Payment of the Temple Tax

Today's Reflections 

          

 

                 

Payment of the Temple Tax 

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Mt 17:22-27

²²As [Jesus and his disciples] were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, ²³and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief.

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” ²⁵“Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” ²⁶When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. ²⁷But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

Reflection:

Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax? During his public ministry, Jesus gives indications of who he really is. This is what he does here in the Gospel. Jesus makes plain that he is not bound to pay the temple tax. The sons of the kings of the earth are not asked to pay tax. Therefore, neither is he obliged to pay the temple tax because he is the Son of God. Nevertheless, to avoid giving offense, he asks Peter to pay the tax for both of them, while indicating, by the miraculous way Peter gets the money used for payment, that he (Jesus) really is not an ordinary man, but the Son of the living God.

There are times when we concede so as not to cause offense or trouble. We, Filipinos, call it pagpaparaya, not insisting on our rights, not because we are weak, but for the sake of a higher good.

Let us practice the gentle art of pagpaparaya

when it is necessary to obtain peace.