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Wisdom & Wonder | Matthew 17:24-27
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One of the greatest gifts afforded to the believer in biblical Christianity is a powerful endowment from Christ called freedom. You were once underneath the wrath of God, separated from Him, but because of the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been brought near to the Father. You have been set free from the wrath of God Almighty.
You were once enslaved to demonic forces and the influence of demonic spirits, but because of the blood of Christ, you have been set free from that influence. You were once followers of lies that you had built up in your brain, but because of the truth of God's word, those strongholds have been torn down, and now you walk in freedom because of the truth of the Lord Jesus.
You were once underneath the curse of the law, but because of the perfect righteousness of Christ, you have been set free from the curse of the law. What you and I walk in right now as followers of Christ is an unparalleled freedom.
However, it is only the immature believer who flows in that freedom without the wisdom to exercise restraint on that freedom when it causes unnecessary offense to other people.
You can drink whatever you want, but if having a drink in front of a new believer would cause them to be offended, wisdom says we exercise restraint on our freedom. You can stand on doctrine whenever you want, but if you find yourself in a theological argument around a nonessential issue that is drifting towards the offense of that person, then wisdom says we put restraint on our freedom.
You are free from being involved in the practice of false religions, but if offending someone over a non-ethical custom causes that person to be offended, then wisdom says we put restraint on our freedom.
I was in Turkey in January of this year with my brother Recap Gray. When we got to the door of a mosque, they told everyone to take their shoes off. Now, I'm free in Christ—I could walk where I want to walk with my shoes. But it's not going to cost me my salvation to take off my shoes. This is a non-ethical issue, so for the sake of not passing on unnecessary offense to those Islamic men and women, I took off my Nikes and walked on their carpet in my socks.
They had head ties at the door and said no women could go in there without their heads covered. Should we fight to not go in without head covers? No. It's a non-ethical issue and is not going to cost me my salvation. So we just put on the head cover and went inside the mosque.
This was an example of me putting a restraint on my freedom for the sake of not giving unnecessary offense to somebody who was ignorant of the truth. Although I do not serve your false deity, I can take off my shoes because taking off my shoes is a nonessential issue. It's not going to cost me my salvation—it's not worth a theological issue. So I put a restraint on my freedom at that door to walk into that mosque in my socks.
The Lord Jesus is in His early 30s, traveling to the north side of the Sea of Galilee with His followers. They roll into a city where He would set up His base of operation. This would be the last time He would visit this city.
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two drachma tax went up to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher not pay the tax?" Peter said, "Yes."
Capernaum was a major city on the north shore of Galilee. It was in Capernaum where four friends carried a paralytic man to a meeting where Jesus was teaching, tore open a hole in the roof, and dropped him inside the house. He was healed because of the faith of his friends. Better pay attention to who's around you so that when you are weak, they should be strong, and when you can't pray, they should know how to pray, and when you don't have faith, they should have faith for you. Take inventory of your circle.
It was in Capernaum that the Lord healed the servant of a centurion who said, "Jesus, my servant is sick. You don't even have to come to my house, but just speak the word and my servant shall be healed."
What is the two drachma tax? We have to understand this to understand the text. The two drachma tax begins its origin in the Mosaic law. In Exodus 30, the Lord said to Moses: "When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord."
What is that word—ransom? It is a payment for somebody else to be set free. "When they give a ransom for his life to the Lord, when you number them, that there be no plague among them, each one shall give this: the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel is 20 gerahs. Half a shekel is an offering to the Lord."
"Everyone who is numbered in the census from 20 years old and upward shall give the Lord's offering. Watch—the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel."
When you give to the Lord's offering to make atonement—a powerful word—that is a temporary covering for sin. Every time you give this offering, it's supposed to do two things: the upkeep of that tent of meeting, and to remind you that I am the one God who forgives your sins.
Every time you give this offering, it is to remind you: I have atoned for your sins. It is a foreshadow of the coming of the Lamb of God.
By the time we get to Matthew 17, 1,500 years later, there is no more tent of meeting. Now there is a temple that has been built in Jerusalem. This tax of the shekel in the Old Testament has now become this two drachma tax. This is not a tax from the Roman government upon the people; this is a tax that the Jews kept in their tradition that they would levy on other Jews.
It would serve two purposes: for the upbuilding and upkeeping of the temple in Jerusalem, and to remind the people that it was God who was atoning for their sins.
These collectors roll up on Peter and ask, "Does your Messiah not pay this tax?" Notice the way they phrase the question—it is more than a question. It is an underhanded insult. What they're expecting Peter to say is "no," so they can have something to accuse Jesus of.
But Peter—you ain't never seen the Lord pay his tax. It's going to make sense in a second. You've been with Jesus three years. You ain't never seen him pay this tax. But in an attempt to try to protect his reputation when they ask Peter the question, his response is: "Yes."
Oh, my Lord. Oh, he does pay the tax. Never mind that you never saw him pay the tax. You were only worried about protecting his reputation with bad information.
You do the same thing all the time—trying to protect the Lord with your arguments on social media with bad doctrine, trying to protect Jesus in some meeting at a coffee shop with bad information.
When Peter came into his house, Jesus spoke to him first. Jesus said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?"
Jesus wasn't outside. Jesus didn't hear that conversation. And yet He has divine knowledge of how Peter was conflicted when he was outside. This is very powerful to me because Matthew is reminding us why he just was talking about the Transfiguration. He's reminding us about God being Jesus being God in the Flesh.
He's showing us the omniscience of Jesus—the non-communicable attribute of knowing all things. Before Peter could even speak, all these details are here on purpose. Jesus spoke to him first, meaning the Lord already knew he was conflicted outside.
I love this because I feel like the Lord ran upon him first for two powerful reasons: one, He knew that Peter was in a conflict, and before Peter could even come talk to him about the conflict, the Lord leans into his conflict before he can even talk. This is powerful because it reminds me that there is nothing happening in my life or yours that the Lord does not know about.
There is nothing happening in your life that is bringing hurt or conflict to your heart that He does not know. Instead of running away from your conflict, Jesus runs towards your conflict, and He's loving enough to step right into your conflict. Sometimes when you don't know what to pray and all you got is tears or all you have is confusion or your heart is worried, I am so thankful that I serve a Messiah who knows exactly what I'm going through. Even when I do not know how to pray, with His presence, He moves towards my conflict.
But another reason I believe Jesus asked him this question is not only conflict, but correction. He does not allow his disciple to have bad theology. God the Lord loves you so much He does not want you to have bad theology. So He rose up on Simon and asked: "Simon, have you ever seen me pay this tax? Let me ask you a question: the kings of the earth, who do they collect taxes from? Their sons or from other people?"
When Jesus asks people a question, He's not asking because He's trying to learn. Jesus can't learn because learning implies you can grow in knowledge, and since He is perfect in knowledge, He cannot learn. There is no ambiguity with sovereignty—sovereignty knows all things. He's not asking Peter this question because He's trying to get some information from Peter that He does not know.
When the Lord asks questions in a text, He's trying to bring the person on the other side of the question to a revelation for themselves. And when the Holy Spirit asks you a question—"Why did you say that? Why did you do that?"—He's trying to bring you to a revelation for yourself.
Peter finally gets the revelation: "Well, I guess from other people." And the Lord said, "Well, if that's the case, then the sons are free."
They're collecting taxes to support a temple in which they're doing sacrifices. In the temple, all of it is pointing to a coming King. Everything happening in that temple is to point them to Christ. This is why He said earlier in Matthew that He is greater than the temple.
If they're taking up offerings in support of a house for a king, and He is the owner of that house, then as the owner of that house, He is exempt from that tax.
"Since you're all doing all of this for the worship of God, and I am God, then there is no need for paying this tax. I am by being God in the Flesh, and by Transfiguration, free from paying this tax."
Peter, since you are my followers, the sons—anybody who is in me—is free from paying this tax.
Because Jesus is free from this tax, it makes no sense for Him to pay it. "Peter, let me correct you: no, I don't pay the tax, Peter. In the past, because this tax is for the worship of who I am—God, the Messiah."
However—and this is so powerful—Jesus said, "However, not to give offense to them, might Peter, since you already screwed up and gave them bad information, and since you already told them that I pay the tax, although I'm free from this tax, let me put a restraint on my own freedom."
I'm free. I can do whatever I want. Since you already told them that I pay the tax, and since this is not an essential issue—since it has nothing to do with doctrine, since it has nothing to do with the moral laws of God, since it's not going to affect my witness—however, not to give offense to them, everybody watch: go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up.
When you open its mouth, you will find a shekel, which is four drachmas. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.
Jesus is teaching His children—you and I—that you already carry a message that is offensive by nature. The gospel says you are a sinner. It says you are separated from God. It says you need a savior. That message is offensive.
Since the message you carry is already offensive, I don't need my children out there in society being unnecessarily offensive in nonessential issues. I don't need you saying things to people that are offensive for no reason. I don't need you doing things on social media that are offensive for no reason.
Man, if people are going to be offended, let them be offended for truth's sake. But let them not be offended for issues that are nonessential.
You got to know how to exercise restraint on your freedom with your mouth and with your life. Back away from something. Say, "You know what? I could flex on you right now, but sometimes the greater flex is knowing you can and choosing not to."
Let me say that again: Sometimes the greater flex is knowing you can and choosing not to.
Man, I can let you have it right now in this post, but I'mma just back away. I can let you have it right now in this argument, but I'm just going to back away. I can do what I want in this moment, but I'm just going to back away.
It is the people of God—listen to me—to stop offending people unnecessarily because you said, "Because I'm in Christ, I could do what I want. I can say what I want. I can move how I want. I can talk to who I want. Sleep with who I want. Do what I want."
The Lord is teaching all of us: although you have freedom that is unparalleled, have the wisdom, the maturity, and the sensitivity in nonessential issues to stop offending people unnecessarily.
Too many people are mad at God not because God is not worthy of worship, but because His people are so offensive in the things that we do.
I don't got to respond to every troll that creeps up on my page. I don't got to argue with every person who I bump into in a Walmart. What the Lord is trying to teach us first is that you have to have wisdom to recognize when something is a non-essential issue and give grace in the non-essentials.
That is not worth causing an offense.
One brother came up to me and said, "Why y'all baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? You should only baptize in the name of Jesus."
Bro, I'm pulling this right from the Great Commission: "All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
But he said, "Based on your tradition, only in the name of Jesus."
Watch, watch, watch, watch, watch. If you're really belonging to Christ, we're all going to make it to heaven anyway, right? So I could give grace in a nonessential. There's no need for me in that moment to pass on unnecessary offense.
This is us now, growing to a place of maturity where we start thinking about my words, my actions, my post. When I start thinking, "Man, I could do what I want, say what I want, go where I want, drink what I want"—but is it wise? If I'm going to do this, if it's going to unnecessarily offend somebody, man, let me put a restraint on my freedom.
There are times when we should fight and should stand and should take a "ten toes down" attitude towards some doctrine. But then there have to be times where we're sensitive enough to listen. I'm telling y'all Christians to stop being so offensive.
This is going to be a good conversation this week in small groups. Talk about the stuff you say, the stuff you do, the places you go, and the behaviors you have that keep passing off offense to people unnecessarily.
Listen: since our message is already offensive, let's try to tailor our freedoms to not be so unnecessarily offensive to other people. Does that make sense to you?
Peter ain't got the money to pay this tax. Now, this part of the text makes sense to me because I got bills, and I know I'm not the only one who got bills and expenses.
Yo, my man Peter don't got the money to pay this tax. So the Lord is going to supernaturally provide for him. First, by telling him to go do something he enjoys.
He sends Peter to do something he enjoys. He tries to tell Peter, "Stop worrying. Watch, you need? I got this."
He doesn't send him with a net. He doesn't send him to a pond. He sends him to the Sea of Galilee with one fishing line to catch one fish. And then the mouth of that fish is supposed to hold one shekel, which is worth two days' wages for two people to pay the tax that Peter can't afford.
So I just went fishing for the first time this summer in Miami with one of my close friends. You got to think about this: somebody would have had to be on the Sea of Galilee. They would have had to drop a shekel in the water by accident. A fish would have had to be swimming—because they love shiny things, I learned—to swallow up that coin.
Peter could be anywhere in the Sea of Galilee with one line, and that one fish amongst thousands of fish would have run right into Peter's line. Peter would have pulled up that fish, and there was the money in its mouth.
Now, friends, come on. Let's not be stupid. The odds of that happening is an impossibility apart from the sovereign work of God.
But Matthew's writing with a purpose. He started this chapter with the Transfiguration. He's trying to show the Jewish readers that Jesus is God in the Flesh. So now he tells Peter: "I'm going to provide for you in a supernatural way that only God could do."
This helps the disciple who was on the mountaintop have even increased faith that this man I'm rolling with—He must be God in the Flesh. For nobody can pull this off except God Himself.
He's proving that I am God, and I like this part because I got bills. You don't have a need that I can't meet. There's no one who serves me. You don't have a singular need that I can't meet.
But here is the challenge: too often, many of us, for your needs, you just want the manifestation of the outcome. But sometimes God don't give you the manifestation of the outcome. He'll give you an instruction that leads to the outcome and builds your faith while you're following the instruction.
He met her need through an instruction. He said to a woman, "Oh, you got a need? Go borrow jars, and not a few."
He met her need through an instruction. He said to a man who had a skin disease, "Through a prophet, go dip yourself seven times in the Jordan River. I'll meet your need, but through an instruction."
He said to a man who was sick, "Take up your bed and walk. I'll meet your need, but through an instruction."
Too many of us—you keep begging God for all of these needs like, "Lord, why you not showing up here?" My real question is: Are you listening to His instructions?
You say, "Lord, why you not blessing my business?" Are you listening to His instructions?
You always chase him behind a prophet because you're too scared to have your own prayer life. But He's given you instructions in this word. He's taught you how to steward your resources. He's taught you about how to be generous. He's taught you that all the money you have, you're just a steward—a manager of that money.
He's taught you about how to split some off to spend, save, and sow. All these instructions, Lord, my business, my life—give you all these instructions. Watch: all of them are pathways to the best life possible. But you always complaining about what you don't have, but you don't follow His instructions.
You always are nagging around the throne about the things you don't have, but you don't take time to read, study, and then—watch this word—obey.
There are some of you right now: certain doors will open for your life when you start following His instructions. There are certain tables He will sit you at when you start following His instructions. There are certain things He would do in your business or your ministry when you start following His instructions. There are certain provisions He'll make for you when you start following His instructions.
He did not give Peter a coin. He gave Peter instructions.
You want to see a life change? Start obeying His instructions. You need to be around people—teachers, people who are teaching you not their 5 a.m. revelation. I don't give a darn about that. They're teaching you His word.
There's no wonder your Christian life is a mess. You're jealous of me. You're jealous of some influencer. But they, in private, are following their instructions. You're jealous, but you're disobedient.
There ain't no superstars in the kingdom. There ain't no celebrities in the kingdom. The only celebrity is seated on a throne next to God the Father, who gave you over a thousand pages of His instructions.
Man, you think Christianity is a title? You think it's a post on Instagram? No, it's a life yielded to His word. He told you what to do in here with your money. He told you what to do in here with your wife. He told you what to do in here with your husband. He told you what to do in here with your children. He told you what to do in here with your friends.
He told you what kind of friends to avoid, what kind of friends to have. He told you what to do with your mouth. He told you what to do with your heart. He told you what to do with your life.
Lord, you're just a church-goer, but you never put your face in His instructions.
I do not want you to leave this moment just focused on fishes, coins, and taxes. This ain't about the IRS, and this ain't about no fish and chips.
No, look at me. No, look right at me—eye contact. I want you to peep the Christology of the text.
Matthew is writing with a purpose. He's writing this to Jews to prove that Christ is the Messiah. He ain't putting these details there by accident. All of it is connected for a reason. You got to follow the whole thing from beginning to end.
Watch, pay attention: this ain't about no taxes. Pastor, I don't get it.
Peter is a man who owed these taxes and could not pay. He had a debt he could not pay. And the Lord paid his debt.
Here is Jesus, who owed no debt, but paid a price that he did not have to pay.
A man who was in debt got his debt paid for, but he could not pay it. A man who was not in debt paid a debt that he did not have to pay.
The two men are a picture of the Gospel.
How all of us owed the tax—debt to God—that we couldn't have. And then Here Comes Christ, who owed no debt, and paid a price for you that He did not owe.
You owed a tax and could not afford it. Jesus paid it for you.
Jesus owed no tax, but became sin for you and paid that which He did not owe.
What Matthew is trying to show us is this: here's a picture of the power of the Gospel. How people who owed something were set free, and a man who owed nothing paid a debt.
It's just a constant reminder by the reader that this Messiah came, lived a perfect, sinless life, set me free from the requirements of the law, died a death that I was supposed to die, was raised on the third day, and paid the price so I can escape the wrath of God.
If my life is in Christ, He snatched me from my depravity. And if I'm Peter in the text and I know that my debt was paid when I could not afford it—man, what is my response to that?
Man, begrudging service? Drag myself to church and throw a penny in the offering? No.
My only response to my debt being paid is a life of complete surrender.
You clap, but you don't live that way. You don't live that way because you only want to hear sermons that put you at the center of every text. You only want to hear sermons that stroke your emotions. But you don't want to be reminded that your debt was paid for and that the only response to that debt that was paid for is a life of complete homage, complete worship, complete surrender, complete service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, let the weight of the word come to bear on every area of my life. Let the weight of the word come to bear on my mind and on my heart and on my actions and on my money and on my marriage and on my parenting and all my friends. Let the weight of the word come to bear.
Lord, I'm completely surrendered to you. I have no will of my own against your will.
In the same way Peter couldn't pay this tax, in the same way, you couldn't pay for your own sin. And the only response to that is full surrender.
I'm so sick of Western Christianity. I'm so sick of the Western church. Look at me, right through that camera. Are you not tired of going to church Sunday in and Sunday out and hearing messages that make you feel like you're "all of that in a bag of chips"? You're trying to do a Christianity that is not Orthodox, and you're mad at God all the time for the prayers He's not answering—but your life is not surrendered to Him.
You only want to be told, "You're awesome." But you don't want to be told, "Repent." You don't want to be told, "Surrender." You don't want to turn to the Messiah who died on the cross and say, "Lord, because of the tax that you paid for me, here is all of my life in response to you."
You don't want to pack a room for that. You don't want to go to a conference for that. You don't want to listen to a podcast for that. All you want to be told is about blessings.
But I peer into the text, and I hear my Lord screaming at me through the pages of the Bible:
My son, my daughter, stop offending people unnecessarily.
My son, my daughter, when I see you in conflict, I move towards you in your conflict.
My son, my daughter, when I'm correcting your bad theology, I'm correcting that because I love you and I don't want you trying to defend me with stuff that's not truth.
My son, my daughter, you had a debt you could not pay. I paid that debt for you.
My son, my daughter, I am not just a Jew that you're following. I am the Son of God. The Messiah. The Christ. Almighty.
My prayer for 2819—my prayer for everybody under this banner—is that this would be more than a service, more than a 10 a.m., more than a gathering. That we would come out of here saying, "Jesus, I lay that down for you. Jesus, I'm going to change this for you. I'mma love this person better for you. I'm going to surrender this to you."
I'm not just going to keep doing church and not living a surrendered life.
Every time you start feeling yourself, just ask yourself: Could you pay that tax debt? No, man. There is a powerful life on the other side of full surrender. There is a powerful life on the other side of following His instructions.
You keep complaining, "Lord, bless me and do all these things," man. Just follow His instructions. See? No excitement. No drums. Just a moment of reflection. That's how we close in.
Are you unnecessarily offensive to other people? Do you recognize when the Lord is moving towards you in your conflict in grace and mercy? Do you sense when He's trying to correct your bad theology? Do you recognize when He has paid your debt? And are you fully surrendered to Him in every area of your life?
Is this just church, or is this a life of surrender unto the Messiah that you're living? Do you have a fence around the areas you don't want Him to touch? "Don't tell me about this area of my marriage. Don't tell me about this area of my money. Don't tell me what to do with my kids."
But you're mad: "Well, how come they? How come they? And how come? But, but they are following His instructions. They constantly are catching coins out of the mouths of fish because all they do is follow His instructions.
That is my prayer for you.
