Freedom in the King (Matthew 17:24-27)

Introduction

Please take out your bibles and open to Matthew 17:24-27, our sermon passage this morning. Matthew 17:24-27. If you do not have a Bible and want to grab one of those Red Bibles you can turn in it to Matthew 17:24-27 on page #978.

Benjamin Franklin is notable for a variety of things. He was one of America’s founding fathers, he was a successful newspaper editor and printer, and he gave us electricity through his scientific studies. But he also is well known for his phrase, “there are no certainties but death and taxes.” 

Last week in Matthew 17:22-23 we read of Jesus’ prediction of his coming death. That he would be handed over to be put to death, implying a betrayal. But that he would rise again, defeating the course of death. And here this morning, we look at Matthew 17:24-27 where we see taxes involved.  

Benjamin Franklin was certainly right in these two certainties of death and taxes. For these things have existed throughout the history of mankind. For death entered the world as part of the curse in man’s rebellion in Genesis 3. This fulfilling God’s warning in his one rule for man, to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for the day that they do, they would die (Gen 2:17). 

And taxes have been part of society throughout human history, going back to these various kingdoms as they have gathered and assembled themselves since the spreading of the peoples from Genesis 11 after the tower of Babel.

But we would be amiss if we simply thought death and taxes are the main purpose of Matthew 17:22-27. For like every passage of the Bible, we are not first and foremost to see what these passages reveal to us about relevance to our lives. No, first and foremost the Bible reveals to us the Most High God who created the heavens and the earth. It reveals to us who he is and what he has done, and then presents how we are to rightly respond to him. 

Or to borrow from David Jackman [1], 

“The Bible is God’s book about God before it is his book about us. We look first, in every passage of Scripture, for God’s activity and then for his explanation, which will enable us to apply the text to our contemporary context.”

And what we see then in our passage of Matthew 17:24-27 this morning is not simply about taxes, but about who Jesus is and who we are in him and then how we are to live in light of that. Let us then hear the word of the Lord from Matthew 17:24-27…

Main Idea: If we are united to Jesus by faith, we are no longer under the law as slaves, but are sons. Yet, our freedom as sons is not to be used as a stumbling block for others. 

Free Sons (Matthew 17:24-26)

Stumbling Blocks (Matthew 17:27)

1. Free Sons (Matthew 17:24-26)

In Matthew 17:24 we find ourselves back in Capernaum. Capernaum is the home base for Jesus’ ministry. For it sat there by the sea of Galilee (Matt 4:13). A base that they would leave and then return to over and over again, though this would be the final time in Capernaum as Jesus begins preparing to set his eyes towards Jerusalem (Matt 21) and his coming betrayal, death, and resurrection that we looked at last week in Matthew 17:22-23. 

While Jesus and his disciples are in Capernaum though, a group of tax collectors are going around, collecting a tax. These tax collectors are not to be confused with the group of tax collectors who served Rome, collecting tax for Rome and its empire. These tax collectors were hated by the Jews, especially if they were one of their own as Matthew himself was before Jesus called him to follow him. 

No, these tax collectors were different as they sought to collect a tax of these two-drachma’s for the purpose of funding the Jewish Temple. This was an annual tax to be collected and thought to be the equivalent of the amount of two days worth of wages.

This tax that these collectors are collecting is an interesting tax though. For starters it is not a Roman tax collected by the rulers of this region. It is a tax regarding the temple. A tax that finds its origins in the law. 

Exodus 30:13 ESV

13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.

But as we can see from Exodus 30:13, this tax was tied to a census that was to be collected as an offering to the Lord. It would then be brought back up after the deportation of exile into Babylon and the people began to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple in the days of Ezra-Nehemiah. We read:

Nehemiah 10:32 ESV

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God:

And so, these tax collectors seek to collect taxes accordingly for the service of the temple. Although from historical records, there seems to be debate among the Jews about how official of a tax it was. But it appears that most faithful Jews paid the tax. We see this even in the presumption of the way the question is put to Peter on behalf of Jesus. 

For as the collectors approach Peter on behalf of his teacher, Jesus, they ask in Mat 17:24, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?”.  This question expects a yes. The reason for this expectation of yes, was again, that most faithful Jews appear to pay the tax. Faithful Jews being those who regularly attended the synagogue on the Sabbath, who made regular journeys to Jerusalem, who kept the various feasts. And Jesus did all of these, so why would he not be faithful in giving this tax? 

And of course Peter then answers as expected as Matt 17:25 opens. Yes. Yes, Jesus pays the temple tax. Then we have a scene change. Peter and the tax collectors split and Peter now turns and enters the house. Before he can even mention what was asked of him, Jesus asks him a question regarding the tax. Matt 17:25…

The question Jesus’ asks Peter is an important question and we will come back to that in a moment. But first notice that without being present with Peter, Jesus already knows what just transpired and puts this question to Peter. 

Jesus needs no one to bear witness to him about what is in man and what is going on with man (John 2:23-25). He already knows. And this is to be a sobering reminder to Peter to be careful of speaking to quickly and hastily on Jesus’ behalf. For Jesus knows all that takes place as the Divine Son of God. 

Beloved, this truth should cause us to think carefully in all we do and say. We should fear knowing that all our words, all our actions do not remain hidden from the King! Yet, we do not fear the truth that he will know all our actions and words, but rather fear man instead.

A perfect illustration of this kind of man-centered fear vs a God-centered fear is what was common for me and other seminary students working at Texas Roadhouse a number of years ago. There was a number of us working there, all attending or having ties to Southern Seminary. And by God’s grace, we were all very open and vocal about our faith. Our co-workers knew we were Christian and had a different set of values and standards.

Because of that though, they began to be sensitive to some of the profanity if we were walking back in the kitchen. At various times we would over hear, oh here Kyle comes or another brother or sister, and they would try to change their language. On one hand, we appreciated it because we didn’t care to hear that language, we all had the same reaction, you know that it isn’t a matter of us hearing you or not speak and talk in these ways, the LORD hears and knows what you say and do and think. And it is he who you should fear.

Beloved, friend, know that King Jesus knows what you are doing, what you are thinking, and what you are thinking. This truth should cause you to fear and to think carefully before you speak and act and even think. 

This truth should caution us against speaking poorly about a brother or sister in Christ to another, trying to hide it from them so they do not hear. King Jesus sees this, he hears this, and he is who you should fear. 

So children, that lie or deceit you are tempted to think you can get away with, pulling a fast one over mom and dad, know that even this is known by Jesus. So fear the LORD and don’t seek to cover up sin, but confess it, acknowledge your wrong doing to God and others. And that applies for the rest of us too. 

We now must return to the question at hand that Jesus asked Peter, “from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax”? Peter answers there in the first part of Matt 17:26 answering, “from others”. And he is correct! 

The sons of kings are not the ones who are taxed. A king does not tax his sons, his heirs, but his servants, those in his kingdom, both of citizenship and those seeking refuge under him. This was the norm for the tax process. And so, when Peter answers, “others”, Jesus replies, “Then the sons are free.”

This declaration is more than a simple affirmation of the tax process in the day of Jesus. It is a declaration, both of his sonship and freedom from being under the ceremonial practices. 

It should come as no surprise for us that Jesus understood himself to be something better than the previous temple. For the tabernacle and then temple were a representation of God’s glory dwelling in the presence of his people. Yet, even then the people could not freely enter, but only the high priest once a year having cleansed himself.

Yet, from the very start of this gospel account, we are told that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. Which is why back in Matthew 12 that he stated that something better than the temple is here. This all then ties into this two-drachma tax that is being collected. Jesus is the son of the King, God himself. And so, as the Son, he is not the one who is to be taxed. For he himself is God’s dwelling with man. 

Of course this idea of Jesus being the Son of God is not new to Matthew’s gospel. We have already seen two declarations from heaven of the Father declaring to us that Jesus is his beloved Son. First in Matthew 3:17 following Jesus’ baptism. And the second coming on the mountain earlier in this chapter there in Matt 17:5. 

So even in this redeclaring of his sonship isn’t the main thing here. It is not just Jesus exalting his sonship status. He isn’t trying to say to Peter, “you see I’m God’s son, so I’m exempt, but you Peter must pay the tax.” 

No, Jesus here uses the plural, sons. He includes Peter in this conversation as a son with him. Peter who had back in Matthew 16 been told, “get behind me Satan”, is now being declared a son with Jesus! 

And because a son, an heir who is no longer under the bondage of the law, particularly under this temple tax and other Jewish regulations.

It is this theme that many places in the New Testament will continue seeking to unfold more, most notably in Paul’s epistles to the Romans and Galatians. That we are no longer under the law, but free. That freedom is then carefully nuanced and laid out for us. It is a freedom that we are in Christ and no longer under the law as the means of determining our righteousness. We are righteous because we are united to Christ by faith. A righteousness given to us because he was righteous, not us. 

And with this righteousness that comes in our being united to Jesus by faith, so does our adoption as sons. Sons who are again free and no longer slaves, Galatians 4:7. 

Beloved, as Christians, we are declared as sons, as fellow heirs with Jesus. Both the men and the women. For in the use of sonship is not to exclude the women, but declare they are those who join Christ not just as children, but as heirs with him. For in most cultures until the last century, women would not have had a right to an inheritance. And so, this declaration of sons meant something more! That all who are united to Christ receive this sonship and the benefits of it! 

Praise be to God for his mercy and grace to us in Christ Jesus, the beloved son who has now made a way for us to be united to him in such a way!

Before we leave this point though of free sons, I want to turn my attention to those who currently do not believe and those who miss what salvation is and struggle with it. Friend, you who are trying to go through the rigor, through the keeping of holy days and sacrifice  and attendance and works in thinking this is what sets you free, that earns you righteousness. See that this is not the path to freedom. 

In fact, the more you labor to try and earn your righteousness, the more the snare tightens around you, binding you even tighter into the grips of the lie that you can somehow earn your way to God’s righteousness, to free yourself of your own accord. 

Friend, such striving is in vain and no good! We cannot earn our own freedom from sin. We cannot earn our own freedom from exile. We cannot earn our own freedom from the curse of the law. 

Thanks be to God for his gift to us of one better than the temple, the Beloved Son, Jesus who came to take away the sin of the world and set us free from the curse of sin and death by laying down his own life for us on that cursed tree. And though he was crucified, dead, and buried, he rose again on the third day to declare his victory over this curse! And now, all who believe in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Friend, this is the freedom we as Christians boast in! This is the freedom that even now, we seek to persuade you to believe, to turn and place your hope in! Friend, let today be the day in which you acknowledge that Jesus is your only hope! After we are finished this morning, I would love to talk with you more about this. 

That is Point #1, free sons. Point #2, stumbling blocks. 

2. Stumbling Blocks (Matthew 17:27)

Does our freedom as Christians then allow us to be free to sin? To be free to do as we please? Free to boast of our freedom to the harm or neglect of others? By no means! For though Jesus makes this declaration, “the sons are free” notice his next words there in Matt 17:27…

By no means is Jesus afraid to offend people in his teaching, in his declaring of the truth. For he has corrected the Pharisees and Sadducees in their gross misunderstanding of God’s law and of what it means for the people. He has offended them by working his acts of mercy on the Sabbath even, when it was thought no work should be done. He has rebuked them for their holding to traditions while neglecting the law of the LORD. 

But here, he tells Peter to not give offense, to literally not be a stumbling block to these tax collectors. 

What Jesus means by this warning to give no offense, be no stumbling block is not able to be defined here in these few verses alone. This is why context matters, along with knowing the whole of the Bible to be able to better interpret Scripture. Beloved, this is one reason that you regularly really should be reading through the whole of the Bible. For only then will you be able to understand the entire story of Redemption and how it all fits together.

For us this morning, that means dropping our attention down to part of our passage for next week, Matthew 18:5-6. For though our English Bibles use different words, it is the same word used in the Greek, the word σκανδαλίσῃ, meaning stumbling block. 

We are not to be stumbling blocks in causing others to sin. And the same is being said here in Matthew 17:27, that we are not to be stumbling blocks to cause these tax collectors to sin. And so, Jesus instructs Peter what to do, to go out, cast his hook to fish, to pull out the fish, and the tax money will be found in the fish’s mouth.

Now, we only see the instructions of Jesus here, with no affirmation. But it is to be presumed that Peter went and did as King Jesus commanded him, and then went and paid the tax accordingly 

But the emphasis of this passage is on Jesus’ instruction that we are not to be stumbling blocks for others. But what does that mean for us? 

Well, we don’t presume for ourselves how to apply this, we turn to Peter and his instructions on this matter. 

1 Peter 2:13–17 ESV

13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Freedom in Christ is not freedom to sin, to cover up evil. Our freedom in Christ is to help us live as joyful servants of the LORD! And enables us to love our brothers (and sisters) in Christ. To fear God, and to honor those to whom God has given authority over us, both the good and the bad. 

And so, our freedom in Christ is a joyful thing, but it is not to be used to elevate ourselves above others. In fact, our freedom is a call to lay aside our very freedom for the sake of others. 

Listen to this point from J.C. Ryle:

“Our Lord’s example in this case deserves attention of all who profess and call themselves Christians. There is deep wisdom in those five words, “lest we should offend them.” They teach us plainly, that there are matters in which Christ’s people ought to sink their own opinions, and submit to requirements which they may not thoroughly approve, rather than give offence and “hinder the Gospel of Christ.””

Paul in Romans therefore ties this call to not be a stumbling block to others on matters of preference, whether food or drink. For greater than these preferences is the call to love one another. To care for one another. 

Beloved, this is way of the King! A way in which we are made free in him, but a freedom that enables us to aide others rather than being a stumbling block for them. 

And while this by no means will mean that we will never cause others to be offended, let it never be our preferences, our means, our words, our actions that cause others to shrink back from the truth of the gospel. 

If we must give offense, let the message of the gospel itself be the stumbling block. That those who hear stumble over the offense of the cross, over the foolishness of it. 

This is the way of the Christian life. To be a life free from the law and bound to Christ as sons. A freedom that is used to build others up, to love them. Not a freedom used for evil.

Lets pray….

Endnotes

[1] David J. Jackman. Proclaiming the Word: Principles & Practices for Expository Preaching. (Wheaton, IL, Crossway, 2024) 28.

[2] R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 668.

[3] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 217.