Death and Taxes

Note: Daily Bread time yesterday was consumed by urgent business.  Hence, two slices today!

 Matthew 17: 22-27

Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²² Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

Peter and His Master Pay Their Taxes

²⁴ When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the ^[c]temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”

²⁵ He said, “Yes.”

And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”

²⁶ Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”

Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

These two apparently unrelated passages are indicative of the complex life Jesus led 2000 years ago, matching anything we experience today, from the delivery of a long overdo chair to the installation of a simple light fixture. Death on one hand and the payment of the Temple Tax on the other, hardly a combination one would concoct on the spur of the moment. Yet this is our human condition and Jesus was as much a part of it as we are and still is.  May we never lose heart, especially when it seems our prayers are falling on deaf ears. The fish with the coin in its mouth will appear just when we really need it!

Bro. Rene