Who is Exempt from Taxes?

When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" 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?" When Peter said, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt." Matthew 17:24-26

The tax collectors had a real racket going. Remember Matthew was a tax collector and when he became a follower, a disciple, of Jesus he changed his ways. Zacchaeus, another tax collector, whom Jesus visited in his home declared that he would give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back four times as much to anyone he had defrauded (Luke 19:1-10). Both those tax collectors had become rich collecting Roman taxes from people in their communities and were considered sinners by the Pharisees. They themselves probably didn’t pay taxes—at least not out of their own pockets. If someone didn’t pay the Roman taxes they faced harsh penalties. The Jews didn’t like being subjects of Rome as that included paying taxes that supported Roman pagan temples and the Roman lavish upper-class lifestyle.        

RSVP: Jesus wants Simon Peter to think about the reason for paying taxes. We need to consider that we also are only visitors here on earth…and we must pay taxes, too, just like Jesus. Don’t consider skipping out on taxes. Like the Romans, the federal taxes in our country must be paid. Tax time is always looming ahead of us. Jesus is expecting us to be honest and have integrity as we respectfully pay our taxes. How will you respond to Him today?

Prayer ~ Jesus…but as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; Redeem me, and be gracious to me. Psalm 26:11. I want to follow in Your footsteps and live in Your ways…with honesty, integrity and with respect for all people.

© 2014 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.