Matthew 17:14–27
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21] [a]
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
The Temple Tax
24 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?”
25 “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?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “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.”
Away from the mountain, the disciples went back to their ordinary life. As ordinary as it could be traveling with Jesus. The disciples still had much to learn. They must learn more about themselves. They must learn more about Jesus as well.
A total failure (verses 14–21)
There is a big contrast between verses 1–13 and verses 14–21. Three disciples saw the glory of Jesus. The other 9 disciples were without Jesus, in the valley. A father asked them to heal his son. This was what Jesus had already told them to do. (Read 10:8; Mark 6:13 and Luke 9:6–10.) The disciples failed, which was sad. But Jesus was still the same. It did not mean that he was weak. It did not mean that he was not willing to help. And the boy’s father realized this (verse 15).
Verses 19–21 give the reason why the disciples failed.
There is another problem in verse 20. Jesus described what was wrong about the disciples. It is not clear if he meant ‘unbelief’ or ‘little faith’. Probably it was ‘unbelief’. The disciples had sent evil spirits away from many people. Perhaps they thought that their own power did this.
So, they did not have a living faith in Jesus. They could only do miracles because Jesus gave them the power. Even a little faith would have been enough. But they had to use it in the proper way. The disciples had acted on their own. They did not use the power of Jesus. The amount of faith is not the important thing. The important thing is the fact that it is genuine. This meant that they would have a humble trust in Jesus. They would trust Jesus for everything.
This was what Jesus was saying to his disciples. He tried to encourage them in verse 20. He used a popular word picture of the time. People might want to say that a thing was impossible. In ancient Israel, they spoke about it as a mountain. Nobody could move it. But Jesus told his disciples what they must do. A thing might be impossible. But they must trust him. If he planned to do it, then it would happen. Jesus would do what he promised to do.
Sons of the Living God (verses 22–27)
Jesus repeated his earlier teaching. He told his disciples that he must die. (Read 16:21–22.) This made the disciples very sad. The natural question to ask would be: ‘Why?’ Some strange events followed. But the events had a purpose. (Read verses 24–27.) Jesus was suggesting an answer to their question.
Every Jew must pay a certain tax. It was for the care of the Temple. The tax was especially for the sacrifices. (Read Exodus 30:11–16.) The sacrifices were necessary. They were because of the sins of the people. God hates sin. So everyone who sins must have eternal death. (Note: Eternal means before time began; for all time and for ever.) God had taught the Jews that he would forgive their sin. But they must offer another life in their place. God allowed them to use an animal. In this way, God showed them two things. He was holy. But he wanted to forgive them as well.
The men who collected this tax came to Peter. They asked him if Jesus paid the tax. This was a natural question. Some Jewish teachers and their disciples did not have to pay it. The officials may not have been sure about Jesus. Peter answered: ‘Of course he does’ (verse 25).
Jesus used the incident to teach Peter. In the ancient world, there was a common practice. Kings and their families did not pay taxes. The same thing usually happens today. Jesus is the Son of God. So he did not need to pay the tax. He had no sin. So he did not need to pay for a sacrifice. But, there was even more. Peter did not need to pay the Temple tax either. He, as well, was a son of God!
Peter was a Jew. Jesus’ words must have surprised him. But he may not have understood them completely. Then Jesus did a wonderful little miracle. This was to explain what he meant. Jesus showed that he knew all things. He showed that he had power over all things as well. These two facts are only true about God. Then, by the miracle, he chose to pay the tax for himself and for Peter.
This emphasized something. Jesus did not need to die as a punishment for his own sin. So, when he died, Jesus was paying the spiritual debts of other people. He was taking the punishment that all people deserve. But there is another important truth here. Jesus’ death would be the final sacrifice. So Peter would not need to pay the tax. Jesus’ death would pay for it. This meant that sacrifices would not be necessary any more.
So, this little passage told the reason why Jesus would die. He would die for the sins of all his disciples. By his death, he would make them the children of God.
Questions
1. Someone might say: ‘I wish that I had your faith.’ What should you say to them? Is it possible to measure faith, in any way? If so, how could you measure it?
2. Christians are citizens of heaven. (Read Philippians 3:20.) Why should we pay taxes to a government on earth?