Untitled Sermon (8)

What are you keeping in your view

What are you keeping in your view

Intro.

Keeping things in our view to remind us of what has importance (football team, avon - picture, soldier- picture of family)

I. Keeping The Mission in view (17:22-23)

(22) Keeping the coming events in the forefront

- Some important points that bring understanding to this section.

* The other Gospels explain that this was a more private gathering of the disciples ().

* The mood of everyone else surrounding the disciples was amazement at all of the miraculous things that Jesus had done.

* Jesus had previously mentioned in their travel to Jerusalem and what was awaiting. “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

* John Nolland takes note that “as a setting for this second Passion prediction Matthew replaces Mark’s secretive ‘passing through Galilee’ () with ‘gathering in Galilee’. By means of this rather clipped language, Matthew invites the reader to imagine a group assembling to make preparations for the trip to Jerusalem anticipated in 16:21. Though this is not yet evident in Matthew’s story, the group will be preparing to make a Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.”

- The focus on the explanation of the passion narrative is different here.

* In and 17:12 (allusion to the passion) the discussion is on the suffering Jesus will endure before being killed and being raised from the dead.

* Here, the additional information discussed is that Jesus will be handed over into the hands of men. When this word for hand over paradidwmi is used with a man given to men, it carries the meaning of being arrested.

* Also important to note is the play on words with The “Son of man” being arrested and given over to the “hands of men”. The irony is that the one with great significance to all of humanity is ultimately handed over by God’s providence to the destructive nature of humans, whom are in rebellion against God.

* There is a level of humility that is required by Jesus in undergoing this humiliation. (as it is for all that undergo arrest)

(23) Jesus will die and be raised

- The passion narrative is predicted again.

* The elements of death and resurrection are mentioned for a second time in Matthew. These things are important so that sinful man can be reconciled to God.

* Death is a key component because the cleansing of sin requires the shedding of blood in sacrifice. “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

* Jesus’ resurrection is important for the satisfaction of all sins. “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

- They are grieved over hearing this again.

* Their sorrow is described is being deep. In the sense, it was something that hit them to the inner core of their being.

* Were they deeply sadden because their ideas of God’s coming Kingdom didn’t include a Messiah/King dying? Certainly!

* Was it that their hopes were pinned upon Jesus setting things right at the present time and to hear of His arrest and death would surely mean their hopes had been dashed? Possibly!

* Was it that they were disturbed because their relationship with Jesus was so strong that the disciples couldn’t imagine watching Him be arrested and die? Certainly!!

The coming Easter season and the events called the passion!

Keep The Mission in View: Don’t reflect on the suffering and think that emphatic emotions about Christ’s sufferings is what makes us spiritual. (many lost did with the passion movie) Focus on the passion for what it accomplishes in reconciliation to God.

II. Keeping Jesus in view (17:24-27)

(24) How about the tax?

- The background of the temple tax

* John Nolland provides a thorough discussion about the origins of this tax from his commentary. He says it comes “on the basis of the precedent of (where the people committed themselves to an annual temple tax of one-third of a shekel) and the stipulation in (originally a census levy to Yahweh, designated for the service of the tent of meeting, of half a shekel for each male over twenty, serving as a ransom to ward off the plague that the pride of conducting a census might otherwise bring) a custom had arisen, and was being defended in Jesus’ day as a requirement of the Law, of levying an annual temple tax on males over twenty to finance offerings in the temple made on behalf of the whole people.

* William Barclay talks about the collection of this: “The method of collection was carefully organized. On the 1st of the month Adar, which is March of our year, announcement was made in all the towns and villages of Palestine that the time to pay the tax had come. On 15th Adar, booths were set up in each town and village, and at the booths the tax was paid. If the tax was not paid by 25th Adar, it could only be paid directly to the Temple in Jerusalem.”

* The tax was equivalent to two days wages.

* Sadducees didn’t agree with the tax and members of the Qumran community only paid it once in their lives.

- Notice that Peter was approached about Jesus paying the tax.

* Those that were charged with collecting the taxes approached Peter in the house about the tax. It might have been that they were in Peter’s home and so it would be natural to talk with the head of the house.

* Rabbis were considered exempt from paying this tax, so the thought is that maybe the question wasn’t meant to be hostile.

* Others think that this is meant to create a trap to lure Jesus into doing something that would be controversial. However, I believe that those whom did such a thing were labeled by the positions as Scribes and Pharisees.

* Since they are collecting taxes, I am sure they are doing this with everyone and wondering if Jesus was going to pay the tax or opt out of it.

(25-26) Talking about perspectives on obligations

- Peter answers for Jesus by saying that He would be paying the tax.

* There is no reason to expect that Peter really had discussed this with Jesus but presumed that an affirmative answer would be natural.

* When Peter does come in the house, Jesus is pictured as bringing up the tax in getting him to think. It is possible that Jesus heard the discussion with Peter and this was the perfect time to talk.

- Is Jesus really to be subjected to this tax? * Peter is asked to engage in this discussion about taxes as Jesus brings up this similar but different situation.

* Peter is asked to engage in this discussion about taxes as Jesus brings up this similar but different situation.

* Jesus asks about where Kings collect their mandatory taxes. In this case, there are two different type of obligatory taxes listed which could apply to bringing in goods (poll tax) and property taxes.

* The question is whether the king extracts this money from his sons in his own royal family or from those in the kingdom outside his family (referred to as strangers).

- The obvious answer leads to the obvious point of obligation about the temple tax.

* The answer for the analogy is very obvious, the benefit of being in the royal family is the privileges afforded the King. In this case, the king doesn’t pay taxes so obviously his sons don’t pay the taxes because they are supported by their position through taxes.

* One thing to note: the NIV attempts to interpret and explain in their interpretation by translating the verses ““From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him.”

* The natural translation in the passage gives the answer. ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτῶν ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων[1]

* If sons are exempt, then the true son is exempt from payment. In this case Jesus was rightly recognized in “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

* Jesus is exempt from the tax for the temple that is essence is designed for worship to God the Father.

* As Tom Constable states clearly “Jesus was teaching Peter the implications of His deity. He was not teaching Peter to fulfill his civic responsibility.”

This is worth noting that Jesus’ divine nature can be forgotten as He lives in the first century world amongst the Jewish culture as being fully human and fully God. If Peter proclaimed Jesus as the son of God can forget the implications of that when it came to the tax, we should expect this world won’t affirm or acknowledge the greatness of Jesus. We should keep Jesus’ true nature at the forefront.

(27) Just pay it

- Jesus doesn’t want to create a stumbling block about the tax.

* This isn’t about a righteous obligation but it is about the greater mission.

* The word for “offend” is the picture of the scandal of falling into a trap (in Biblical language the trap of sin). In particular, these tax collectors might have concluded that Jesus had a problem with the temple by not paying it so they might have questioned things about the temple itself.

* There was no problem with the temple but it was a foretaste of the real access to God that would come through Jesus Christ Himself. In light of this mission, Jesus says to pay the tax for both Peter and Himself.

- Uniquely, the payment of the tax was going to be through a miracle.

* The fish is going to be caught with a hook possibly because of the type of fish being caught would be fitting for being able to hold a coin.

* J.D.M. Derret “argues that the fish in mind would have been a catfish, which scavenges near landing places, is without scales, and thus is not to be eaten by Jews. It grows to a length of four feet or more. It has a large mouth and, according to Derrett, would be attracted by a bright disk, which when taken into the mouth “might easily be caught in the framework of the hinder part of the mouth”

What are we to learn from all of this?

* The miracle wasn’t that a good fisherman would catch a fish with His hook. It is that Jesus told Peter to go get the first fish because the Father would provide for the temple tax.

* If people are going to stumble, let them stumble on Jesus Christ’s identity rather than on how to finance the temple.

How do we tie this section of chapter 17 together? It helps to start here and work backwards….

1. People are still missing the forest from the trees (like temple tax) by talking about heaven, wickedness in the world, the need to curtail certain sins through laws while not paying a single mind to the question: Who is Jesus Christ?

2. Wrong expectations on how things are to go in life lead to major disappointments in life. If the disciples were grieved about Jesus’ revealing the necessary but awful means of reconciliation to God because they didn’t yet understand, then it is to be expected that the status quo of deep sorrow awaits humanity without God.

3. When people are self-reliant they are in denial (disciples and exorcism), it isn’t until we recognize our weakness that we find our strength is total dependency upon God.

4. We can get distracted (as world wants us to do) even when distracted by the good things (ala 3 disciples with Moses and Elijah). We need to daily follow the words of God on that mountain: ““This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”