Jesus and the Temple Tax in Matthew 17:24-27

Jesus and the Temple Tax in Matthew 17:24-27

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Matthew 17:24-27

The temple tax being collected in Matthew 17:24-27 was not part of God's Law, although it was loosely based on the census of Exodus 30:11-16. It was a man-made tradition instituted for the financial support of the Temple. There's nothing wrong it so long as nobody claimed it was a requirement of Torah, but Yeshua used the tax to illustrate a couple of truths about our relationship to him, to the Father, and to the world. As children of the King of Kings, we are not under the authority of any Law, yet out of love for him and his kingdom, we willingly subject ourselves to his commandments and even to those man-made traditions that aren't sinful.

From Jay Carper at American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

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