St Matthew 17: 22 – 27
When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief. After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “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. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Reflection
There are several passages in the Gospels about taxes, taxation and tax collectors. And we readily pair tax-collectors with sinners. Usually we associate these taxes and tax collectors with the Romans, with an exploitative empire and a resented power. But the tax referred to here is not a Roman tax. It was asked of all adult male Jews for the support of the Temple (building maintenance, salaries for the temple priests etc). We are told it was two drachmas (two day’s wages for a labourer?). The collectors of this tax ask Peter whether Jesus pays it, and Peter says he does. The story betrays some suspicion about whether Jesus supported the Temple or not, and until today there are different views about whether Jesus wanted to reform the Temple or simply to abolish it. But in a later conversation Jesus seems to say that the children of God should not have to pay for their own temple, or at least (perhaps better) that they shouldn’t be ‘taxed’ for it. Taxes are compulsory, obligatory, taken from us. Whereas a house of God should be resourced from the gifts of the faithful. Is this what Jesus is getting at?
Envelopes for our collections at church often describe them as ‘free will’ offerings.. There are no pew rents, no church tax, no levies. Only free will offerings. And I treasure that biblical phrase that we sometimes repeat; “for all things come from you, and of your own do we give you” (from 1 Chronicles 29:14, as David prays in thanksgiving to God).
It is too easy to slip into thinking of financial contributions to the church as a ‘tax’, to resent them or to think we would need a miracle to meet them! Can we reframe them as thank offerings, and remember too that the widow’s small gift was greater than all the others?
Prayer
Gracious God,
help me to worship you
with my words and with my body,
with all I do and all I say.
Let all I own and all I give
bear witness to your love
and your unfailing generosity.
This day,
may my receiving and earning,
my spending and giving
be good news for others,
and give glory to you.
Amen.