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Chapter 17

22And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

24When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?” 25He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” 26When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. 27“However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

The disciples, the 12 chosen apostles, have been on an intense training course with Jesus the Messiah. For three years they have left home and family, business and jobs and have been with Jesus every day.

When He called them to 'follow Him' they left everything and followed Him.

We don't have details about whether they had children to care for. We do know Peter had a house and a wife.

Paul mentions that the apostles and brothers of the Lord all had wives. 1 Cor. 9:5 Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? And where there's wives, there are children. By God's design.

It will be interesting to hear some of the stories from extended family. Wives and parents. James and John were in business with their father. They walked away from those responsibilities, at the Lord's command.

How did God provide in those cases?

We're in the final 6 months now. The big crowds have been left behind and Jesus is concentrating on these 12. He is their life line. Everything revolves around Him.

But not forever. Not in a physical body. His ascension is drawing closer. We'll learn a little later in this passage that we may be in the final 2 months of this 6 month disciple intensive time.

We humans have a capacity to tune important things out. Right now, at our house, we both know taxes are due. I've tuned that out. Ain't gonna happen this week. Probably not next week. Or the week after that. I've put it out of my mind. Yet I know it's coming.

The disciples have had some time to process Jesus telling them that He is going to be mis-treated by the Jews and killed. They don't want to hear it, and they've filed it in some brain cells way at the back of their brain. Don't retrieve unless forced. Build a wall and ignore it.

They cannot imagine life going on without Jesus. They have no concept of the comforter, the Holy Spirit who will be their helper when Jesus is absent. All they know for sure at this point is that life with no Jesus, simply doesn't compute.

At the proper time, Jesus will re-introduce the subject. This is the time. they have to face this and begin to deal with it.

22And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

They are back home. Galilee. Home base. Peter's house, at least for Peter and probably Jesus. Maybe more.

He gathers them together to receive some information. Teaching. Get the group together. I've got something important to say; “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.”

Delivered. Betrayed into custody. Does any man really hold God in custody outside of His will?

John 10:17 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18"No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."…

No man or group of evil men can hold the Lord Jesus unless the Father allows it.

When Jesus was arrested by the group of men that Judas the traitor delivered Him to, Peter withdrew his sword and started hacking. Listen to what Jesus says to Peter; 52Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. 53"Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54"How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?"… Mt. 26

One angel killed 185,000 men. Think what 12 legions could do. Immeasurable power is at his command. He spoke the worlds into place. He will speak them out of existence. A word to His father.

The same is true of every thing mentioned here. Not one thing that Jesus says will happen, will happen unless sovereign God Almighty allows it to happen. Everything is in His control.

Even when the soldiers came and did arrest Him, he spoke and they all fell down. "Never a man spoke like this man!"

“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.”

His betrayal. His custody. His mis-treatment and mock trial. His crucifixion. His resurrection from the dead on the 3rd day. All are ordained and controlled by sovereign God. To the nano second.

You say, whew, that's good because these men would be in real trouble if they killed God and it was their fault.

Listen to Peter's first sermon. Acts 2:22"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- 23this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24"But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.…

God ordained it. Wicked men carried it out. God plans it. Evil men do it. God's plan is for GOOD. Men's plans are for evil.

Unscramble that egg.

And they were deeply grieved.

We humans are vulnerable. God created us to experience joy, and sorrow. Loss of those we love can bring numbing sorrow. I can't imagine losing Pam. Or one of my kids. Or my grandkids.

We hold onto those we love. Part of that is selfish I suppose.

These men have an enormous investment in Jesus. Their motivation is love. Besides that, they're doubtless excited about being on the ground floor of something big. Jesus is the King. All we've got to do is wait. There's that.

Judas was on board for that! Notice that it's after Jesus begins to teach that He must die, that Judas changes. The 11 are grieved. Judas is angry. That's conjecture.

Life without Jesus, for the 11, is unimaginable. All this talk is a bummer. They don't argue. But they're bummed out. They're deeply sad. Their friend will be gone. Then what?

John 10:5-7 is the same time frame. Same discussion. But Jesus has some interesting things to say.

5"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6"But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.…

You guys are bummed out because I said I'm leaving. I get that. But what about Me. No one's asking about how's this going to work out for me. You're bummed about YOU, but, nobody's asking about me.

Did anyone think about what the implications are for Jesus? No. He's going to His father. That's reason for unspeakable joy. That's what He was longing for when He said to the epileptic's father, and everybody else, How long must I put up with you!

Jesus is going home. No one's thinking about that. Everyone's thinking, how's this going to work for ME, and that only brought sadness. Grief. They aren't looking at the big picture. They're looking at the prospect of being left behind, with no Jesus.

In the John 10 passage, Jesus says, ultimately, this is a good thing. The Holy Spirit will come. And the message will cover the globe. The Kingdom will take shape, in a totally different way than anyone ever imagined. This is what we want.

But it's a hard sell. It would be for us too, if we were there. We have great 20-20 hindsight. We're looking at the resurrection from the dead and the spread of the Kingdom of God 20 centuries on this side of the death of Jesus.

It's easy for us. Of course this was the plan of God! Of course this was necessary and the old testament prophets spoke of it. Silly disciples being all grieved. It had to happen that way, and it was all for good.

I wish we had more of the kind of love for the Lord Jesus that caused the disciples to get depressed to the bone, deeply grieved, at the thought of Him not being near.

24When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”

Christianity has a complicated relationship with government.

If you're muslim, it's simple. No other government except a califate under a caliph enforcing sharia law can be tolerated. All other government is your enemy, and you must crush them. Period.

Not so christianity. It's complicated. We are to obey those whom God has put in authority over us. We are to respect their authority. We are to submit.

Romans 13 is our manifesto; 1Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

That means if I wake up next January 20th and Bernie Sanders in in charge, it was ordained by God for him to be there.

How many times have I watched the news lately and people are throwing dirt in the air because some cop has used deadly force on some citizen who was out of control and I am reminded again that for 2 generations now, me and my children excluded, no one seems to teach their children what "he beareth not the sword in vain" means.

Those rulers, even the evil ones, are servants of God. That's what the verse says. It doesn't say, the good ones that we like are, and the others are not. It says the people in authority in our government are ministers of God to you for good.

I was a little shocked at the incident in Oregon. I'm partially sympathetic to their cause. But if they had read Romans 13 there is no way they could occupy lands and buildings that belong to the government and be in submission to scripture.

The Bible is clear. We not only submit to government, we pray for those folks.

Until, until, that government tells me to dis-obey God's commands. Acts 4:18-20 Peter and John are ordered not to speak about Jesus. 18And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”5:28-29 “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. That's our model. We obey until we can't obey.

Even then, we don't pull the sword out of the sheath and start hacking. Our example is Daniel. The statesman. Esther, the intercessor. We approach with a soft answer. We hold the offending government in honor and dignity as we beseech them to consider our position. We fast and pray and try to find a way, without compromising, to obey our government, and our God.

This little story illustrates some of these ideas so perfectly for us. So what have we got here?

24When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”

The two-drachma tax was a yearly collection from all Israelites to keep the temple in Jerusalem in good repair and running as it should. It was above and beyond all of the different tithes.

So once a year, a couple of months before Passover (which also gives us a time frame for where we're at in this final 6 months of instruction) the rulers of religious Israel would send people all over Israel to collect this tax and bring it to the store house.

Every Israelite pays. What about Jesus? And that's the question Peter gets asked. Does your teacher think He's above paying this tax. They would have been well aware of the open conflict between Jesus and the rulers of Israel in Jerusalem

Here's a possible place to set a trap for Jesus. Does He pay, like everybody else?

25He said, “Yes.”

Peter says, "why sure" Perhaps Peter had been with Jesus in years past when they reached into the treasury and paid this tax.

And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”

As soon as he walks into the house, Jesus has a teaching moment with him.

Did you follow the question Jesus asks. It's a little different from the tax Peter has just said, yes to.

A poll tax or customs tax is like what Rome would gather from the Jews since they were part of the real estate that was Rome's. That was Levi's job. Collect taxes from Jews for Rome. Isn't it interesting that Levi is the only writer that tells us this story.

Jesus says who pays? The kings sons? or the strangers?

26When Peter said, “From strangers,” That's the right answer. The Kings sons get to spend the tax. They don't pay it. They own it. Strangers pay it, the king and his sons spend it. Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt.

Obviously. They own it. Do you see where He's going? Does God pay tax on the temple that was built to honor Him?

Back in Matthew 12, when the scribes and pharisees are arguing with Jesus about the Sabbath day, Jesus has already made this statement. 6"But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.

Does the greater than the temple, pay the temple tax? Ludicrous.

So Peter's getting ready to go pay those folks a visit and let them know, NO Jesus doesn't pay the temple tax, HE owns the temple! The temple is just the house. He's the occupant! Be gone with you and your tax!

Is that how it goes down. No.

27“However, so that we do not offend them,

This is so important for us. Especially now. We're going to need wisdom in the future, in how we pick our battles. Jesus could have sent Peter back to those guys with both guns blaring. He doesn't. That's not how we roll. We follow this example.

We submit to our government until the day comes, like it did for Peter and John, and indeed those hebrew christians in Hebrews 10 that lost houses and land and went to jail, because of Jesus.

go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

I can't help but wonder if Peter found those tax guys and said, follow me down to the beach. I'll show you how Jesus pays the tax. Watch this.

Probably not. But it's fun to think about.

So what's our take away? April 15th is coming. Time to go fishing, right? And if I find a fish with money in it's mouth, I'll go ahead and pay my taxes.

I know, that's what you were hoping I'd say. What did Peter take away?

Years later, he wrote these words, perhaps in direct consequence of this encounter; 13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. 1 Peter 2:13 - 17

The muslims are plotting the assassination of the king. That isn't how we roll.

I read somewhere the other day that the CIA and FBI send their recruiters to the mormons. They do that because they believe the mormons are mostly conservative folk who are honest and have a good work ethic, and are most likely to sympathize with protecting the government.

That should be us! Not the mormons. If we were following Peters admonition, that would be us.