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 offense, 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.”

It seems rather hum-drum to hear this little conversation in the midst of a flurry of questions that swept the disciples up into a whirl of activity and obvious anxiety.  Jesus is facing a horrid death.  In the midst of all this the Jewish tax-collectors appear, ready to receive the amount that all Jews paid, the rather trivial tax that was then used to keep going the new Temple in Jerusalem.   It was such a small amount that it could fit into mouth of a small fish.

The point of this story, as I see it, has little to do with whether this tax should be paid. The collectors must have expected a problem for they asked a question that implied a negative answer, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”  Their question had nothing to do with the tax but with the integrity of Jesus.  The collectors wanted to expose Jesus as a law-breaker for which he was being accused.   So, they did not ask Jesus directly, but his disciples as to whether Jesus pays this tax.  I believe they hoped that Jesus did not so that they could score yet another point against him.

Jesus used the occasion to teach his disciples.  Peter entered the house, only to hear Jesus ask, “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others, Peter answered.”  In other words, if Jesus is the King of kings, he should pay no tax, nor his household.  Of course, his accusers did not believe that Jesus was the king!  Jesus knew that very well and did not press the point.  Remember that the disciples had recently declared their belief that Jesus is the promised Messiah.  If that is true, they must have concluded, then Jesus should not pay the tax.  But then we hear Jesus’ most amazing words, “But so that we may not cause offense…”  Pay the tax!

Jesus well knew who he was, greater than the Temple by far but he paid the tax to avoid further argument as to who he is.  His accusers did not believe for a moment that Jesus was the Savior of the world.  Jesus saw the futility of convincing the collectors that he is King of kings!  He was about to give his life to redeem sinners, why be caught up in a conversation about who Jesus really is?

Matthew was amazed by this encounter Jesus had, not with Pharisees for Sadducees, but with ordinary Jews who were collecting money to maintain their sacred Temple. They, too, had trouble with Jesus.