“JESUS CHRIST - A MAN APPROVED OF GOD
(Acts 2:22)”
Miracle #28-
Matthew 17:24-27
Taxes, another citizenship, fishing for money
THE TEXT
24 And
when they were come to Capernaum, they that
received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master
pay
tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he
was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest
thou,
Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of
their
own children, or of strangers? 26
Peter
saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the
children free.
27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and
cast an
hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast
opened
his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give
unto them
for me and thee.” (Matthew 17:24-27)
TAXES
These
verses are often misused by some to avoid paying taxes.
Under
Christ’s the kingdom of heaven dispensation, Christ said they
were not
obliged to pay tribute (taxes), but they would as follows …
“They say
unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto
them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and
unto God
the things that are God's.” (Matthew 22:21)
Under
Paul’s kingdom of God dispensation, there is no hint of not
paying your taxes … as it is mandatory.
“For for
this cause pay ye tribute also: for
they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.”
(Romans
13:6)
ANOTHER
CITIZENSHIP
A
lesson to come out of this miracle was for Christ to show his disciples
that
their real citizenship belonged in another country … that of
heaven.
The
reasoning was as follows …
No
country will, or indeed can, tax a citizen of another country … for
example the
government of Australia can only tax Australians and not the citizens
of South
Africa or Norway.
Christ
is saying that because he and the disciples were citizens of heaven,
they could
not be taxed by the Roman authorities … but from a free will, they
would
comply.
This
episode parallels Paul’s 13th chapter of Romans as follows …
“Wherefore
ye must needs be subject, not only for
wrath, but also for conscience sake. For
… this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's
ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all
their
dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom
custom; fear to
whom fear; honour to whom honour.” (Romans 13:5-7)
So Dear
Reader, whether under Christ’s kingdom of
heaven dispensation … now finished of course … or Paul’s kingdom of God
dispensation, all must pay their taxes.
FISHING
FOR MONEY
It appears
the miracle of finding the money in the
fish’s mouth was almost secondary … a mere trifle for
Christ.
It was
simply used for the lesson of above … the
absolute importance of obeying the government and paying tax … and of
course
signifying, that Christ, the Creator, had all power over his
creation.
Harley
Hitchcock
This
website’s front page is:
www.
“JESUS
CHRIST - A MAN APPROVED OF GOD”
(Acts
2:22)
Miracle #29-
John
9:1-41
