unlikely and impossible-seeming ways.  Let us remember this story when we find ourselves in a difficult place, and remember His abundance and redemption of all from all.