Moving Mountains and Paying Taxes

Though demons can and do influence the world we live in (even to the point of possession) those of us in Christ cannot be possessed because the Holy Spirit lives in us. And though the evil forces around us impact our lives, we have power over them in the name of Jesus, which we will see today.

It has been misused and misunderstood by many, leading people to believe things about God that are not only wrong, but harmful.

We are going to look a bit deeper into this as we walk through the passage.

There are part of the story that are just hard to believe.

We just need to lean into the stories in the bible that we find hard to fathom.

It might be hard to believe someone caught a fish with a coin in it’s mouth, but the Christian faith is founded on the belief God became a man, died on a cross, and resurrected from the dead.

So a coin a fish’s mouth isn’t too far of a stretch.

With that as our preface, let’s read Matthew 17:14

Matthew 17:14–27 CSB

14 When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. 15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” 17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed. 19 Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” 22 As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed. 24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25 “Yes,” he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?” 26 “From strangers,” he said. “Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him. 27 “But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”

Stressed and Distressed

There are a lot of word that I could point out in this passage that are important: faith would like be the most prominent one and the one we are going to spend a bulk of our time talking about.

But the one that stood out to me as I read through these verses in preparation is in verse 23 and the description of the disciples after Jesus tells them again that He is going to die and be raised.

Matthew says the disciples were “deeply distressed”.

They were experiencing some deep down pain and struggle from the news that Jesus was going to die.

Distressed can also be translated as anxious or overwhelmed (like a boat taking on water).

I resonate with that word quite a bit.

From something as simple as the mounting number of home projects, to the much more challenging struggles of raising kids, and maintaining a budget.

There are often times where the word “distressed” describes me to a “T”…what about you?

And as we walk through the passage, it seems to describe people in all three pieces.

As Jesus and His 3 disciples come down the mountain of transfiguration (where Jesus revealed His glorified self to them), they come upon a crowd that seems to be distressed.

A father had brought his son to Jesus’s disciples to be healed.

His son was struggling with what the dad calls seizures, but what we find out is actually demon possession.

I think we can safely say the dad was likely also in a state of distress.

The disciples though are unable to heal the boy, and are left in a state of confusion and likely distress.

“Why couldn’t we heal this time like we had before?!”

They remembered how Jesus had sent them out to heal back in chapter 10, and they had been successful. What happened?

Then there is the last part of the passage, as Peter is approached by some religious leaders who are coming to collect the temple tax Jewish people were asked to pay to cover the cost of maintaining the temple.

They ask Peter in a leading way, whether Jesus pays the temple tax.

Peter quickly responds with “yes”, likely distressed about the possibility that they are going get in trouble for not paying the tax.

Three different scenes, yet three very similar struggles.

I love the diversity of these struggles too.

The father is dealing with family struggles, worried about his son and feeling the effects of our broken world.

The disciples are struggling to understand why they aren’t experiencing the power of God in their lives as they had before and desire to again.

And they are worried about the future as they hear Jesus talk about what is next for Him.

Finally, Peter is struggling with money, how they are going to pay the bills and take care of what they need to take care of.

Don’t these sound similar to the struggles we encounter in life?

Though we likely don’t struggle with demon possession, we do struggle with the effects of sin and the brokenness of our world.

We struggle with feeling the presence and power of God in our lives.

We struggle with the future, how things are going to work out, or what will happen if they don’t work out.

And we struggle with money. Worrying whether or not there is enough or how we can make more.

Stressed and distressed. Anxious and worried. Overwhelmed, like a boat taking on water.

What are we to do?…remember that other word I mentioned earlier? FAITH.

This whole section of the Gospel of Matthew is about faith.

It started with Peter in Matthew 16 when Jesus asked him “Who do you say that I am?” and he makes that amazing confession.

It continued with Jesus saying anyone who has faith in Him must be willing to give up everything else to follow Him.

And then Jesus take His 3 closest followers on a mountain and shows them who He is in all His glory, giving them a reason to believe.

And now today, three real life scenarios where faith is at the center.

Three Powerful Truths about Faith

1) FAITH is the CURE for our DISTRESS.

A father comes to Jesus, someone he has heard (and maybe seen) heal people like his son.

He doesn’t find Jesus at first, but does find His disciples, maybe they can heal his son.

But when they can’t, he doesn’t give up and go away, he comes to Jesus.

And Mark shows us the kind of faith he came to Jesus with.

Mark 9:23–24 CSB

23 Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

Jesus had just scolded the disciples for there lack of faith, later calling their faith “small”.

But this dad shows the kind of faith that most of us have. We believe, but boy it can sometimes be REALLY HARD to believe.

But faith in Jesus really is the cure isn’t it? Even though it is so hard to believe sometimes.

When the disciples are struggling with Jesus’s announcement in verse 22-23, their distress isn’t necessary from the events Jesus is talking about, but what they are anticipating will be the outcome if those things actually happen.

What will come of them if Jesus is arrested and killed?

What is He even talking about with “being raised” on the third day? He will be dead!!

There struggle was with faith that what Jesus was saying and doing was really worth following.

That even if they didn’t see how things were going to work out, they could still trust Him.

And then Peter, struggling to figure out if and how they were going to pay a tax they were expected to pay.

Where will the money come from? What will happen when they find out he is a liar and Jesus is a tax evader?

What was his struggle? Faith!

Faith that God would provide as long as he was obedient.

And He would provide enough...

2) FAITH isn’t measured in QUANTITIES or QUALITIES.

There are dangerous and destructive beliefs present in the Christian world.

If you watch TV and internet preachers you will sometimes here talk about the quantity or quality of your faith determining the effectiveness of your prayer.

Call it “Name it and claim it” theology, prosperity gospel, or Word of Faith movement, there is a belief that with the right amount of faith, or the right kind of faith, we can get whatever it is we are asking for.

A mustard seed to move a mountain.

Is that really what Jesus is saying?

The disciples come to Jesus in private and ask Him why they couldn’t heal this time.

This is where Jesus makes a really odd comparison.

He says the disciples had a “little faith” and what they needed was a “mustard seed” faith…remember, mustard seeds are really tiny.

What Jesus is saying is - no faith, little faith, mustard seed faith...It isnt about the size or quantity.

the father's confession, "I believe, but help my unbelief"... That isn't perfect faith.

the disciples struggle to see Jesus for who he is and struggle to grapple with the idea of losing him.

and Peter doesn't know where the money is going to come from.

Jesus is teaching them/us that the object/focus of their faith is key.

You will notice there isn’t a verse 21 in Matthew in most of you translations.

The reason is that the earliest manuscripts don’t have verse 21 in them. It was likely added by a scribe later on in order to explain what was happening here and bring it into alignment with Mark 9.

In Mark, Jesus answers the disciples by saying Mark 9:29 “29 And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.””

“Nothing but prayer" meaning the disciples had decided to deal with the demon by some other method.

Much like we deal with most of our struggles. If it gets bad enough, then we might pray.

Prayer is a turning to God for help. And admission that we are helpless without Him.

Jesus is telling this disciples that there faith isn’t just weak or unrefined, it is pointing in the wrong direction.

3) True FAITH is focused on a GOD who can do ANYTHING.

Jesus tells Peter to go fishing after the whole tax conversation with the temple authorities.

The first fish he catches will have a coin in its mouth that will cover the cost of the taxes.

Why didn’t Jesus just find a coin from somewhere? Or why not go do a days work and earn it?

Jesus was showing Peter, and us, His power to provide.

He already cast out the demon, and so many more things, but here, this seemingly simple, maybe unnecessary miracle shows Peter that Jesus is able.

He can do ANYTHING, because He is God!

yes he can move mountains, change hearts, heal the sick, restore broken relationships, break the bonds of addiction, transform situations that seem way to far gone.

He can and he does, even if it might not be in the way we think he should.

There are people in this room who walked in here lost and someone has been praying for them, maybe at their wits end, struggling to believe they will ever come to Christ. But right now there is a stirring in your heart that you can explain but you also can't ignore.

There are folks in this room who are desperate for something to change before they give up or give in. Maybe it can only come through prayer?

This isn't a promise that God will do whatever you ask him, he is a better father than that, but it is a promise that he CAN!

And it is a promise that He will do what He deems best, for His glory and our good.

The prayers we pray are meant for us, so that we can give over the burdens we are carrying to the one who can actually do something to fix them.

When we pray we surrender...

What do you need to surrender?

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