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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 17:24 - 17:27
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_17:24-27
24When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" 25He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26When Peter said, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt. 27However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."
Mat_17:24
NASB "the two-drachma tax"
NKJV, NRSV,
TEV "the temple tax"
NJB "the half shekel"
This referred to a half shekel tax which was voluntarily given annually by Jewish men between the age of twenty and fifty. It was to pay for temple maintenance. It was due some time in March and, therefore, if our understanding of the time setting of this passage is correct, Jesus was late paying this tax. This tax was possibly based rabbinically on Moses'appeal in Exo_30:11-16 for the Tabernacle. Although it was a voluntary tax, it was considered to be important and obligatory by orthodox Jews. The coin found in the fish's mouth would pay the tax for both Peter and Jesus.
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Mat_17:25-27 This verse shows Jesus claiming exemption from the tax because of who He was, yet He paid the tax in order to fulfill all righteousness (cf. Mat_3:15). Jesus wanted to reach His contemporary Jewish culture.
Mat_17:25 "Jesus spoke to him first" Did Jesus overhear the conversation or was He using His foreknowledge? This question comes up again and again in the Gospels!
▣ "customs or poll-tax" In this paragraph there are three different taxes addressed.
1. the Jewish tax (two drachma, Mat_17:24)
2. local taxes (customs, Mat_17:25)
3. poll-tax (Roman imperial tax, cf. Mat_22:17)
Mat_17:26 "the sons are exempt" This is a powerful statement of Jesus' royal Messiahship. He is the true, ideal Davidic King and His followers are the royal children who pay no taxes! What is surprising is that the Jews (i.e., the Jewish collection of the temple tax) are depicted as not children!
Mat_17:27 Many have criticized this account because it seems to be Jesus using His Messianic powers for personal purposes. It was the ongoing exercise of Jesus' miraculous powers that was used to train the disciples and increase their faith. In this account, Jesus showed His power over nature and His foreknowledge, which would help Peter in the days to come when he experienced difficult times in his own pilgrimage of faith. It was recorded for us!
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