Matthew 17:24-27, The King’s Personal Provision

having said that let me pray for you Heavenly Father we do commit this time to you Lord Lord were grateful that Jesus is the king and that Lord we are citizens not simply at this great nation but we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom that we identify ourselves as Christians Christ's followers people who know and love and believe not only that Jesus Christ is the Messiah but he is the true lord of the universe like Paul Lord we believe that there will come a time when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Lord and so Heavenly Father we pray that we would be wise in the stewardship that you've entrusted to us here and now and Lord we pray that we would promote those things that are going to make eternity a place of joy and so again father we commit this time to you and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen Matthew chapter 17 beginning in verse 24 we find Matthew riding when they had come to Capernaum those who receive the temple tax came to Peter and said does your teacher not pay the temple tax he said yes and when he had come into the house Jesus anticipated him saying what do you think Simon from whom to the kings of the earth take customs or taxes from their sons or from strangers Peter said to him from strangers jesus said to him then the sons are free nevertheless lest we offend go to the sea cast in a hook take the fish that comes up first and when you have opened its mouth you will find a piece of money take that and give it to them for me for you in this chapter we've gotten a glimpse at the beginning of the chapter of the glory of the king in verses 1 through 13 and then we saw the power of the king in verses 14 through 21 and now we are once again reminded of the humility of the king in verses 22 through 27 Jesus is going to use the visit of a tax collector as an opportunity to reinforce his claims as king and then teach the importance of what it means to be a good citizen and so we begin with the temple tax in verse 24 look what it says when they had come to Capernaum those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said does your teacher not paid the temple tax now you'll recall that Capernaum was the headquarters for Jesus's ministry it was also not simply the headquarters for Jesus but it was the hometown for Peter and for James and for John and in the ancient world you may or may not know what the temple tax was all about but the temple tax was required of Jewish males for over the age of 20 and the money was used for the upkeep and the maintenance of the temple according to the tractate shekel eeeem in the Talmud the temple tax was collected almost certainly during one of the Jewish festivals either Passover or Pentecost or Tabernacles it was during one of the major feasts and you'll remember that the lord commanded it based on exodus chapter 30 verses 13 through 16 if you have a Bible you you might want to turn there the tax was a reminder of God's claim on their lives but to the religious Jew living in a time of Jesus the half shekel was a ransom for the soul one-half of the money was meant to provide the ransom the other half of the money was used in the maintenance of the temple the offering itself in the Jewish culture and the Jewish society was called the ransom money in Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 through 16 so in exodus chapter 30 verse 11 it says then the Lord spoke to Moses saying when you take the census of the children of Israel for their number then every man shall have a ransom for himself to the Lord when you number them that there may be no plague among them when you number them this is what every month one among those numbered shall give half a shekel according to the weight of the sanctuary that is twenty Geeta the half shekel shall be an offering to the Lord now by the way in the first century that half shekel coin would have come to about seven and a half grams it would have been about two days wage for a typical worker and then an exodus it says everyone included among those who are numbered from twenty years old and above shall give an offering to the Lord and then the instruction said the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when you give the offering to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves and you take the atonement money of the children of Israel and shall appointed for the sir of the tabernacle of the meeting that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord to make atonement for yourselves so according to the book of Exodus note the rich shouldn't give more the poor shouldn't give less why was that and the reason is because this is an invitation for everyone to participate that's becomes part of the point the original tax was used by the way to provide the silver sockets on which the tabernacle poles were placed when they built the tabernacle in the wilderness the money was to be a reminder that they were purchased from slavery they were redeemed by God and so silver in the Bible becomes the metal if you will of redemption and in the Bible redemption always included at least three elements number one to pay the ransom price for something or someone number two to remove a slave from the marketplace and number three to affect a full release once the release was done you were genuinely truly legitimately permanently free and so it becomes a type and a picture for Christians that we as Christians are purchased not by perishable things like gold or silver but the New Testament is going to make it a point that you've been purchased with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12 so the passage doesn't teach that you can buy your salvation but rather that your salvation is purchased by the only person who could afford the purchase price you see you don't have enough money and you don't have enough resources in order to satisfy God's righteous requirement for your soul only Jesus can do that in Galatians chapter 3 verse 13 Paul writes Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us as it is written cursed is every man that hangs on a tree and in Romans 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus Jesus pays it's Jesus who removes us from the marketplace of sin I want you to capture that thought just for a moment you've been taken off the market it's like if you put a home up for sale and someone purchases the home it's been taken off the market it's no longer available and neither are you if you've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 it says but of him you are in Christ Jesus who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption and so the half shekel that was due could be paid with two drachma or two Denarius and it says the word that's that's going to be used in our text is stater it's the only time in the in the New Testament where the word stayed or appears when it's talking about a piece of money later on but a stater we happen to know was a Greek measurement of unit that would we refer to for drachmas and for Denarius or what was called a tetrad achma and after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD the Romans knowing this Jewish tradition if you will confiscated money from Jewish adults to purchase a pagan temple and then demand that the temple that would be destroyed on the Temple Mount that they would tax Jewish people to build a pagan temple and then pay for the upkeep of that temple and so there's going to be a crisis that will take place later in the Jewish life and in the Jewish culture but here we see some lessons that the teacher gives us in verses 25 and 26 look what it says he said yes that is to the question does your master or your teacher paid the temple tax he says yes and when he had come into the house because Jesus wasn't there when he had come into the house Jesus anticipated him saying what do you think Simon from whom to the kings of the earth take customs or taxes from their sons or from strangers Peter said from strangers then jesus said to him then the sons are free now Peter acknowledges that Jesus as an observant Jew living in that culture and at that time makes the contribution for the temple tax now remember even though Jesus isn't there he hears the whole conversation just like now we may not sense the physical presence of Jesus but he's here he hears the words that I'm speaking and the thoughts that are going on in your head he hears the conversation in the car when you're driving over he hears the conversation that's taking place and in wherever it is that you happen to be he knows everything he understands each and every conversation so in light of Peters conversation with the tax collector Jesus asks Peter what do you think Simon now in a few weeks were launching our small groups and there is a small group kiosk that's out there for everyone who wants to participate in small groups but during the course of the sermons and in the future I'm going to be making some special notes for our small groups I'm going to say hey by the way if you belong to a CSD group pay attention right now to what I'm about to say when Jesus asks a question in the Bible is it because he doesn't know the answer what do you think class it isn't because he doesn't know the answer he knows the answer when Jesus says what do you think Simon in a way I feel like I'm reading a stand-up comedy routine when I first read this and I started thinking about it I started to laugh out loud when Jesus asks what we think it isn't because he's stuck for an answer or that somehow his thoughts or his our opinion will matter to him by the way if Jesus says to you hey let me have your opinion on the upcoming election let me have your opinion on the state of the culture let me have your opinion and then fill in the blank with whatever subject you want and because the Lord never needs advice whenever he asks our opinion I'm gonna suggest something to you it's to steer our thoughts to God's voice in God's Word and God's heart does that make sense to you when Jesus is asking your opinion about something our automatic response should be Lord what's your opinion on the subject Lord what do you think about this what do you think about that and the moment that you ask that question what do you think Lord and you don't hear anything this should drive you into all of those areas in your Bible where Jesus is spoken on the subject it's interesting he says what's your opinion Peter from whom to the kings of the earth take customer or taxes from their sons or from strangers now you've got to remember that in ancient times Kings exact 'add tribute from their subjects and you might think well didn't Jesus say give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and give to God the things which belong to God and the answer's yes but remember that the temple tax is a tax that's imposed by Jews for Jews the issue isn't whether or not a person should pay the tax but it's a reminder about motives offerings in the Old Testament where freewill offerings that were to be given from the heart just like now in the end at least one sense Christians aren't there there's no command or demand for you to give you don't have to give anything at all to this church under obligation but the Bible says that we as Christians are to be generous were to be generous in our heart and were to be generous in our souls in the Bible according to to the book of Corinthians when Paul was addressing this particular issue he said that each person should give according to their heart what they think or what they purpose in their own heart so the person who says I don't want to give anything that reveals something about your heart and when a person says I want to give everything but I can't that reveals something about your heart Jesus is basically making the statement that no Sun in any Kingdom marches into the throne room of his father and then pays his father's tax Jesus is in effect saying that he is tax-exempt he is God's Son he doesn't pay ransom he is the ransom and so the Lord is going to provide Peter with two lines of reasoning the first line of reasoning is going to be why he shouldn't pay the tax in verses 25 and 26 and then why he will in fact pay the tax in verse 27 so why is Jesus exempt from the tax because he's the hope of Israel he's the son of God the Jewish people were God's subjects but he is God's Son Jesus is from another Kingdom the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus is free of the earthly Kingdom Jesus has no obligation to pay the tax if he does so he does so because he is willing to forgo his freedoms he is willing and voluntarily willing to make a sacrifice and the people of Israel were God's subjects including Peter and so the temple tax was a picture remember of Redemption and so the Lord Jesus is our Redemption he's our offering he will die for our sin he will rise from the dead for God's glory and for our good everyone wants to go to heaven you know the rest but nobody wants to die we've all heard the saying that only two things are certain death and taxes but for many people they're not so sure about taxes but here's becomes part of the point Jesus is going to do exactly what has to be done in order for you to go to heaven he will become the sacrifice he will make the payment there was a little boy who was caught in some mischief and he was asked by his mother how do you expect to get to heaven and the little boy thought for a moment and he said look I'm just going to run in and I'm going to run out and I'm going to run in and I'm going to run out until someone says for goodness sake come in or stay out and then I'll just go in we laugh but it doesn't work that way does it it isn't like you can knock on the door or you can open the door and run in and run out how indeed does someone go to heaven and the right answer according to the Bible Jesus will make a provision by means of a miracle and that's exactly our story isn't it he's going to make a provision by means of a miracle before human beings were ever created God prepared a place called heaven and before human beings ever sinned God envisioned a plan that the Bible calls Redemption before Adam and Eve broke their promise to God by eating fruit from a tree God prepared another tree that would be cut down and used as a beam to nail geez and lift him up and suspend him between heaven and earth heaven was never an afterthought in the mind of God and just like God prepared hell for the devil and his angels God prepared heaven with you in mind and make no mistake about it he wasn't just generically thinking about everyone in general I'm absolutely convinced that he was thinking about you specifically personally intimately don't you ever wonder whether or not you're gonna go I read the story of a child of God who was seriously ill and he lacked assurance of salvation and he said to his physician doctor even though I'm a Christian I'm I'm gonna admit it I'm a little bit afraid to die exactly what happens when you die and the surgeon who was a believer thought for a moment and then he replied you know what I'm afraid I can't give you an exact answer to that question and then as he walked across the room to leave he desperately wished he could say something comforting and pausing briefly before opening the door he heard the sounds of scratching and whining on the other side and suddenly he realized that he had left his car door open and his little pet dog had escaped out of the car and was whining and scratching and whining and scratching at the door and suddenly he realized something that he could share with his patient in a flash he was awakened to the scriptural truth and he tried to put it into his words into words and he turned to the man and he said hey you know what so he opens the door the dog jump sin and jumps up it's a little pet poodle I know it's not a real dog but it's a dog okay and so the dog jumps up on him and starts licking him and and and and so glad to see his master and the doctor turned to him and he said you know what this dog has never been in this room before this is a patients waiting room or an examination room I've never let the dog in he had no idea what was inside yet when I opened the door he sprang in without fear because he knew that his master was here and as Christians were not always told about everything about the glories that await us on the other side of death we're not told everything about everything but we're told the most important thing that Jesus is there that Jesus is there and then he says the sons are free and what sins sons don't have unrestricted or unlimited freedom but they're certainly free from the obligations imposed on subjects a son isn't free to dishonor his father a son isn't free to disobey his father clearly the freedom that Jesus is talking about isn't the freedom to do what's wrong it's the freedom to do what's right and yet Jesus doesn't want to be a stumbling block to the weak we know that because of 1st Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 where Paul says be careful how you exercise your freedom not to become a stumbling block or the object which is going to trip each other up in 1st Corinthians 10 23 we read everything is permissible but not everything is destructive another translation says everything is lawful but not everything is edifying and Peter first peter 2:16 we read live as free men but don't use your freedom as a cover-up for evil and so in verse 27 look what it says nevertheless lest we offend them go to the sea cast in a hook take the fish that comes up first and when you've opened its mouth you're gonna find a piece of money that's the word stater by the way that when in the New King James it says you'll find a piece of money it's an actual specific Greek amount of money that was used to describe a certain denomination of money he says then take it and give it to them for you and for me now it's interesting is the Lord Jesus is exempt from paying the tax by virtue of his identity by virtue of his mission but he realizes that not everyone is going to recognize his identity or embrace his mission he is going to pay the tax so why will Jesus pay the tax he gives the reason right there to avoid offense to exercise voluntary humility he's willing to subject himself to earthly law Jesus doesn't obey simply out of a sense of obligation but out of a sense of love and care Jesus is going to do it to fulfill all righteousness to serve as an example to men he could have paid the tax absent the comment or the miracle but by declaring that he's free and exempt from the tax he proves his payment is willing and voluntary and again it becomes a type and a picture of a voluntary atonement for sinful human beings he doesn't have to die for you will he will by the way Jesus holds the temple and in a in a high view Jesus refers to the temple as his father's house you'll remember elsewhere in the New Testament he will come in and he will overturn the tables of the moneychangers and you might be thinking why but is he because he's philosophically opposed to merchandising in the temple no that that really wasn't the point the point that Jesus is making is that the religious leaders are misrepresenting God to the world that's what Jesus is offended by the church isn't a place to make money or take advantage of people the church is supposed to be a place that represents what God is really like to a watching world and that's who you are you are the church you will represent Jesus to the watching world he calls it his father's house in a house of prayer and Jesus will benefit from the temple he will worship at the temple he'll bring sacrifices that are required by the law and taught at the courts and the steps of the temple Jesus will set aside a a certain portion of his income for the temple support by the way what happens if Jesus refuses to pay he's already told us he will unnecessarily offend some and by the way they might feel that Jesus isn't paying his fair share what a ridiculous thought that is Jesus you're not pulling your weight yeah how lame is that statement and if Jesus failed to support the government or the temple and if everyone followed his example the government would collapse and I know many of you are thinking and what would be bad about that I get it but the reason is as disgusting as what I'm about to say a wicked evil and corrupt government is better than no government at all you might not even agree with that but a wicked evil and corrupt government is better than chaos so Jesus is going to demonstrate good citizenship and Jesus by the way when you read this text you go hey les we offend them you go hey wait a minute I've been reading the New Testament and I've been following along in Matthew and Jesus seems pretty open to offend people on a number of different occasions when will Jesus offend the religious leaders he offends the religious leaders when he says God sent me here I came from heaven with a message from God on a mission from God to prove to provide a mechanism for you even if others are offended by the truth Jesus is going to tell the truth Jesus is never ever willing to compromise the truth to avoid offence I've told you many times that on my radio program I had a guy named Sammy tanaga who wrote a book entitled God loves you my Muslim brother and of course we're living in a time and we're living in a world and we're living in a culture that many of us are tempted to view Muslims with fear and suspicion and dread but my friend Sam Eaton ago has the right view that these are men and women that Jesus loves and that he died for and that he's trying to find a way not to push them away to draw them together and I said something I'm sure that was rude and Sammy said my brother could you please confine your offense to the gospel what a beautiful way of rebuking me could you please confine your offense to the gospel if you're going to be offensive could we just limit it to what God says about Jesus and the cross of Calvary and I immediately knew that this was something for me because and I immediately knew that it was something that I need to do when Jesus said eat my body and drink my blood you'll remember that the religious leaders were offended no observant Jew would ever promote or participate in cannibalism when Jesus said I'm going to Jerusalem oh my god I'm gonna be handed over to the religious leaders I'm gonna be killed and I'm gonna rise from the dead he offended people so why is Jesus now concerned about not causing offense and I'm gonna suggest something to you because Jesus doesn't hesitate to break man-made rules or violate human traditions but he's going to observe everything that an observant Jew observes according to the scriptures Jesus is exempt from the tax but he's willing to pay the tax to make a point and what is that point and the point is to sacrifice in order to love that's the point that he's willing to make I'm willing to make a sacrifice in order to have an opportunity to care it may be that some of the disciples felt that they didn't have to pay that after all the temple and its leaders were involved with all kinds of illegal activities they were involved with all kinds of things that were dishonouring to God as a matter of fact if we could all go back in time and space we could prove that there were corrupt activities Christians face the same challenge why should we pay a corrupt government to limit our freedom why should we pay a corrupt government to restrict our liberties to Oh harass us and oppress us why should we pay government schools to indoctrinate our children to hate God and reject Christ and promote unrestricted sexual expression why should we do that one Bible writer says quote but Jesus did not think non-payment of taxes was an impressive statement of faith Jesus would rather resist the world at other points unquote Christians are free to do what's right we are free to do what's right we are free to resist evil we are free to do what's good all things are lawful for the Christian but not all things encouraged not all things edify and so the Lord Jesus argues that even though the sons are free lest we offend them to avoid an unnecessary offense and the person looking for an excuse not to pay lawful taxes isn't going to find it in this passage there are many miracles recorded in the Bible but do you know what this miracle is singular and distinctive what is it about this miracle this is where I would say small groups pay attention what is distinctive and singular and specific about this miracle guess what this is the only miracle recorded in all of the New Testament where Jesus benefits in part from the miracle and by the way it isn't an exclusive benefit it's going to help Peter out this miracle is the only miracle that not only acts that benefits Jesus this is the only miracle in the Bible that involves money and I think that that's interesting in and of itself because we live in a culture in a society where you would think that every miracle involves money and Peter will benefit from the miracle think of all the miracles in the in the scriptures that involve Peter Peters mother-in-law is healed Peter walks ever so briefly on the waters of the Galilee with Jesus saving him the moment that he begins to sing Peter has this great catch of fish when Jesus is taken by the the temple guard Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus the high servant or the servant of the high priest and the last miracle that Jesus performs is to fix the mistake of a misguided disciple he puts the ear back on Pat's mouth kiss on the heads dude sorry about that I'm gonna make it right we've got a little bit of a setback by the way it's not the last miracle that Jesus will perform for Peter though he's gonna be supernaturally delivered in the book of Acts from prison by an angel and when I read this story I wondered if Jesus manufactured the money out of thin air I wonder if Jesus caused somebody on the Sea of Galilee to lose a shekel of Tyre that somehow a week's wage fell overboard and then this particular fish swallowed it who minted the silver who engraved the Wein who lost the coin what are the odds of Peter making his way to the shore casting in a hook and a line and then finding the exact fish with the exact amount of money in order to pay the tax what does this tell you in your heart don't you begin to understand that Jesus not only hears every single conversation but that he is in control of all of the events that control the universe by the way no visit to Israel is complete unless you visit the Galilee and have lunch at kibbutz Ginosar make sure you order st. Peter's fish make sure you order it with the head on make sure you check inside of its mouth you may never you may never you might be surprised at what you might find why did Jesus why did Jesus why did Jesus do all these things for Peter I'm gonna suggest to you the simple answer for Peter's good and for God's glory Jesus is going to perform a miracle to prevent offense and to help Peter some even Bible writers have suggested look at Jesus look at poor Jesus Jesus doesn't even have a half a shekel he doesn't even have the money by the way are you left with the impression that Jesus is terrified and worried about how the provision is going to be made not even once Jesus voluntarily surrenders his rights to prevent offense Jesus surrenders voluntary rights and freedoms just for the opportunity to minister and serve when Paul wrote to the Corinthians and the Romans about their freedoms he begged them to not use their freedom outside of the context of love and our freedom never includes the right to hurt people we submit to God we resist evil we do no harm but there's something else we want to positively do good Jesus had every right to boycott the temple but he doesn't read boycott the government boycott the schools boycott the NFL boycott the political parties I'm not gonna do it and then you hear Jesus whisper in your ear what do you think about the Republican Party what's your opinion of the Democratic Party and then you remember today's sermon hey I think this is Jesus's way of asking Jesus what's your opinion Jesus what's your opinion how can I know your mind and your heart on this subject we live in a broken world governed by broken people who value sin and who promote sin and who devalue virtue so how do we choose our battles how do we get along when do we resist when is compromise acceptable and when is compromise contemptible remember remember remember Jesus will never set aside truth to avoid offence but Jesus will set aside personal rights and freedom in order to just simply have an opportunity to love people and care about him so we're free to submit to God we're free to resist evil and do good look again at the text Jesus says from whom to the kings of the earth take customs or taxes from the sons or from strangers Peter says strangers and then Jesus says the sons are free you're free you're free to mourn sin and celebrate righteousness you're free to sacrifice rights in order to offend to avoid offending others you're free to suffer personal loss if it might mean that God wants somebody else to have something and we are free we are free to obey God's Word Martin Luther said a Christian is perfectly free Lord of all subject to none a Christian is perfectly dutiful servant to all subject of all subject to all how do you live in that world you already do you're a citizen here but you're a citizen there in essentials unity in non-essentials Liberty in everything charity let's pray

Channel: Calvary South Denver

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Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, Matthew, The Teacher's Lessons

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Length: 45min 47sec (2747 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 04 2016