Matthew 17:24-18:11: “Jesus Tells His Disciples To Pay Taxes And
Miraculously Pays Their Taxes / Jesus Teaches About What True Greatness
Consists Of / Beware Of Being A Stumbling Block”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO
1.1.
Continuing from where we ended last week we see that
Peter is confronted by those who collect the temple tax as to whether or not
Jesus paid the tax each year, impetuous Peter affirms that He did
1.2.
Jesus tells Peter later what he must do in order to
get the money to pay the tax, and of course that involves Jesus performing yet
another miracle
2.
VS 17:24-27 - “24 And when they had
come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter, and
said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?” 25 He *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?” 26 And upon his saying, “From strangers,”
Jesus said to him, “Consequently the sons are exempt. 27 “But, lest we give
them offense, 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 stater. Take that and
give it to them for you and
2.1.
This wandering group of men following Jesus end up in the city of
Capernaum, and while Peter is away from the group and off in the city he is
approached by some men whose responsibility it was to collect the ‘two-drachma
tax’ and they ask him if his master habitually pays the ‘two-drachma tax’
2.2.
The ‘two-drachma’ tax was designed by the Lord to create a source of
income that would be necessary in order to keep the temple (or tabernacle)
continually in running order
2.3.
Peter answers in his typical impetuous way giving them an affirmative
answer
2.4.
When Peter walks in the door Jesus reveals to him that He knows all that
goes on in every person’s life by asking Peter a question about tax paying and
then by telling Peter what to do to get the money for the tax.
2.5.
Jesus points a truth out to Peter by asking the leading question about the
sons of kings not normally being expected to pay taxes, namely that Jesus
should rightfully be exempt from paying of taxes since He is the eternal Son of
God
2.6.
However, Jesus tells Peter that just because He shouldn’t rightfully have
to pay taxes that He still must do so in order that He not offend any sincere
Jews who still hadn’t come to understand who He really was
2.7.
From this tax issue, and Jesus response to Peter, we Christians must
realize that if we are to obey the Lord and follow Him in our life there will
be times when we will have to sacrifice something that we might own, desire, or
control in order to not stumble a brother or sister in the Lord
2.7.1.
Paul teaches in Romans 14 about how that we Christians must be careful
how use our liberty in Christ and not allow ourselves to cause a brother or a
sister to stumble.
2.8.
Jesus sends Peter back to his trade in order to come up with the money to
take care of their needs in meeting this ‘two-drachma’ tax, and thus He tells
him to cast out his line and that the first fish that he catches will have a
‘stater’ coin in its mouth, and though we aren’t specifically told the outcome
of Peter’s fishing experience it is inferred that the first fish he caught
indeed had the coin which was needed for the tax.
2.8.1.
One ‘stater’ was the equivalent of ‘two drachmas’
2.9.
These verses show us that we Christians must obey the laws of the land
and submit to the governing authorities over our lives as the scriptures teach
us in many places (see Rom. 13 for example)
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In this next section of the gospel of Matthew, we see
that the disciples come to Jesus in order to have Him to arbitrate a matter for
them, however their’s is a very carnal concern, they want to know who among
them will be the greatest when Christ comes to His kingdom
1.1.1.
Jesus uses the opportunity to teach His disciples what
true greatness means in His kingdom
1.1.1.1.We will look
at the three ‘greatest in the kingdom’ statements that Jesus made in the
gospels
1.1.2.
We are also going to look at Jesus’ stern warning
against being a stumbling block to others
1.1.3.
We will also look at what Jesus taught His disciples
they should do in order to not stumble themselves
2.
VS 18:1-4 -
“18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set
him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and
become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever
then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
- The disciples come to Jesus so that He
can declare to them whom among them will be the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven
2.1.
As I have mentioned many times in this study, the apostles were always
out of step with Jesus, never understood His teachings, and they were never
really heavenly minded, and what is recorded that the disciples did the most
was argue with each other. The topic
they argued most about was as to who would be the greatest in Christ’s kingdom
2.2.
These apostles were an interesting group because we just can guess by
their attitudes that when they brought this question to Jesus that each one was
just sitting back and being confident that Jesus was now going to clarify to
the rest of the group that indeed he was going to be the greatest in Jesus’
kingdom.
2.2.1.
None of these men had really come to see themselves as they appeared
before the Lord, none had understood the sinfulness of their own flesh and
their unworthiness for any position in Christ’s kingdom, for this revelation
would come later after the fullness of the Holy Spirit had come upon them on
the day of Pentecost.
2.3.
Jesus must have been greatly
annoyed by this question which they are asking, and He uses this opportunity to
teach them what true greatness consists of in God’s eyes.
2.4.
We must understand first of all that when we speak of who will be the
greatest in the
2.5.
In the world, there is a pyramid structure, for those who are the
greatest (the most important and the ones highest up the totem pole so to
speak) always get the most preferential treatment, get the biggest piece of the
pie, make the most money, get the most compensation, get the biggest offices,
are expected to do the least amount of menial tasks. However, Jesus teaches them here that in His
kingdom the pyramid is meant to be upside down, or just the opposite of how the
world does things.
2.5.1.
The life of Jesus is the greatest example of this, for He who was the
omnipotent and omniscient creator and reigning God from all eternity chose to
come to the earth into abject poverty and suffer for and serve the very
humanity who had rebelled against Him and tried to push Him out of their lives,
and then He was even willing to lay down His life to be a complete sacrifice
for the sins of those who hated Him.
2.5.1.1.In the twentieth chapter of
Matthew the mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked Him that when He came
into His kingdom that He could have one brother sit on one side of Him and the
other on his other side, and when the rest of the disciples heard about this
they became indignant (probably because they hadn’t thought of something like
that themselves), but Jesus told them in Matt. 20:25-28 that in the world the
leaders lead by ‘lording it over others’ or ‘by intimidation’, however it would
not be so in His kingdom for there the greatest would be the servant of all, “25 But
Jesus called them to Himself, and said, “You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
26 “It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall
be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your
slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a ransom for many.””
2.5.1.2.In John
13:12-16,
we read that at the last supper when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, and in
doing this He was showing them that in all that He was doing He was serving
them, and He then tells them that they are to follow His example and serve
others, “12 And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His
garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I
have done to you? 13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I
am. 14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought
to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For I gave you an example that you also should
do as I did to you. 16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than
his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.”
2.5.1.2.1.Some churches have missed
the point of servanthood that Jesus was seeking to teach in this incident and
all they see is that we are supposed to wash each others feet, and thus they
have a formal practice of washing each others feet. However, it is fine to formally wash each
other’s feet as long as you also realize the bigger lesson of being a servant
of all.
2.6.
In these verses Jesus tells His disciples that unless a person becomes
converted and as a little child that he would not even enter into His kingdom
in the first place, so this type of humility is a prerequisite of those who
would be followers of Jesus.
2.7.
Jesus teaches that the one who is humble as a child, he is the one who
will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven:
2.7.1.
Little children tend to be very trusting.
2.7.2.
Little children aren’t good at deception, for they don’t see the need of
being sophisticated at it.
2.7.3.
Little children are unassuming, in other words they just are what they
are and you either like them or not.
2.7.4.
Little children have no
appreciation or understanding of prejudices and thus they are friendly to all.
2.8.
In Luke 22:24-27, the apostles had again been arguing amongst themselves about who would
be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and at that time Jesus said that the
greatest in His kingdom would be the one who would ‘be as the younger’, “24 And
there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to
be greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over
them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 “But
not so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you become as the
youngest, and the leader as the servant. 27 “For who is greater, the one who
reclines at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at
the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”
3.
VS 18:5-6 - “5
“And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for
him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in
the depth of the sea.”” - Jesus
sternly warns against being a stumbling block to others
3.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that ‘whoever receives one such child in My
name receives Me’ for the Lord so identifies with His people that He is part of
all of their lives and whatever is done to them is also done to Him.
3.1.1.
This reminds me of Jesus’ words to Saul in chapter 9 of Acts where when
Jesus appeared to Saul upon the road to Damascus the first thing that He said
to him was not, “Why are you persecuting My disciples?”, but, “Why are you persecuting
Me?”, for He so identifies with all that His people go through in their life.
3.2.
This teaching of Jesus here reveals the seriousness of causing any other
child of God to stumble, and to stumble here could mean a variety of things,
but primarily it means to stumble in his or her walk with God. However, there are really so many ways that
we can cause another person to stumble:
3.2.1.
By being a poor example ourselves which others follow and emulate.
3.2.1.1.Parents have a huge
obligation here not to live their lives in such a way that their own conduct
causes their children to stumble.
3.2.1.2.Many parents tell their
children, “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say!”, however the reality is that
children tend to act and react the same way their parents do, not the way that
their parents tell them they ought to do.
3.2.1.3.We Christians should live
our life so as to be an example of Christ-likeness to the world.
3.2.2.
By tempting others to follow us into our sinful ways.
3.2.3.
By not correcting others when we see them beginning to go down a path
which we knows leads not unto life but unto death.
3.2.4.
By taking advantage of others and using them for our own selfish and
sinful desires.
3.2.5.
By not using the opportunities available to encourage others to seek the
Lord and to follow His ways.
3.2.6.
By not sharing with others the message of the gospel when we have the
opportunity afforded to do so.
3.3.
Like when Jesus told His disciples to cut off the hand or pluck out the
eye that offends, Jesus does not want us to go and literally drown
ourselves.
3.3.1.
Rather, He just wants us to discipline ourselves so that we are no longer
being a stumbling block in other’s lives.
3.3.2.
The Lord wants us to think about others and how our life affects them and
not just about ourselves and what we desire, and then to limit our activities
by not allowing ourselves to be a stumbling block.
4.
VS 18:7 - “7 “Woe
to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that
stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block
comes!”” - Jesus tells them that it
is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the one who becomes one
4.1.
The fact that it is inevitable that stumbling blocks will occur in the
world is no excuse for being the one through whom they come.
4.2.
I was reminded recently as I was reading through 1 Samuel of the
repercutions that occur in our lives because of both the good as well as the
bad things we do. Even though the Lord
forgives us of our sins, there are still consequences for our sinning which we
often must reap. These can be severe and
long lasting. Remember David and his sin
of adultery with Bathsheba that is given in that book. I’m sure that as David contemplated
committing this sin with Bathsheba after he saw her bathing upon her rooftop
that he thought that though his actions might not be right before the Lord that
his sin would just affect himself and her and maybe her husband. However, after committing this sin he sends
Uriah her husband out to the battle field with a message for Joab the commander
to have Uriah on the front line of the battle and then to back away from him so
that he is struck down. Well, Joab does
this however in order to get Uriah close to the front line of the battle he
fights the battle right up to the walls of the city which places many men’s lives
in unnecessary danger, and as a result not only is Uriah killed but also some
other of David’s men. Then, David loses
part of his family as a direct result of this sin for the Lord struck the baby
conceived by Bathsheba in this affair so that he dies, and then David’s son
Absolom kills one of his brothers because he violated his sister, and then he
must flee into hiding. Finally, and
after a long interval David is urged to invite Absolom back, however after this
point in time he never spends any time with his son. Then, because of his bitterness towards his
father Absolom causes an insurrection and tries to take over his father’s
kingdom which causes Absolom to be killed in battle. The consequences of David’s simple sin
rippled far and wide and caused him great grief until the day he died, and in
our lives our rebellion and not following the Lord closely causes huge amounts
of stumbling in others’ lives.
5.
VS 18:8-9 - “8
“And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw
it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having
two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. 9 “And if your eye
causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for
you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery
hell.”” - Jesus tells His disciples
to cut off the offending part of their bodies
5.1.
Here in these verses Jesus tells His disciples to remove the things from
their own lives which cause them to stumble.
They were warned against causing others to stumble and now they are
being warned to remove the stumbling blocks from their own life.
5.2.
The ‘only’ way to keep others from stumbling is to not stumble in your
own walk with the Lord for if you are following the Lord in the way that you
should you will not be causing others to stumble in their walk.
5.3.
Jesus teaches here that it would be better to be a cripple in this life
than to be whole and yet to spend eternity it ‘the eternal fire’ of hell, and
this should be a severe warning to every person that it is the greatest of
foolishness to know that their life is not submitted to the Lord and yet to
continue on in that state and not repent of their sin.
5.4.
These verses should dismiss any notion that anyone might have that there
is not a literal and eternal hell that non-believers will be cast into after
this life.
5.4.1.
We see in the gospels actually that Jesus mentioned hell more times than
He mentioned heaven, for He desired to warn everyone He could to avoid ending
up in hell for eternity.
6.
VS 18:10-11 -
“10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you,
that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in
heaven. 11 [”For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]”” - Jesus tells His disciples not to despise one
of these little ones
6.1.
The Lord loves children, for His kingdom will consist of those who have
humbled themselves as little children, and in the gospels we see Him often
surrounded by children.
6.2.
Jesus tells His disciples here that children have angels assigned to
protect them, and that these angels are also continually before the Father
reporting upon the status of each child and each person upon the earth.
6.2.1.
In Psalm 34:7, the scripture teaches that angels encamp around those who fear the Lord
in order to protect them, “7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who
fear Him,And rescues them.”
6.2.2.
In Psalm 91:11-16, we read again how that the Lord protects His people, “11 For
He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your
ways. 12 They will bear you up in their
hands, Lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. 14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will
deliver him; I will set him securely on
high, because he has known My name. 15
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I
will rescue him, and honor him. 16
“With a long life I will satisfy him, And let him behold My salvation.””
6.2.2.1.The devil quoted this verse
to Jesus in his temptation of Him when He tempted Jesus to tempt the Lord and
jump down from the pinnacle of the temple since God’s angels were assigned to
protect God’s people.
6.2.3.
Verse 11 is not in the earliest manuscripts, however in Luke 19:10 we read this same thought, “10 “For
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.””