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Matthew 17:24-27 (New
International Version)
The Temple Tax
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of
the two-drachma (half
shekel) tax came to Peter and asked,
"Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"
25 "Yes, he
does," he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think,
Simon?" he asked.
"From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes -—
from their own sons or from others?"
26 "From others,"
Peter answered.
"Then the sons are
exempt," Jesus said
to him.
27 "But so that
we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find
a four-drachma coin. Take
it and give it to them for my tax and yours."
I have a
few observations.
1. Jesus
disputed this tax. He said, "The
sons are exempt." As sons of God through the King of Kings, we
are exempt, too. John 1:12 says: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Christians are the "sons of God"
according to all of the following
passages: Galatians 3:26, Romans 8:14, Philippians 2:15, Hebrews 12:7,
1 John 3:1-2.
2. This was not a secular, Rome-imposed income tax. This was a Temple tax, a religious tax, for atonement and for a memorial, and Jesus disputed even this tax.
Exodus 30:15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you
make the offering to the LORD
to atone for your lives.
16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the
children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the
service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may
be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
See also: Exodus
38:26
3. This was a flat tax, not a graduated income tax. The rich and poor paid the same amount. This is like the head
tax, or capitation tax,
in the US Constitution; it's supposed
to be the same for everyone, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_per_head
4. It was a tiny per person tax, a small silver coin, a half shekel, that weighs about 6 grams, or about
20% of a troy ounce, and
as of June, 2011, with silver at $35/oz., that would be
about $7 per coin, per adult male, per year.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roma...ns.asp?vpar=828
(Aside: 30 Shekels, the amount
Judas was paid to betray Jesus, would have been about 6 troy ounces of silver.)
Thus, anyone who uses this passage to justify graduated income taxes is lying, or deceived.
5. Jesus
did not pay the tax for any of the other disciples, only Peter and
Jesus, nor did Jesus command, nor help, his other disciples to pay this tax.
6. Why
would they have been offended if Jesus and Peter did not pay? Why did Jesus
actually pay the tax, if Jesus disputed it? Was it because
Peter said that Jesus does pay
this tax? If Jesus didn't pay the tax, wouldn't Jesus have made Peter,
his own representative, a liar?
And we know that God cannot lie. Was Jesus covering
for the error and indebtedness
of Peter, becoming surety
for his friend? Didn't Peter sometimes make mistakes and need correction, such as in Galatians by Paul? In other
words, Jesus saved Peter from Peter's verbal obligation, by providing
the coin in the fish that
required Peter to go fishing
to get the coin in the mouth
of the fish.
7. Other
people say that the Bible
is clear, and that this passage proves you need
to pay income
taxes. But I think they
must be missing a basic principle of Bible interpretation.
Specifically, Jesus spoke in parables, and did so to hide understanding:
Mat 13:10 And the disciples
came, and said unto him, Why speakest
thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said
unto them, Because it is
given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given.
Mat 11:25 At
that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
hast revealed them unto babes.
It would
be the epitome of assumption, the arrogance of ignorance, or the sliminess of willful deception, to even suggest that since Jesus disputed
paying taxes to God's
real temple, that Jesus somehow demanded the paying income taxes, which would be
1000's of times more, to the Emperor of Rome, who declared himself to be God, and thus anti-Christ, and
the enemy of God.
In conclusion, if you disagree with me, then please stock up on silver, so that you
will be able to pay your silver
taxes to the Temple in Israel. 8-)
Jason Hommel
Silver Stock
Report
I strongly advise you
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