{"id":6247,"date":"2007-04-10T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-10T16:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplethoughtsfromscripture.wordpress.com\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes"},"modified":"2018-05-30T17:27:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T22:27:41","slug":"matthew-1724-27-family-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Family Taxes<\/h1>\n

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, \u201cDoes your Teacher not pay the temple tax?\u201d He said, \u201cYes.\u201d
\nAnd when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, \u201cWhat do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?\u201d Peter said to Him, \u201cFrom strangers.\u201d
\nJesus said to him, \u201cThen the sons are free. 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; take that and give it to them for Me and you.\u201d
\n(Matthew 17:24-27 NKJV)<\/span><\/p>\n

Tax time \u2013 every year it comes around. Everyone has to pay it. We pay it as citizens of a country. We even pay it if we are strangers of a foreign country. Mark Twain said it best: \u201cThere are two things for certain \u2013 death and taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even YouTube is promoting a contest about paying taxes this year \u2013 \u201cThe Tax Rap\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taxes are always paid, except in the family. A tax is a governmental institution. It was a way for the government to pay for services for its citizens. But parents would never collect taxes from their children. Children don\u2019t pay a clothes tax, room tax, taxi tax, nor a meal tax. Children don\u2019t have to pay customs tax when they cross the front door of the family home. Parents are not tax collectors. Instead, parents freely give to their children. So it is with God. God\u2019s children are free from the obligations of a church tax.<\/p>\n

But in this personal conversation between Jesus and Peter, I think that Jesus is making an important point about our relationship in the family. Not just the physical family, but also as the family of God.<\/p>\n

Why did Jesus ask Peter to pay this tax?<\/p>\n

1. To teach Peter \u2013 in the strange task that Jesus asked Peter to perform (catching a fish and collecting the coin out of the mouth) \u2013 that God will provide and pay for His children.<\/p>\n

2. To teach us as Christians the importance of responsibility. Children don\u2019t pay taxes, but they do learn to give.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family Taxes When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, \u201cDoes your Teacher not pay the temple tax?\u201d He said, \u201cYes.\u201d And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, \u201cWhat do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,6],"tags":[789,947,1683,10,1968],"class_list":["post-6247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matthew","category-simple-thoughts","tag-family","tag-gospel-of-matthew","tag-responsibility","tag-simple-thoughts","tag-taxes"],"yoast_head":"\nFamily Taxes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Family Taxes is a simple thought reflection from Matthew 17:24-27 about family taxes and the importance of responsibility to others.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family Taxes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Family Taxes is a simple thought reflection from Matthew 17:24-27 about family taxes and the importance of responsibility to others.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revjimerwin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-04-10T16:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-30T22:27:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@revjimerwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/\",\"name\":\"Family Taxes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-04-10T16:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-30T22:27:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb\"},\"description\":\"Family Taxes is a simple thought reflection from Matthew 17:24-27 about family taxes and the importance of responsibility to others.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2007\/04\/10\/matthew-1724-27-family-taxes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Family Taxes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/\",\"name\":\"Jim Erwin\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb\",\"name\":\"Jim Erwin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jim Erwin\"},\"description\":\"My name is Jim Erwin. 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