Matthew 17:24–27 (ESV)
The Temple Tax
24 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?” 25 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?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
27 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.”
Nobody enjoys paying taxes… well, almost nobody. I find it interesting that the government has often employed tax stamps to stop drug trade. Their rationale
is that you must buy tax stamps for the drugs, otherwise they can get you for tax evasion. I find this humorous. Well in today’s reading, the tax collectors go after Jesus for tax evasion. Yet, Jesus pays the tax required. He
uses a miracle of pulling a sheckel out of the mouth of a fish.
I pray: O Lord, help me to be a good citizen and a follower of Christ. Amen.