41 17.22

Orla Boyer was a missionary in northeastern Brazil. The region hadn’t had rain for a long time and as a result, the crops were drying up and dying. If rain didn’t come soon, there would be no food for the people to eat.

Days passed and still no rain. Finally, Boyer needed to get food for his family. The food in their home was almost gone so he set out on his mule in search of food. He traveled for several days until he found a sack of rice and a sack of beans that he could buy. He loaded up the food on his mule and headed back home.

As he arrived in the town, he could see the looks on the people’s faces as they saw him carrying food on his mule. He had food. They had none. Where could they get food? They no crops because there was no rain and they had no money to go buy food. They would starve. Boyer knew he didn’t have enough food to feed everyone in town. All he could do was pray. And that’s what he did. Boyer and his family asked God for a miracle. Somehow, some way, God needed to provide food for the starving people of this town.

As they were praying, Boyer heard God tell him to put the sack of beans and the sack of rice in the window of his home. He then was to tell the people in the town to come and get what they needed to feed their families. This would mean that his family would have less to eat, but he knew God had spoken and he wanted to obey God.

The two bags of food weren’t enough to feed the whole town, but he trusted God for a miracle. What would God do? As the people lined up at the missionary’s house, food was given out to each person. And at the end of the day, the sacks were still full! Boyer could hardly believe his eyes. For hours he had given out rice and beans from the sacks, yet the sacks were still full.

The next day, people started lining up again for more food. All day long, food was given out to the people. Yet at the end of the day, the sacks were still full! This continued day after day and the sack of rice and the sack of beans never emptied.

This continued for over a month until the rains came and the crops started to grow again. God miraculously provided for his people. Their lives were spared because God provided food for them to eat. God showed the people of that town that he was real and that he loved them. Many people started to follow Jesus because of the great miracle that happened.

We read about the miracles of the Bible, but God is still a God of miracles and he still provides.

SERMON

We are finishing Matthew 17 this evening. So turn with me to Matthew 17 and you can follow along with the video.

We really have two stories in our passage tonight, but since the first one only covers two verses we’ll look at both of them, but spend most of our time on the second one. These events take place after Jesus and the disciples return to Galilee and to Capernaum, the home base for Jesus during his ministry.

Video

SLIDE 1 If you’ve ever been to the doctor and received some difficult news you understand that there’s a lot of information to take in all at once. When you return for a follow up visit you’re a little better prepared. Perhaps you’ve done a little research. You have questions written down you want to ask that you didn’t think of on the last visit. You take someone with you to hopefully catch what you miss. But it’s still overwhelming.

I think this must have been what it was like for the disciples. Jesus and the disciples return to the region of Galilee. Jesus had taken them north to get some time alone with just he and disciples. They now return and on the way Jesus again lets them know what the future holds for them. Jesus had told them earlier in the trip:

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Matthew 16:21)

Peter immediately repudiates Jesus, telling him that will never happen. Jesus repeats it again as they are retuning to Galilee.

22bThe Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23aThey will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life. (Matthew 17:22b-23a)

And what was their reaction? They don’t try to tell Jesus it won’t happen, that they will protect him. But they are greatly distressed. Jesus is going to have to continue telling them hoping each time they are able to understand a little more. But we know they never completely understand because when Jesus is crucified they still didn’t expect him to be alive again on the third day, which is a little confusing since the religious leaders did.

Now we come to the second story, the paying of the temple tax. There are two lessons I think we should leard from this short story.

The first lesson is that Jesus is the Son of God.

That doesn’t come to much of a surprise to us, but it does to many people. In this story Jesus tells us this.

As they enter Capernaum Jesus heads to the house, probably Peter’s. Peter, on the other hand, is approached by some religious leaders asking for money. They had just arrived back in town and before they could even get settled the religious leaders are there with their hands out. They wanted to know if Jesus was going to pay his share of the temple tax for the year.

SLIDE 2 Turn to Exodus 30. The temple was a costly place to run. There were the daily sacrifices that took place each morning and evening which involved a year-old lamb. There was the daily offering of wine, flour, and oil that went along with the daily preparation of incense that continually burned in the temple. That didn’t include the elaborate clothing worn by the many priests who served each day. All of this required money. Based on Exodus 30:13 it was required that every Jew over the age of twenty had to pay the annual temple tax.

11Then the Lord said to Moses, 12“When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. 14All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. 15The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.” (Exodus 30:11-15)

It sounds like it was a one-time payment, but it had been turned into an annual payment equivalent to two days work. Unlike the Roman tax which was paid with some grumbling, this one was usually paid quite willingly and was almost seen as a patriotic exercise as it remembered the people’s deliverance from Egypt. The tax continued to be collected until the temple was destroyed by the armies of Rome in 70 AD, and at that time the Roman Emperor Vespasian decreed that the temple tax should still be collected and used to finance the temple of Jupiter in Rome.

SLIE 3 However at the time of Jesus not everyone was happy paying the tax. Zealots refused to pay the tax as long as Jerusalem was occupied by a foreign army, in this case the Roman Army. And so the tax had become an issue of religious commitment vs. national commitment.

The real question was whether those who questioned Peter were really interested in getting the temple tax or if they were setting Jesus up. Did they want their half shekel or were they testing Peter to find out where the loyalties Jesus really lay? We will never know, but we do know that probably the reason that Peter was asked was because he probably owned the house that Jesus was staying in, at least that’s a pretty fair assumption seeing we are told elsewhere in the gospels that is where Jesus stayed when he was in Capernaum. We do know that this story probably happened in late winter because the tax was collected on the first of the month Adar, which is March on our calendar.

So these men approach Peter asking, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” Notice how the question was formed in the negative? Peter immediately states “Of course he does.” And then he went to ask Jesus if he had paid the temple tax. But even before Peter can even open his mouth to ask, Jesus begins to teach him.

What do you think Simon, when a king levies taxes, who pays – his children or his subjects?

English citizens pay taxes. Do you think the royal family has to pay them? Of course not, though they do. I’ve read that in:

In 1992, The Queen volunteered to pay income tax and capital gains tax, and since 1993 her personal income has been taxable as for any other taxpayer.

So in England the queen pays taxes, but it is voluntary. England is a little different, but ordinarily it wouldn’t make sense for the royal family wouldn’t pay taxes because the taxes are going to them. And Peter responds accordingly, “Of course not. The reason kings charged taxes is to support their families.” And that was the point Jesus was making. The king’s children were not required to pay taxes.

So what point was Jesus making? He was the Son of the King. Let’s go through several verses that help make just this point.

The tax was for the temple, and time and time again the Bible referred the temple as the House of God.

SLIDE 4 But the four principal gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the responsibility for the rooms and treasuries in the house of God. (1 Chronicles 9:26)

SLIDE 5 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

SLIDE 6 Their fellow Levites were assigned to all the other duties of the tabernacle, the house of God. (1 Chronicles 6:48)

So the tax was for the temple and the temple was the house of God. Do you remember when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple for Passover when Jesus was twelve? On the way back to Nazareth they realize Jesus wasn’t with them. They had forgotten Jesus back in the big city. (I wonder if losing God’s only Son would be an unforgivable sin? Thankfully they found him.) They rush back Jesus in the temple confounding the priests with his knowledge. Do you remember what he told his parents when they asked what he was doing? SLIDE 7

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)

What about when Jesus returns to Jerusalem as an adult and he enters the temple to find merchants and money changers have filled the outer courts, and have turned the temple into a carnival like event. Do you remember what he said as he turned tables upside down and freed animals and scattered coins across the pavement? SLIDE 8

To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16)

If that’s not enough, Peter had declared Jesus to be the Son of God. And God himself had declared Jesus to be his Son at the transfiguration. So what Jesus was asking was Peter? “Should I pay tax to support my Father’s house?” And then just as quickly he said, “But let’s not offend them, let’s pay the tax.”

The first lesson we learn from this story is that Jesus is the Son of God. SLIDE 9

The second lesson we learn is the ability of God to provide for us.

This is where the story gets really interesting. Jesus tells Peter to go down to the lake and go fish. There’s no way Peter will be able to catch enough fish by himself to pay the tax. It’s not a huge sum, but it’s an average two days wages. It would take two days of catching fish and selling them for Peter to pay it. Peter was probably a little confused. But that’s not what Jesus had in mind. Jesus continued. “As soon as you catch a fish, open its mouth and there will be a coin that will be enough to pay the temple tax for both of us.”

That’s pretty good. All Peter has to do is catch one fish and there will a coin worth enough to pay the tax for both of them.

The problem I have with this story is it doesn’t answer enough of my questions? How long did it take Peter to catch the fish? Were those guys waiting for the money watching what happened?

I can just picture Peter coming back out of the house to greet them. “Follow me and I’ll give you the temple tax for Jesus and me.” He then walks down to the water, throws in a line, reals in a fish, pulls a coin from it’s mouth, and hands it to them. What would they have thought? Jesus didn’t actually pay it – it didn’t come from his pocket – but here was the money. From the mouth of a fish!

Here’s another question: what about the other disciples? Did they pay the tax? If so, who paid it for them? Why wasn’t there enough money for Jesus and all twelve and not just for Jesus and Peter? Those are questions that will just have to wait till we get to heaven. The story stops before it answers them. In fact, the story stops even before Peter leaves the house. All we’re told is the instructions Jesus gave to Peter. We just have to assume he followed them.

The lesson though is that Jesus knew of the problem before Peter was even able to ask. Jesus had made that point in the Sermon on the Mount when he instructed us not to be like the pagans who think they’ll be heard by their many words. Jesus said: SLIDE 9

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8)

God knows your needs and mine before we even ask.

SLIDE 10 Mary Anne and I watched a video yesterday about Dr. Helen Roseveare, a longtime missionary to Zaire. She died last December at the age of 91. I’ve shared this story before, but you may not remember it, so I’ll share it again.

Born in England in 1925, she traveled to Africa as a medical missionary in 1953. There she built a built a combination hospital and medical training center. In the video she tells a story of an incident that occurred not long after she arrived. She was called to the maternity ward late on night. Despite their best efforts the mother died leaving behind a tiny premature infant and a two-year-old daughter. The biggest problem for the infant would be keeping him warm enough. Not having an incubator, they would place a hot water bottle on either side of the child. However, when they went to fill the only bottle they had with hot water it burst.

The next morning Dr. Roseveare went to have prayer with the orphanage children as she always did and shared with them the concerns for this newborn baby and his sister who was distraught over losing her mother. After sharing the prayer concerns one little girl named Ruth volunteered to pray. “Dear God, please send us a hot water bottle. It will be no good tomorrow so please send it this afternoon. And while you’re at it God would you please send a doll for this little girl so she will know Jesus loves her.” Dr. Roseveare admits she didn’t say amen to the prayer because she wasn’t sure it could be done.

That afternoon a truck arrived in the village, left a package on the doorstep at her house, and drove off. It was the first package she’d received from England. Feeling a lump in her throat, she didn’t feel like she could open it alone, so she called all the boys and girls over to help her. After cutting the string and pulling out the packing paper, she dug into the box and pulled out a hot water bottle. She had never asked God for it because she didn’t think he could, but he did. Seeing the water bottle Ruth burst through the others kids saying, “If God sent the hot water bottle he must have sent the doll.” Diving into the box, from the very bottom she pulled out a doll and then asked if she could go give it to the little girl.

Remember, this was in the 1950s. There was no Amazon next day delivery. A package from England would have taken months to arrive. Yet when it did, in addition to everything else in the box, it contained the very two items they had prayed for that morning. Even before they knew what they needed God knew what they needed and was making provisions for them.

Jesus knows what you need even before you ask, even before you know what your need is. Does that mean he give us everything we want? No. Have you ever thought about how many stories we have of Jesus healing the disciples? There aren’t any. Surely the disciples got sick, but we don’t have any stories of Jesus healing them.

There are some who don’t think there was an actual coin in the moth of the fish, but that Jesus was only speaking figuratively. What he was really saying is that Peter needed to go fish and work for the money. I’m not sure I agree, but here are two reasons William Barclay gives.

God doesn’t usually send a miracle to do for us what we can do for ourselves

Jesus never used miracles to meet his own needs

Barclay says it would be like telling a mechanic that he could find the money he needs for his family in the cylinder of a car or a teacher can find money in a blackboard and chalk. Certainly the issues Barclay raises are true, but I have no reason to doubt there was a very real coin in the fish of the mouth. The word Matthew for the coin, who we should remember was a tax collector, was very specific and is only used this once in the New Testament. Jesus didn’t say Peter would find some money, but that he would find this one specific coin that would be the exact amount needed to pay the tax for the both of them. I think Jesus is teaching Peter about his ability to meet our needs.

I had the opportunity to take Mary Anne’s parents to Dollywood last week. At one show I was talking to a man who said he went to college with the Gaithers. He talked a little about them and the story about the first song they wrote that really made it big – He Touched Me. Here’s the story to another song they wrote.

It was in the late 1960’s and Gloria was expecting and they were going through some problems. Bill had been seriously sick and their music had been attacked as not being spiritual enough. On New Year’s Eve night, Gloria sat in a dark room experiencing a time of torment and fear. She said,

I sat alone in the darkness thinking about the rebellious world and all of our problems and about our baby yet unborn. Who in their right mind would bring a child into a world like this?

She was at the height of her fear and then something happened. She said,

I can’t quite explain what happened in that next moment, but suddenly I felt released from it all. The panic that had begun to build inside was gently dispelled by a reassuring presence and a soft voice that kept saying, “Don’t forget the empty tomb, don’t forget the empty tomb.” Then I knew I could have that baby and face the future with optimism and trust for I had been reminded that it was all worth it just because he lives.

And she wrote those lyrics we all know so well:

How sweet to hold a newborn baby, and feel the pride and joy he gives; but greater still the calm assurance, this child can face uncertain days because he lives. Because he lives I can face tomorrow, because he lives all fear is gone, because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives.

A dark time in Gloria’s life became a teachable moment, and Jesus used it to draw her near and remind her of the power of his resurrection. Jesus not only knows our needs, but he is able to miraculously provide for them just as he provided the right coin at the right time for Peter, the water bottle and doll for Dr. Roseveare, words of comfort for Gloria Gaither, and food for that small Brazilian community. God provided in such way that it left no doubt that he had met the needs.