Eyewitness to the Messiah
Dealing with Unpleasant Realities
Matthew 22:22-27
The old sage of American History, Ben Franklin, commenting on his hope of the new U.S. Constitutions permanency, wrote in 1789: “But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
And of course, his quote has become historic. I suspect it’s because of the unlikely similarities between death and taxes in many ways. They are both seemingly universal, and both similarly dreaded realities of human life.
And this morning we come to a section of Matthew which encompasses a mere six verses, but involves two different stories, one on each of these two topics—one on death and one on taxes.
And we might have expected that the greatest person who ever lived, God-in-the-flesh Himself, might have been exempted from the experience of at least one or both of these unpleasant realities, but it was not so. So this morning, we take up the topic of unpleasant realities—the unpleasant realities of life which we all face, and which we must navigate in life appropriately to honor and obey God. And fortunately for us, Jesus experienced these two unpleasant realities, and many more, and we can gain some wisdom from how we handled them for our own lives, and the unpleasant realities, whatever they might be that we each face.
So, how do we deal with the unpleasant realities of this life? And I might say at this moment, that they are not limited to death and taxes. They include our own sins, the sins of others, the evil of this world, and the very mundane, comparably trivial things of life like dirty clothes, dirty
dishes, home & car repairs, paying bills and difficult relationships, among so many other things.
Well, what I gather from this passage this morning is this: Graciously & responsibly face unpleasant realities asap, for God’s glory and your good. Graciously & responsibly face unpleasant realities asap, for God’s glory and your good.
As we come to Matthew 17:22, Jesus has just gotten back with his 12 disciples after he and three of them had the Mount of Transfiguration experience. They are now regrouping after the deliverance of the deaf and mute boy and Jesus again reminds them of fact that they would rather not be remind of—“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him and He will be raised on the third day.” And we’re told that the disciples were deeply grieved.
This is now the second time, the second of three times in the Gospel of Matthew when the disciples would be told of this coming alarming turn of events for Jesus. It was only a couple weeks before, right after Peter’s Great Confession that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, that Jesus had broken this bad news to the disciples. And as I said before, it appears that Jesus goal in the first 2 ½ years of his ministry had been to convince the disciples absolutely of this single fact—that He was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and therefore God in the flesh. Once that had been accomplished and confirmed by Peter’s great confession, he had to prepare them for the unexpected, the second half of the Gospel or the Good News, that the God-man would die on the cross for their sins and be raised again on the third day.
Now did Jesus have some obsession with the morose, or the morbid? Why did He insist on repeating this seemingly bad news to His disciples?
Well, it was because there was a problem. It was a very serious problem--a problem that needed to be faced as soon as possible. The problem is that the disciples did, in fact, expect that Jesus, as the Messiah, would be exempt from death. They shared the contemporary Jewish expectation that the Messiah would live and rule forever, and would deliver Israel from all its political enemies. They were expecting they he would lead them and Israel into a Golden Messianic Age in accordance with their understanding of all the prophecies of the Old Testament.
The problem was that they and their teachers had missed other incredibly important teachings of the Old Testament—that the Messiah would also have to die, and to die for the sins of the nation and the human race, and then would also be resurrected. The Jews did not know how to reconcile the prophecies of Daniel 9:26 and Isaiah 52 and 53 with the many prophecies that the Messiah would live and rule forever as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
So now that the disciples were convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus needed to begin preparing them for this shocking fact, that He, too, despite being the Messiah, would also experience death.
Now Jesus’ repeated emphasis on this fact was not only necessary to correct their mistaken assumption that He would not die, but it was also necessary for another reason. They had just been convinced by 2 ½ years of incredible experiences with Jesus was that was the Son of God, the God-man. Now what would it look like for the man who was God to suddenly and unexpectedly be overtaken by His enemies, to be beaten and battered and then to be crucified? Would he appear to be a mere mortal man, like any other mortal man? Yes, the Son of God would be mortal, but for a purposes. But more than that, what the disciples needed to know is that Jesus, as God in the flesh, knew He was going to die, and just how and why it was going to happen. More than that, they needed to know that He not only knew that He was going to die, but that He and His Father had determined, pre-determined that He would die. Why? Because God is all-knowing. He is omniscient. For this to happen to Jesus without His knowledge, and His expression of that knowledge, would be proof that He was not God. After all, death is no small thing in anyone’s life, even the Son of God’s. Second, God is all-powerful, or omnipotent. If Jesus was God, then He would have the power to overcome any enemies who would want to kill Him. Unless, of course, for some odd reason, He had determined that it was necessary for His enemies to overcome and kill Him. And that was exactly the case. Jesus as God, along with His Heavenly Father, had both foreknown and pre-determined that He would die for the sins of mankind—that He would pay the penalty for our sins when He suffered on the cross. And this fact needed to be made crystal clear to the disciples in advance, so that there would be no cause for doubting His deity, His sovereignty over all affairs, His omniscience and His omnipotence once it had happened. Or as Peter would later put it in His first Christian sermon on the Day of Pentecost, that Jesus “had been delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God,” in Acts 2:23.
The third reason that it was necessary for them to know is that this bad news would become the very core of the message that they would be taking to the world. It would not be the bad news, but the Good News—that Christ died for our sins and rose again. Now having been convinced of Christ’s identity—that He was God in the flesh, who He was would give effect to what He did. Only as the only begotten Son of God could His death actually pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind. So, the disciples needed to be convinced of the person and work of Christ, who He was and what He did for us, because it would absolutely be the core of the message that they would live and die for for years to come.
So it was important for the disciples to be brought face-to-face with this reality as soon as possible—and as soon as possible was right after they had become absolutely convinced Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
And that’s our first point this morning: Face the unpleasant reality as soon as possible. Face the unpleasant reality as soon as possible.
The truth of the matter is that there are more unpleasant realities than death and taxes. But death and taxes are two unpleasant realities it is important to face as soon as possible--death especially. Because it is our mortality combined with our sinfulness and its other consequences that leads us to consider what happens after death, and causes us to consider the only solution for that problem—Jesus Christ. It is faith in Christ that resolves that problem, and the sooner we come to terms with our mortality, the sooner we hopefully will come to terms with our need for an eternal savior, Jesus Christ. It is people who live in perpetual denial of their own impending deaths that often remain in denial of Christ’s saving work on their behalf.
And of course, whether it’s taxes, or unpaid bills or deferred maintenance, or relational problems, or for that matter, dirty dishes, the longer we procrastinate in facing these problems, the worse those problems get. You don’t pay your taxes, then you get hit with late fees and penalties, and you end up owing a lot more than what you would have owed if you had simply faced the problem and paid up in the first place. Likewise with unpaid bills, or deferred maintenance on a car—which is my great bugaboo. I am relatively infamous in my family for driving old cars and deferring maintenance on them, which is absolutely folly. One time in seminary, I had Jeanie driving my old ’67 Pontiac and she noticed some sounds, like the wheels were falling off as she was driving on a freeway. Took it to the garage, and sure enough, the wheels were falling off. You begin with some simple problem, and if you ignore it, pretty soon you not only have repair bill, but you need a new car and a new wife.
As an old TV add put it with regard to auto maintenance—you either pay me now, for an oil change, or pay me later, for a new engine or a new car!
So this morning what are you putting off; what you procrastinating about. What unpleasant reality in your life are you refusing to face and resolve? Is it some lingering temptation, a difficult conversation that you need to have with a mate or a child or a relative, paying a debt, or making things right with a friend. Are you putting God off about serving him in some way? Is there a letter you need to write, an apology you need to make? Face the reality as soon as possible. As we were taught in seminary about church problems, ignoring them, denying them, only makes them worse. Take it from one who has learned the hard way, both with cars and church problems. It’s pay me now or pay me a lot more later. To follow Jesus, face unpleasant realities as soon and as responsibly as possible.
Well, the disciples heard this bad news, and they believed it, that is, at least part of it. They believed that what Jesus said would come true—it always had. Not one word one promise of His had ever fallen to the ground. But they missed, or perhaps didn’t believe, the second part of his prediction. Not only would the son of God be killed, but He would be raised from the dead on the third day! There would be a resurrection from the dead. And if Christ could be raised, then all of us could be raised. If just of one these disciples had believed and understood this full prediction of Jesus, do you think the disciples would have been extremely grieved, as it says they were? No! They would have been extremely encouraged. It was indeed Good News that death for the Messiah, and for them, would be overcome.
As it turned out, this ultimate bad news would be made into the ultimate good news of all eternity! It is the ultimate proof that Romans 8:28 is absolutely true: “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Because what we have here is the prediction of the worst, most tragic and deplorable development in all of human history. God lovingly and humbly becomes a man to save mankind from his sin, and what does man do, but terribly abuse and reject and murder and crucify the God-man. Can there be any worse crime in the history of mankind.
And yet God absolutely turns this horrendous crime completely around and makes it the greatest news in the history of mankind. He uses man’s sin, man’s deplorable, depraved sin to work for man’s good—in that the Savior they murdered at the same moment dies for their sins and offers them forgiveness and eternal life as a result. Wow! What an incredible plan, and what an incredible turn of events. When you consider this, how can anyone doubt that God can use anything, good or bad, to work for good in our lives? That is the testimony of Romans 8:28—that God uses all things, good or bad in and of themselves, to work for our good. And what is that good. Romans 8:29 continues: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” So God’s good for us is not at first our comfort, but our conformity. We become more like Christ even through the bad things that happen to us, for God determines that they will always, always, work for our good. Just as He dead with the death of the Son of God for our sins. Therefore, knowing this, we can do exactly what I Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to do “Give thanks in all things for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you?
Have you trusted Jesus and His death for your sins and resurrection for forgiveness and eternal life? Do so right now. Don’t wait. And if you have, have you learned to be thankful that somehow God is working for your good in all things. That’s our second point this morning. Be thankful that God is somehow working for your good in all things.
What don’t you understand that’s happened to you? Trust God, beginning right now, by thanking Him that He is using that, even that, to work for good in your life.
In verse 24, now the disciples are returning to Capernaum, which was both Peter and Matthew’s home, and Jesus’ base of operations during most of his ministry. It’s located on the shores of Galilee, and more than that on a major trade route that ran north and south and east and west. So it was a place where there were many customs officials and tax-gathers. As we know, Matthew was originally one of these, and so it’s not coincidental that we find the following story only in the Gospel of Matthew, as he especially would be intensely interested in how Jesus responded to the issue of paying taxes.
And apparently as the disciples are approaching Capernaum with Jesus, tax-collectors approach Peter with the question found in verse 27: “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”
Now the first question we should ask here is exactly what the two drachma tax was. Well, from Exodus 30:11-16 we learn about the two-drachma tax. It was essentially a religious or church tax that was instituted by Moses while Israel was in the wilderness. It required the Children of Israel to make atonement for them, or in a sense, cover their sin at the time of any census and the proceeds were to be used for the upkeep for the tabernacle, and later for the upkeep and services of the temple. Each man who was 20 years or older was to pay this tax, and it amounted to two drachmas, or a day or two of a laborer’s wage. So it was a substantial tax. Apparently, traditionally, the Jews collected the tax in the first month of the Jewish year, in the month Adar, which corresponds to the beginning of spring or March and April. It was by now likely summer or later, and Jesus had been out of town. So the tax collectors likely asked the question the way they did because Jesus had not yet paid the tax, because he had been out of town for some time.
So in defense of Jesus, Peter, who had been approached perhaps because he was the recognized leader among the disciples, blurts out, "Yes." As a matter of fact He does pay the tax, assuming from what He knew of Jesus, that He would certainly support the temple, and pay his dues.
Now from what I can gather, Jesus had during this conversation gone on ahead into the house, perhaps Peter’s house, where he was staying in Capernaum. And verse 25 tells us what happened from here: “And when he (Peter) came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first. In other words, Peter was about to report about the conversation with the tax-collectors that he had just have, but the verb here indicates that Jesus went before him—he spoke to him first. Jesus here exhibits his total knowledge of every circumstance and conversation, and before Peter could explain the circumstance, Jesus begins to address the situation that Peter had encountered. He says, in the rest of verse 25: “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” Now at this point, Jesus is speaking of any and every kind of civil tax exacted by kings. And he notes to Simon Peter that the Kings of the Earth typically never tax their sons, or the members of their own families. Rather they are always taxing others, or strangers, as the text says.
This was such a common practice, that Peter doesn’t hesitate to answer. “From strangers.” Jesus then said to him, in verse 26: “Then the sons are exempt.”
Now I think that there are two points that Jesus is making here. First, that governments, the governments of men, are often corrupt. They tax some people, but not the members of their own families, who are instead enriched and supported by the taxes exacted upon other people.
But the second point is more profound. Here, Jesus, who has just clearly established and confirmed Himself as the Son of God, is about to be asked to pay a tax on His own Father’s house in Jerusalem—the temple. He called it His Father’s House. So by the standards of the world, He should have been exempt from this tax.
Despite this, he says in verse 27: “However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Actually the word in the Greek is “stater.” A stater was worth four drachmas. And this would have satisfied the tax for two people. And Jesus says take that and give it to them for you and for me.”
Now there are a number of lessons that can be learned from this. Our third point in dealing with unpleasant realities is this: Gracious submit to human institutions for the glory of God. Graciously submit especially to human government, and taxation, for the glory of God. Sure, governments are going to be corrupt, because human, governors are corrupt. That doesn’t excuse us from supporting a God-ordained institution, human government. So whether our government supports abortion, or emperor worship, as the Roman government then did, as Jesus said, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and render to God what is God’s.”
Now we may for some reason or other want to claim that we are exempt from taxation. Often what encourages that is our own greed and covetous, and we use our rights as a cover for our own greed or covetous. According to Jesus here, as the Son of God, he had a right not to be charged for maintenance of the temple. But Jesus is concerned about offending or causing these Jewish tax collectors from being offended, or literally causing them to stumble. So he says, "However, so that we do not offend them," unnecessarily, pay them!
Gracious submit to human institutions, even taxes, for the glory of God. Now if you have legitimately been over-taxed, I don’t believe it’s wrong to challenge it. But Jesus confirms this unpleasant reality is part of our lives, it was established by God according to Romans 13, and even when our governors are corrupt, we are still responsible to graciously do our part.
So be gracious, even in paying taxes, for the glory of God.
And another lesson we learn her is that when we do so, Jesus will take care of us.
Trust Jesus will take care of you when you do your duty and pay your taxes or your dues.
Jesus not only directs Peter to pay the tax on his behalf, but He provides Peter with the means to pay the tax, and in a miraculous way. He directs Peter, a fisherman, but a fisherman who typically used a net, to go the Sea of Galilee, and this time throw in a hook, the only time a fishing hook is mentioned in the New Testament. And he tells him that the first fish which come up, that He catches, would supply what was needed to pay the tax—a stater. God is sovereign over the fish of the sea and all the gold that has been lost in the sea. So clearly God/the God-man, appoints a fish to both grab the coin, hold it in his mouth, and then to take Peter’s hook, and wallaa—in the mouth is just exactly what Jesus predicted. We’re not told that Peter did this—the assumption is left that not one word of Jesus was ever left unfulfilled, and I’m sure this took place, incredibly, exactly as Jesus had predicted, determined and promised! Wow!
And that’s a Wow from a fisherman.
You know what we learn from this. When we graciously submit to God’s plan and pay our taxes, and we’re responsible to obey Him, God provides. Trust Jesus will take care of you, and your taxers, when you’re humbly obedient to Him.
Yes, death and taxes may be unavoidable. So may many other unpleasant realities of this life. But when we handle them as Jesus handled them—as a gracious and responsible child of God, God will bless us and take care of us.
How should we deal with unpleasant realities? Graciously and responsible face unpleasant realities as soon as possible, for God’s glory and your good.
So this morning, as we bow for pray. Ask God, what have I been putting off, what have I been procrastinating, avoiding, denying. It’s time to get right with God and be responsible and gracious for even the unpleasant realities God has put in your path. So obediently and humbly determine to face these realities for His glory. Determine now before God that you will do so in prayer.
