Trinity 23
Dear friends in Christ. Our text today is very interesting. In it Jesus is asked to pay the temple tax and He pays it—but in such a way that shows that He is really the true God. And as He does it He also gives us a picture of His work of saving us from our sins.
I. Our text begins: And when [Jesus and His disciples] had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax and said, “Your Teacher pays the temple tax, does He not?” He said, “Yes.” Probably for the last time, Jesus returned to Capernaum, His own city and Peter’s hometown. It is natural, then, that the tax collectors approach Peter for himself and Jesus. This temple tax was due every March, according to the OT regulations every Israelite over 20 had to pay this annual tax for the maintenance of the temple and for the worship as some of this money was used to purchase the animals for all the sacrifices offered in the name of all. This tax, paid in the current currency, equaled about two days wages.
Our text continues: And when Peter 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 own sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.”
By this, Jesus was pointing out to Peter that He--Jesus-- was free; that He was free from, didn’t have to pay, the temple tax. Jesus was exempt from paying the temple tax because He is God. Even the people of the world would recognize the logic here and in fact they themselves act that way: kings don’t tax themselves or their family. They tax the people they’re ruling. Jesus is here pointing out that since He is God, the Son of God, and the temple in Jerusalem was God’s house, why, then, what sense does it make, to tax the Son for the Father’s house? Not even earthly rulers do this. This is Jesus claiming to be the very God Himself.
But anyone can say anything and claim anything. Talk is cheap. But even in the few verses of our text, Jesus shows that He is the very God. First of all, our text tells us that Jesus anticipated Peter, that is, Peter didn’t have to tell Him about his dealings with the tax collectors; Jesus already knew it. He is the omniscient, that is, all-knowing God. And when Peter came back, Jesus carried on as if Peter had told Him everything--which he didn't.
Not only does Jesus show He is all-knowing, but also in our text Jesus shows Himself to be the almighty God of heaven and earth, He whom all creatures must obey, He to whom everything in heaven and on earth belongs. Jesus tells Peter: 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.
Even here, Jesus is Lord of all creation. Jesus willed, commanded, a certain fish to go to Peter’s hook. Either Jesus created that coin in its mouth or He commanded that fish to go to the bottom and put in its mouth that coin that was there – either way that fish was the Lord’s servant, had to serve the Lord of all creation.
B. So, yes, Jesus here shows that He is the almighty God, the Son, and thus should be exempt from this tax. But what does Jesus actually do? Does He scream and protest, go to Capernaum’s version of Centerway Square with a tea bag. No! He simply pays the tax that He is not obligated to pay.
By Jesus’ action, however, there is more here than meets the eye. By Jesus condescending to pay the tax, He gives us a picture, an object lesson, of His work to be our Savior. Right before our text, Jesus told the disciple about Himself: 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. If Jesus, true God, condescends to pay this temple tax that He is not obligated to pay, will He also not humble Himself to be our Savior?
Elsewhere the Holy Spirit tells us through the apostle (Gal. 4.4): But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons. Jesus is the true God, the Son, the Second Person of the holy Trinity. He didn’t have to obey all these laws that God had given people to keep—but He did. All throughout our Lord’s life, we see Him placing Himself under the Law of God, doing what God had expected both the Israelites to do—like circumcision when He was 8 days old and here to pay the temple tax—and what God expected all people to do, such as keep the holy 10 Commandments. This is the heart and soul of Jesus’ work: becoming also true man and humbling Himself to do and keep the law that as God, as the Lawgiver, He is above. Just as Jesus kept the smallest part of Israelite law, so also did He keep all of the divine, holy law. And He did not do it for Himself, but for us!
Now God’s holy Law has been kept. What we couldn’t do, Jesus did for us. In order for us to be saved, God’s holy Law had to be kept. Because we by our sinful nature and our sins that we daily commit, couldn’t do it, could only be condemned, Jesus humbled Himself, became true man and obeyed all of God's law and so fulfilled God’s strict righteousness. So when we see Jesus humbling Himself and doing the seemingly insignificant thing of paying the temple tax, may our hearts rejoice as we are reminded that Jesus kept all of God’s holy Law for us.
Jesus’ humbling Himself didn’t end here. Remember what He told His disciples right before our text: He would suffer and die for the sins of the world, but only to rise again as Victor. So deeply would Jesus humble Himself to take upon Himself the sins of the world, to be cursed as the world’s sinner and to suffer God’s wrath and punishment. Jesus didn’t have to do this—He is the son; sons are free—but He did do it for us all. Again, we take heart as we see Jesus here paying the temple tax that He is rightfully not obligated to pay, but condescends, humbles Himself and pays it—here is a picture of Jesus’ entire work: Jesus gave what He did not owe.
Also notice that there is not the least bit of protest or rebellion in Jesus in any of this. So willingly and out of such great love for us sinners did Jesus humble Himself so that He could be our Savior and save us from sin, death, devil and hell. As we see our text, let us be comforted as in it Jesus shows us how willingly He humbled Himself to be our Savior: both as He obeyed all of God’s holy Law for us and as He suffered for all the sins of all people.
2. Because Jesus humbled Himself and gave what He did not owe so that He could save us, we are now free from our great debt of sin. Jesus paid it all for us—both fulfilling the righteousness God demands of us and suffering God’s wrath for our sin. Now, because of Jesus’ work we are free; we are dear children of God. St. Paul tells us: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3.26) and you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rm. 8. 15,16). We are now not only reconciled to God but also His dear children and heirs of heaven. “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their own sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.” Peter, the rest of the disciples, all Christians are members of God’s royal household. Jesus here calls Peter and all Christians “sons of a King.” Because Jesus has now come, we are free from all the obligations God gave to the OT Israelites to remind them constantly that the Savior, the Messiah, is coming—such as the temple tax. Even then, because Jesus, who is greater than the Temple had come, because the temple had served its purpose, Peter and all believers were free, even free from the temple tax. Yet, what does Jesus say? Nevertheless… Now, in Christ, as free children of God, Peter was not obligated to give the temple tax, but what does he do? He ends up paying it!
In the same way, we today as Christians, are not obligated, under the Law to pay our temple tax; that is, we are not obligated to have to give anything to the support of our congregation and the spread of the Gospel. But we do! Why? Because we want to! We give in thanksgiving for what Christ has done for us. It’s not that we’re trying to pay Him back—we never could—but we want to make sure that we have for ourselves here the very Word of God taught in its truth and purity, that we have the sacraments administered as Christ gave them to us. We want others to have the same joy in Christ, in the forgiveness of sin, in the certainty of salvation that we have. That’s why we give our offerings to maintain the word and sacraments here and to spread that saving word here and in places we ourselves would never get to.
Nevertheless, lest we offend. Christ and Peter gave their temple tax. If they were not to give their temple tax, it would cause others to stumble in their faith. Others might conclude that Jesus and His disciples despise the temple and the worship in it. Just think of how we might cause people to look down upon and despise Christ, His teaching, if we made use of our freedom and say, Well, Christ didn’t specifically command that I give a part of my wealth to the church; all the OT regulations no longer apply, so I’m going to keep all my money for myself because I’m free. What would outsiders, non-Christians conclude about the church, our faith and the Word we hear? They would obviously conclude that the Christian faith is not that important, after all the Christians do not put their money where their mouth is. They would then think: why should I even bother to hear or consider the Gospel if these people who have it don’t treasure it. Or what do the unbelievers think when churches come to them continually begging through dinners, bizarres, bingo, etc.: Don’t these Christians think their churches are worth supporting? How good can their message and work be? Dear Christian, we are free! Why would we even want the money and support of the unbelievers in this most precious and holy work of maintaining the pure Word and Sacrament here?
What great gifts and blessings we have received from the Lord! Our giving is not an obligation but a joyful response to what the Lord has first done for us. We don’t boast of our giving, like the Pharisee did in Jesus’ parable. Instead, in the simple joy of our heart, we see what the Lord has blessed us with and what He gives us to use to carry on His work among us and in the world. And led and guided by His Holy Spirit, we joyfully give to the Lord.
Obviously Peter didn’t have the temple tax money on him, but the Lord gave it to him. In the same way, all the money that we give to support our congregation here and mission work locally and world-wide, came from the same place Peter’s temple tax money came from—the Lord. Yes, Peter had to go out to the sea and start fishing but the Lord provided the fish and the coin. How wonderful the Lord is to us. He works in us the desire to want to give our offerings to Him through the local congregation or mission society and like with Peter, He gives us the money to do so. And on top of that, Jesus gives us His own example of giving. So giving to the church is a good thing! Jesus Himself, who is free, did it. By His giving, He has sanctified all that we as free children give back to Him.
Our text is a beautiful picture showing that Jesus gave what He did not owe. Ultimately He gave the offering of Himself, so that He could save us and make us the free children of God. We give our offerings in thanksgiving for that. INJ