Thoughts for the Day

When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, 'Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?' He said, 'Yes, he does.' And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking 'What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?' When Peter said, 'From others', Jesus said to him, 'Then the children are free. However, so that we do not give offence to them, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open up its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.'

(Church in Wales lectionary, from New Revised Standard version)

Thoughts

I have read the whole of the bible aloud twice, and while at university was asked to read the whole bible in one week as well as Milton's Paradise Lost. However, I have absolutely no recollection of this little story from Matthew's Gospel, and anyway what does it mean? There is much more to this story than I can give here, not least whether Peter went fishing or made the money simply by what he caught, but one thought comes to mind:

Jews paid a tax to the Temple each year for its ongoing work. It was the equivalent of two days' wage, and could be paid in villages throughout the country. Jesus refers elsewhere to 'being about His 'father's business', so he regards the Temple as His father's house, that is God's house, and no child would pay their father tax. Matthew includes the story to indicate that Christians should still shoulder the responsibilities of a good citizen.

Is this not why we support charities as much as we possibly can at this time, whether it's an international charity like 'Water Aid' or 'Unicef', or locally like PATCH or a Children's Hospice?

Heavenly Father,
You want us to live in the world,
as good citizens,
to shoulder our church responsibilities
and also our community obligations.
Help us not to forget either one
at this time of the year.
Amen.