Peter says to him, From strangers. Jesus said to him, Then are the sons free.
In Capernaum the temple-tax collectors ask Peter whether his Master pays, and Peter says yes before he thinks. A question about kings, sons and strangers then settles who Jesus is — and where Peter now stands.
Rome did not demand this money. It belonged to God's house, so the collector's question tested the Lord's standing as a Jew.
The tribute spoken of here is not tribute to the civil power. It is the didrachma, which every grown-up Jew paid for the temple service. In Ezra's day they had taken this tax on themselves by choice — a tribute to Jehovah. The collectors were really asking Peter whether his Master was a good Jew under the earthly system that was now passing away.
Peter's mistake looks small until you set it beside his own confession a short time earlier.
Peter erred badly in answering the question with a yes. Only a little while before, he had confessed Him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God," and the Saviour had blessed him for it (Matt. 16:16-17). Now he admits that his Master owes a petty tax, as though He were merely one more son of Jacob.
Notice the word the Lord chooses. He does not claim the freedom for Himself alone.
"Then are the children free." Not the Son. No, He does not say the Son. He says what is infinitely better... Peter in his zeal for his Master was actually robbing Him of His just title, forgetting His divine glory. How slowly we learn the lesson! "Then are the children free." This, dear friends, is what Christianity means, and the Lord would bring it out still more clearly before long. The grace that sent down the Son of God did not send Him only to be a propitiation, or even to be life. It sent Him so that we too might receive a new relationship matching His.
(Where the ESV reads "sons," older Bibles read "children"; the writers quote those older wordings.)
The Lord first reminds Peter of His own dignity. Then comes the plural word, and it reaches far beyond one fisherman.
The Lord was reminding His faulty disciple of His personal dignity. He was the Son of the great King whose earthly house was the Jerusalem temple, and no one could rightly demand anything from Him. But oh, the grace that shines in the plural word "sons"! He put the humble fisherman alongside Himself, sharing His relationship with the Ruler of the universe. Sovereign grace has brought every believer into this place. We are not servants but sons, and because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:5-7). All the sons are being brought to glory — that is their proper home (Heb. 2:10).
The freedom is real, and the Lord sets it aside at once.
Notice the tender thoughtfulness of our Lord: "Nevertheless, lest we should cause them to stumble —" He would rather pay any sum, however unjust or objectionable, than endanger the testimony of God. He would not stir up spiteful comments from people who are not converted. How little Christians have heeded His example when they are smarting under a sense of wrong!
Kelly sets this against everything that might have lifted Him out of it:
Think of the glory of the coming kingdom. Think of the power of Satan that vanishes before the word of Jesus. Think of the faith that can move mountains. Nothing can take the Son of God out of the place of grace.
The Lord meets Peter before he can speak. Then He turns to a fish for the money.
The Lord speaks first as Peter comes in. He shows him His divine knowledge of what took place far away from Him... Then He commands creation, for He can do all things, as He knows all things. He makes a fish bring the exact sum required, joining Peter's name to His own once more... Marvellous and divine condescension! He searches hearts. He disposes of the whole creation at will. He is the Son of the sovereign Lord of the temple. Yet He puts His poor disciples into this same relationship with His heavenly Father.
- Claim — The money was the temple tribute. The collectors were really asking if Jesus was a loyal Jew like everyone else.
- Free — Kings do not tax their own sons; as Son of the King whose house that temple was, He owed nothing.
- Plural — He said "sons," not "the Son," putting Peter into His own relationship — the place every believer now holds.
- Yielded — He proves the freedom, then gives it up rather than trip anyone up. No glory moves Him out of the place of grace.
- Proved — He reads Peter's mind and commands a fish. The One who pays like a stranger is the Son of the temple's Lord, with creation at His command.
But that we may not be an offence to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when thou hast opened its mouth thou wilt find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and thee.
This verse closes a scene that began with a question to Peter. Collectors had asked whether his Master paid the temple tax. In one sentence the Lord shows He is free, provides the coin by a miracle, and pays anyway. Why would someone who is free still hand over the money?
This was not a Roman tax. It was a temple payment that Jewish men had taken on themselves centuries earlier.
The tribute spoken of here is not tribute to the civil power. It is the didrachma that every grown-up Jew paid for the temple service. They had willingly taken it on themselves in Ezra's time — a tribute to Jehovah. The collectors' question to Peter was really this: was his Master a good Jew? They were judging him by the earthly system that was now passing away.
The coin from the fish's mouth covered two people:
Here the word is didrachmon (double drachma), and means the sum each Jew paid to the temple. The fish Peter caught had in its mouth a stater, which paid for the Lord and for Peter.
Peter had just confessed who Jesus is. He had just seen His glory on the mountain. His "yes" to the collectors matched neither.
Peter acts once more in his hasty manner. Without thinking, he answers with a ready "yes." But, Peter, have you forgotten your wonderful confession, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"? Is the vision from the holy mountain gone so soon? Can you put your Lord back down on the level of every other Jew who has to pay the temple tribute?
Before Peter could report the conversation, the Lord raised it Himself. His answer turns on one plural word.
Peter found himself face to face with One who knows everything. The Lord knew his innermost thoughts before he could put them into words... He was the Son of the great King whose earthly house was the Jerusalem temple, and no one had a right to demand anything from Him. But, oh, the grace that shines in the plural word "sons"! He put the humble fisherman beside Himself. The fisherman now shared His relationship with the Ruler of the universe.
Kelly draws out that the freedom of the many rests on the uniqueness of the One.
He was God, the Son, equally with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Yet He speaks and acts in perfect grace. If it were otherwise, where could Peter or we be? He says, Then the sons are free. On Him, who alone is the Son eternally in personal right and title, depends the blessedness of the sons.
He has just shown the sons are free. Now He gives that freedom up.
The Lord takes here the "stranger's" place for Himself and for His people. So He would submit to the collector's demand, and He would have Peter submit with Him. He would approve no resistance to earth's authorities, whether "passive" or active. "Lest we offend them," was the gracious word of Him who came here for men's good.
Wolston puts the choice plainly:
There is a great principle involved here. Do you say, I must stand up for my rights? Then you must stand alone; the Lord will not stand with you.
The way He pays says as much as the payment itself. He calls on the sea to supply the coin.
He veils His glory, yet declares it in the very way He veils it. He summons a fish of the sea to pay the tribute for Him. That guards His glory well, as the Lord of that higher temple which Israel's temple pictured... There is not even the appearance of compromise as to what He is, and His stooping like this only shows His grace.
The wording is deliberate. Even while sharing, He keeps a distinction.
The fish brings the tribute money for him too. The coin is worth two half-shekels. "For Me and you," the Lord says — not "for us." If He did not have His unique glory, we could not have our blessing. "For Me," and so, through My grace, "for you."
Gaebelein makes His action a pattern for daily life:
He surrenders His personal right for the sake of "not giving offence."... We are sons of God and sons of glory. Even so, we should now walk in humility. We should not insist on our rights, and we should be willing to suffer in everything that concerns ourselves.
- Free — no one had a right to demand the temple tax from the Son of the God whose house it was.
- Shared — He says "sons," not "Son." He puts a fisherman beside Himself in that freedom, and every believer stands there too.
- Unique — yet He says "for Me and for you," never "for us"; His singular glory is what makes the shared blessing possible.
- Surrendered — He lays that freedom down instead of using it, so that no one stumbles.
- Sovereign — the fish that carries the exact coin shows that the One stooping to pay owns the sea He pays from.