Matthew the apostle wrote while Jesus and His disciples, “abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men. And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Does not your master pay tribute?”, and in chapter seventeen and verse twenty-five of his book, Matthew shares how Jesus asked Peter, “of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute?” where we read:
He said, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What do you think, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
The verse reads, “He said, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What do you think, Simon?”. Matthew began with the words, “He said” or “Peter uttered, declared, proclaimed and answered”, “Yes” which means “verily, truly assuredly and even so”.“And when” or “and at the time and moment” “he was come” which means “Peter approached and came forth” “into the house” or “into the dwelling place, habitation and abode”, “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “prevented him” which means “anticipated Peter” “saying” or “uttering, declaring and proclaiming”, “What do you think” or “what opinion, thought or accounting do you have” “Simon” which means “a rock or stone” and refers to “Jesus' disciple also known as Peter”. Matthew shared how Jesus “anticipated” Peter's arrival and question concerning paying the “tribute money”.
The verse goes on to say, “of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?” Matthew continued with the words “of whom” or “from which people” “do the kings” which means “do the leaders of people, princes, commanders and lords of the land” “of the earth” or “belonging to the arable land, country, territory and region” “take custom” which means “lay hold of, procure and claim a levy or impost” “or tribute” which means “tax or capitation levied upon individuals to be paid yearly”? “of their own children” which refers to “from their selfsame offspring or progeny”, “or of strangers” which means “or from foreigners, aliens and those not within one's own family”. Matthew shared how Jesus questioned Peter from whom the “temple tax collectors” took their “tribute” - their own family or foreigners?
When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus challenged the idea of this “tribute tax” by asking from whom they received it. The implication was that “family” should be exempt of this “tribute”, however, those who “received tribute money” were to collect it from every man. God desires to have a personal loving relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and there is no “tribute” or “tax” that is necessary because Jesus paid the price on the cross for everyone's freedom from sin. Let all who read these words consider that Jesus paid all that is required for “salvation” and “everlasting life”.
Next time Matthew shares how Peter answered, “of strangers”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
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