“And when they abode together in Galilee, Jesus said to them: ‘The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again.’ And they were troubled exceedingly. And when they were come to Capharnaum, they that received the didrachmas, came to Peter and said to him: ‘Doth not your master pay the didrachmas?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying: ‘What is thy opinion, Simon? The kings of the earth, of whom do they receive tribute or custom? Of their own children, or of strangers?’ And he said: ‘Of strangers.’ Jesus said to him: ‘Then the children are free. But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea, and cast in a hook: and that fish which shall first come up, take: and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater: take that, and give it to them for me and thee.’”
Jesus speaks to His disciples, having iterated before that He would suffer and die, but here expanding that He would be betrayed: “But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar” (Psalm 54:14), but mixes the bitter with the sweet, that they may not be swollen with gladness when good things to come to them and lose their vigilance, but that they may not despair when the bitter is put forward: “Remember poverty in the time of abundance, and the necessities of poverty in the day of riches” (Ecclesiasticus 18:25). The words of the resurrection slipped through their ears without being grasped, but rather they stuck fast to the words of betrayal and death, for any hurt concerning a loved one, let alone a betrayal unto death, is grave news, and in their distress they did not cling to the hopeful words that followed. His death, however, is entirely out of submission, for He made Himself the lowest of the low for the sake of loving those who are in low places: “He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). What follows is an example of this humility and self-lowering, when Jesus is called upon to pay the temple tax, which was seen in multiple places in Israel’s history: “And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a sicle according to the standard of the temple” (Exodus 30:13); “Why hast thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the Lord for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the testimony?” (2 Paralipomenon 24:6); “And we made ordinances for ourselves, to give the third part of a sicle every year for the work of the house of our God” (2 Esdras 10:32). It was a call to keep strong and clean the true soul of the people, which was the temple: “This is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her” (Ezechiel 5:5), and support those that ministered in the temple. While those that collected the tax were to collect from Jesus, they were too awed by His renown to approach Him, and so they go to His vicar, St. Peter, and ask courteously whether or not Jesus pays this tax. A Gloss says that Peter’s response is an affirming that Jesus does not pay the temple tax, and he then goes to Jesus to inform Him that those that sought this tribute were demanding it. Jesus then gives St. Peter a question regarding the kingdom of God, for kings of the earth do not tax their children, but rather give good things to their children, while taxing others. Likewise, God does not tax His children and demand tithes of them, but gives to them from an abundance of love: “If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11), with the hope that mutual love will call those enriched by the sacraments and the teaching they receive to provide for the material needs of those that give them spiritual gifts: “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap your carnal things?” (1 Corinthians 9:11). Now, Jesus was preeminently a king’s son, both being of the lineage of David: “’What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?’ They say to him: ‘David’s’” (Matthew 22:42), and the only Son of the Father: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and as no father demands a tax of his beloved son, Jesus is free from the temple tax, just as all those baptized in Christ are. However, Jesus, having become man in Israel, bends His neck to those collecting the tax, that they may not be scandalized, which many Christians imitated in certain senses, that by acquiescing to certain aspects of the Law, they may, out of an abundance of love, gain those that lived under the Law: “And I became to the Jews, a Jew, that I might gain the Jews” (1 Corinthians 9:20). For the sake of not turning away even those that seek tax collections, Jesus gives, knowing that the Father will always provide. His poverty was so great that He did not even possess what was necessary for the temple tax, the modern equivalent of about $15, because His reward was love alone, and anything less than love and eternal joy is something paltry to receive in turn for love’s sweet demands: “If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Jesus’ wisdom here is precise and adept, that He should first prove that He and His people are exempt from such taxes, before bidding them to pay, showing that one should, without forsaking the truth: “For thy soul be not ashamed to say the truth” (Ecclesiasticus 4:24) or sinning: “He that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul” (Psalm 10:5), avoid scandalizing one’s neighbors: “Now when you sin thus against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat scandalize my brother, I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize my brother” (1 Corinthians 8:12-13), for hurting the soul of another is contrary to love. Then, when Jesus says to St. Peter to take up the first fish and therein find a stater, which would pay the temple tax for the two of them, this is taken literally, but has a mystical significance. By saying “first,” this is a time when that implies there will be more than one, and that St. Peter would bring many fish onto the heavenly shores: “Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three” (John 21:11), with those to follow having the greater treasures of truth in their mouths. Or, this can mean that the hook of reason and the bait of love is cast into the sea of the world, one is drawn out by such beauty, with what used to be of value both materially and in the things on which one speaks suddenly losing their import, with all that was of value being given to the benefit of the Church and the fish then set free, for “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32) to love in truth: “I was exceeding glad, that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as writing a new commandment to thee, but that which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another” (2 John 1:4-5).