Matthew 17:26-27
New King James Version (NKJV)
26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money;[a] take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
Footnotes:
- Matthew 17:27 Greek stater, the exact amount to pay the temple tax (didrachma) for two
Replies
In these to verses, there is a lot of things going on, mostly with Peter. Peter's quick response in the previous verse, though odd, led him to an encounter with his true identity. I mentioned in one of my previous responses about learning our identities and how that brings to the forefront the authority and rights that we have as children of God. Jesus was within His authority to pay or not to pay the taxes, as he was full aware of his identity. This revelation had to be shared with Peter so that he too would understand who he was and that even with understanding who Jesus was, he yet humbled himself and was taxed. Peter was a fisherman so he was well aware of how to fish. Jesus gave him specific instructions that would be a bit odd for an advanced fisherman. Peter was told to cast a hook out, no bait, and take the first fish. The outcome could only be achieved by faith. By faith. Peter obeyed and obtained the tax money. This took place after he encountered his identity. It is nice to keep things simple but in the process of simplicity we must understand our God given identity and the authority that it entails. There will be times to submit, as not to offend, and then there will be times to be bold. Just because I am not convicted by the wearing of pants does not mean I would visit a Pentecostal ministry in pants. We must know the difference and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
God will make a way out of no way. If you have the faith of a small mustard seed, you can say to the mountain move from here to there This scripture shows a strong leap of faith and show shows that even Jesus respected the law of the land even though he was not of the world.
Jesus and the disciples being strangers in this world, they had to pay temple taxes, because they are from another kingdom. and a King of a Kingdom will not make his sons pay taxes. So Jesus told simon to go hook a fish and pay the temple taxes for them.so the people would not be offend. God will provide.
O one last thing i was reading everyone else reply and there are some cold hearted people out there who get offended when some one trys to bless em. So i said o lord this passage here must have a deeper meaning what will you have for me to understand ? In a day and age now people are offended just in you'r truth .... living the way they want to, using your would to apply it to there life's as they will ,taking in what fits them and leaving out other things that are important. When i was a sinner" full blown", people who loved on me offended me with there kindness. that's how i know..... i was one of them people in my day before the lord came into my heart. So i started asking and digging in other versions to get more of a revelation for this reading right here .
Matthew 17:20-27
The Message (MSG)
20 “Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”
22-23 As they were regrouping in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him—and three days later he will be raised alive.” The disciples felt terrible.
24 When they arrived at Capernaum, the tax men came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay taxes?”
25 Peter said, “Of course.”
But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him. “Simon, what do you think? When a king levies taxes, who pays—his children or his subjects?”
26-27 He answered, “His subjects.”
Jesus said, “Then the children get off free, right? But so we don’t upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.”
So then i remember Even the unjust get blessed WE ALL BE BLESSED ! the dear lord take cares of the animals and the flowers . They are blessed too .Its god's children that are highly favored =) AAAAAMMMMMMEEEENNNN! A principle even the unjust know how to work but, they just need to be saved for eternal life and continue to be blessed and all the wile highly favored =) Ay now lets go fishing and bless one another =) some mite get offended tho. There will be enuf for us all in Jesus name . Do the tax collectors pay taxes? Do there children pay taxes? LOL TAXES are like when a person gets offended or when some one offends another you know like debt and now if we who are offended ask for forgiveness or the ones who offended some one eles ask to be forgiven ARE ALL SET FREE free no longer in bondage something we all learn and in order to be free and get blessed we should forgive there's enuf forgiveness to around and blessings =) DO NOT BE HINDERED FROM DEBT! BE FREE IN JESUS NAME! Hallelujah!!!!!!
Bless you all from the lord almighty ! -amen
GOD will provide....just believe and have faith, let him do it on his time table not on ours.....then we need to make sure we don't offend others when we feel the need to help...
We never know who we are talking to or what a person is going thru, we must make sure we us our gift of discerning. We can hurt or offend people unaware. The bible lso says we entertain angels unaware. And we must have faith that no matter what we need, that God is a supplier and He will supplly all our need according to His riches and glory. At all times in every situation we must have that now faith.
There are two principals working in this scripture for me. One... we must be careful no to offend people, even if it means doing things that we as "free" aren't necessarily required to do. And two... God will provide for us..exactly what we need, in unexpected places.