Matthew 17:24-27 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Does not your master pay tribute?… I. IN WHAT SPIRIT WAS THIS QUESTION ASKED OF PETER? It was asked, not by Roman tax-collectors, but by Jews. It is most natural to suppose that they asked the question in a captious spirit. Such a spirit is a bad sign of the state of the heart, and of the intellect too. This is not the right spirit for attaining to a knowledge of truth; it is very dishonouring to God, and very likely to endanger the stability of our faith. II. WHAT ANSWER WAS GIVEN BY PETER? The whole character of the man seems to come out in his eager, positive, instantaneous reply. He was sensitively anxious for the credit of his Master, and he spoke without thought. III. How DID OUR LORD PREVENT PETER? IV. ON WHAT PRINCIPLE DID OUR LORD CLAIM EXEMPTION? AS the Son of God He was necessarily exempt from an ecclesiastical tax. V. THE REASON FOR HIS PAYMENT. "Lest we should offend them." It is this delicate regard for the scruples of others which constitutes the occasion so signal an example to ourselves. VI. OBSERVE THE DIGNITY, AS WELL AS WISDOM, OF THE MIRACLE. It is Christ's royal mode of answering all cavils. The very triviality (so to speak) of this miracle is part of its greatness. How minute is the knowledge of Christ! How vigilantly He watches all the things He has made! There is not a fish on a summer day under the shadow of a stone that is not God's creature still. (Dean Howson.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? |
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