Once, when Peter asked Jesus for a coin to pay the requisite temple tax, Jesus rather flippantly told the big fisherman to go catch a fish and pull the tax money out of the fish\u2019s mouth. There is no record that Peter actually and went and did so, which makes me wonder if Jesus was serious. Perhaps Jesus was saying that we owe the governing authorities not much more than can be expectorated out of the mouth of a fish. I take this story as yet another indication of the shockingly nonchalant way that Jesus dealt with affairs of the state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What say you? An event or a mockery of Rome?<\/strong><\/p>\n24<\/sup> After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, \u201cDoesn\u2019t your teacher pay the temple tax?\u201d25<\/sup> \u201cYes, he does,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\nWhen Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. \u201cWhat do you think, Simon?\u201d<\/span> he asked. \u201cFrom whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes\u2014from their own children or from others?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n26<\/sup> \u201cFrom others,\u201d Peter answered.<\/p>\n\u201cThen the children are exempt,\u201d<\/span> Jesus said to him. 27<\/sup> \u201cBut so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From William Willimon, Why Jesus?, on the Temple Tax in Matthew 17:24-27: Once, when Peter asked Jesus for a coin to pay the requisite temple tax, Jesus rather flippantly told the big fisherman to go catch a fish and pull the tax money out of the fish\u2019s mouth. There is no record that Peter actually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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