Theology 202 Biblical Exegesis: Matthew 17: 24-27 (Part 1 of 2)

today I'm going to be discussing Matthew chapter 17 verses 24 through 27 and I'll start off by reading the passage when they came to Capernaum the collectors of the half shekel tax went up to Peter and said does not your teacher pay the tax he said yes and when he came home Jesus spoke to him first saying what do you think Simon from whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute 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 offence 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 now there are several things to consider in this passage and I'll write them on the board so I can refer to them first is the identity and implications of the tax also there's the nature of the request the authorities make of him Peter's reply there's the freedom of Christian sonship which is contained in this verse and lastly the significance of the miraculous payment all right now looking first at the identity of this tax from the passage it's clear that this is a tax that Matthews Jewish audience is familiar with he only briefly mentions it and he doesn't give much of an explanation for it so if you go back to Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 through 16 you'll find or where the roots of this tax are quote the Lord said to Moses when you take the census of the sons of Israel then each shall give a ransom to himself from the for himself to the Lord when you number them and quote each person counted would give half a shekel no more and no less as an atonement the practical purpose of collecting the half shekel from each person is to facilitate counting the people according to the Hamas Jewish commentary on scripture quote the Torah teaches that is forbidden to count Jews in the ordinary manner and quote this is because being counted like being named shows a certain Authority and control exercised over that which is counted for example in Psalm 147 it says that God quote determines the number of the stars he gives to all of them their names end quote this shows that God's authority over the stars which he has created not only does he give them their names but he also gets and determines their number now the Jews belong to God and not to their civil or religious leader therefore counting the people would be claiming ownership over what was God's by right however taking a census is necessary for certain functions of civil society such as military conscription the donation of half a shekel would allow the authorities to determine the number of the people without attempting to display a wrongful authority and by Counting the amount of money collected instead of the Jews themselves another reason that the half shekel has commanded however is for ransom or atonement now it should be noted that in the Vulgate the latin actually uses the phrase pro Honami beuse suis in verse 12 so the passage literally says they give a ransom for their souls the kiled of commentary says that this atonement money was a covering of the sins of each which allowed them to stand in God's presence in this payment is the concept that through sin man's life is forfeit and thus by paying the half shekel man representatively redeems his soul from the debt of sin and is able to be numbered among the people of God in later rabbinic law the half shekel became a yearly donation to the temple and it was about this tax which the collectors asked Peter now the Mishnah dedicates an entire tractate to discussing this half shekel tax and there's several things worth noting about its treatment first in the time of Christ the half shekels were collected worldwide and sent to the temple from all the Jews of the Diaspora and Israel proper so that they could have a share in the temple sacrifices since the money was used to purchase these by contribute in this way the atoning nature of the half shekel was preserved because by contributing the half shekel each Jew contributed materially to the sacrifices of the law and could thereby participate in the sacrifices making atonement and receiving blessing some of the more significant uses of this money included the purchase of daily offerings at the temple the purchase of special offerings for Passover and Pentecost the red heifer and the yom kippur scapegoat the half shekels were collected soon before Passover and they were kept in the temple in the in a chest which was drawn on three separate occasions each year before the three major feasts Passover Pentecost and Tabernacles great care was taken in withdrawing this chuckles so there was no suspicion that any were being concealed or stolen from the Treasury the religious authorities consider this tax important enough that the collectors of the tax would seize collateral from people who had not yet paid though the mission of notes that out of respect for service they did not take collateral from priests this casts some light on the gospel passage we are considering as we move on to look at the requests and Peter's apply in his life of Christ full excuse me the authorities approach Peter and ask whether or not Jesus pays the half shekel in his life of Christ Fulton sheen notes that the collectors are clearly testing to see whether or not Christ will subordinate himself to the temple and the authorities in Jerusalem now Christ had already preached as we see in John chapter 2 verses 13 through 22 that he was the temple and he showed his divine authority by cleansing it to pass services go from the same money changers who were collecting the half shekels wherever other counters with Christ had given the affair cease the impression that he was a Laxus twenty law by this question they hope to have clear confirmation that Christ was in fact negligent in following the prescriptions of the Jewish religious law however the fact that the authorities requested of Peter rather than trying to see his collateral from him shows that there have a certain measure of respect for Christ such as that which is accorded to priests it is after all the third year of Christ's ministry in Capernaum and they're well acquainted with his miracles and teaching according to Reverend AE brings harmonized exposition of the four Gospels Peters answer is motivated by the fact that he knew every good Jew had the duty to pay the half shekel and Christ observed every just precept of the law so when asked he says that Jesus pay the half shekel however this also revolves on Peters part something of a memory loss he had just witnessed the Transfiguration when the voice from heaven said quote this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased end quote moreover Peter himself declared and sees me Philip II only days earlier that Christ is the son of God as Fulton sheen says Peter quote had lost sight for a moment of the dignity of his master who was the son in his own house the temple and not a servant in another's house and quote why should Christ the sinless son of God Payet own meant to be numbered among the people of God thus when Peter returns to Jesus he asks Peter even before he mentions the incident quote what do you think Simon from who to the kings of the earth take toll or tribute from their sons or from others and quote by showing His divine knowledge of Peters conversation Jesus reminds him of the divine sonship which he had recently testified to quote and when he said from others jesus said to him then the sons are free end quote

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Keywords: Theology, 202, Biblical, Exegesis:, Matthew, 17:, 24-27, Christendom, College, Jesus, Christ, Son, of, God, Peter, Bible

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Length: 9min 24sec (564 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 15 2010