Even Jesus Paid Taxes

Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? Yes, he does, Peter replied. Matthew 17:24-25 (NIV)

1040 - W-2 - 1099 Do these numbers ring a bell? Along with spring comes another season - tax season. Typically, there is no eager tax payer. Thoughts of holiness and Godly obedience when tax forms are being prepared are not the first incentives to get them ready.

Among Jews, the requirement to pay taxes was one of the most controversial issues. Paying taxes to a pagan empire with money marked by the image of Caesar was considered an act of disobedience to God and a form of idolatry.

Matthew, a tax collector himself, recorded the story in Matthew 17:24-27.

After Jesus and is disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? Yes, he does, Peter replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. What do you think, Simon (Peter), he asked. From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes - from their own sons or from others? From others, Peter answered. Then the sons are exempt, Jesus said to him. But so that we may not offend them, 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.

If anyone should have been exempt from paying this tax, a tax collected by the temple for its upkeep, it should have been Jesus. Peter put them in an awkward position by his answer. Just as kings pay no taxes and collect none from their family, Jesus was Lord and owner of the Temple; therefore it was not his obligation to pay the tax. Because this explanation would probably have been misunderstood, Jesus was not about to offend the lawmakers by exempting himself from the tax.

Peter obeyed, caught the fish, and it is presumed he paid the tax collectors with the coins he found in the fish's mouth. Why did Jesus use this miracle to pay his taxes and Peter's? Three things were accomplished. First, Jesus showed cooperation with the local authorities without hesitation. The second point he made was there has to be effort, in this case Peter's. Peter had to go get the coin. All that we have comes to us from God, but we have to be active in the process. Thirdly, we can trust that God will supernaturally supply us with what we need to pay our taxes. We don't need to cheat or fudge or complain!

Are you worried about tax season? Do you keep two books? Are indignation and anger against the tax institutions deep emotions when you are paying your taxes? We are God's ambassadors, His representation here on earth. We can use the lessons in this story to help us measure up to God's standard as another tax season approaches.

Lord, thank you for your great example of integrity and grace. Help us to be good ambassadors and trust you to provide us with whatever we need.

Janet Stutzman