Matthew 17:22-27

Hey, hey, welcome to this morning, Tuesday, April 14th, to Coffee and Devotions, where every morning during the weekdays at 9 a.m., we work through just a little bit of the Gospels, and this year, 2020, we'll get through the entire Gospels. And then on the weekends, of course, it happens whenever my kids aren't awake. So we're going to start this morning at Matthew chapter 17 and we'll be looking at verses 22 through 27. Let's go ahead and read God's word this morning. Let's see what God has for us. Matthew chapter 17 beginning at verse 22.
Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him. And the third day he will be raised up. And they were exceedingly sorrowful. When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, does your teacher not pay the temple tax? He said, yes. And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him saying, what do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? Peter said to him, from strangers.
Jesus said to him, then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook. Take the fish that comes up first, and when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money. Take that and give it to them for me and you."
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this morning. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for giving us this this morning, and we pray, Father, that we would understand your word, that you would apply it to our hearts, that we would seek after you, and that you would build us up. Lord, we pray that we would bring you glory as we are conformed more and more to the likeness of your son, as we look into your perfect word. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, well, let's go ahead and dig in. So we start with the first section, verses 22 through 23. And we always ask when we have a new section, what is this about? What is this about? We want to write down just a little sentence in the margin of our Bibles. What is the summary of this section?
So in the margin of my Bible, I'd probably write, that Jesus tells his disciples again about his death and resurrection. Jesus tells his disciples again about his death and resurrection. And I'm going to once again break my one verse rule. Again, this is a loose, but B, we're always asking what is the best verse to summarize this section. And to support that summary, I would highlight the end of verse 22 through verse 23, that the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. and they will kill him. And the third day he will be raised up.
And they were exceedingly sorrowful. We notice that Jesus is once again in Galilee. He's up north. He's up by his hometown. He's probably near Capernaum. And he's telling them again that he's going to have to die. And he's going to be raised up. And all they can focus on is the dying part. And they're exceedingly sorrowful. They did not yet understand what the scriptures taught But then it keeps going in our next section. And when they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and says, does your teacher pay the temple tax?
And so how would you summarize this section here? What would you write down in the comments? How would you put this in the margin of your Bible? What would you say? What is this about? I would say that Jesus, I would say that Jesus pays the temple tax as to not offend. Okay, I don't know. What would you write? What do you think this is about? Well, Jesus is going to pay the temple tax, but he's going to pay the temple tax in a special way, right?
One of the guys I read through the gospels with every morning sent me a text message this morning, and he's an angler. He likes going out and fishing, and he says, man, I've never found a coin in a fish's mouth before. And I said, when you do find one, let me know so I can pay my tax. This doesn't happen. How did this happen?
We notice here Jesus is the one who anticipated him. Peter is off talking to someone else and Jesus knows that Peter's going to come talk to him and Jesus already has a plan. Just think about everything that Jesus had put in place here. Jesus created that sea, the Sea of Galilee. Jesus created that fish. Jesus created that man who had dropped that coin into the sea. Jesus led that fish to eat that coin to be in its mouth. And Jesus then sent Peter to go and catch that very same fish. So he would get it, gut it, find the coin, and pay the temple tax.
Jesus is the one who owns the temple. Jesus is the one who owns the world. Jesus is the one who's paying the tax just so he's not an offense to them. But he is the temple. He is the living one right in front of the very eyes. This is just a very interesting story.
So I would just highlight this last verse. So that's what I would highlight, verse 27 mainly. What would you highlight? What would you say is the best verse to summarize here? Well, my last thing we need to do is A, what is this about? B, what is the best verse? And C, what are you called, what am I called to do in response to this passage today? What are we called to do in response to this passage?
Well, Again, this is always based on what is the main thing the text is talking about. And here, once again, this is something in my heart that I need to do. And I think when we are done, I'm going to thank God that he is so kind and that he is careful, even though he is the stumbling block of offense, that he is the offense, not paying taxes, not any of this other stuff, but he himself. was the one who would die and be raised again from the dead. And I need to thank God. that he's the only stumbling block between me and my father.
And so, I don't know, what are you called to do? For some of you, it might mean that you need to pay your taxes. Tomorrow is tax day, April 15th. I know it's been extended. Maybe for some of you, you need to pay your taxes, I don't know. Let me know, write down in the comments what you think that you're called to do in response to this today. Is there something that you have been doing that's purposely offensive and instead you need to bring people Jesus and Jesus alone? I don't know, let me know.
Let's go ahead and pray now. Father, we thank you so much that you are the creator of the world, how wonderful it is, how amazing it is that you created everything, that you own everything, and yet you're so kind, you're so gracious, even to a sinner like me, even to sinners like us. God, we pray, Lord, that you would Draw us to yourself. We pray that we would not be those with exceedingly great sorrow, but we would know that you have raised from the dead, Lord, that you have been raised for our justification. Lord, we thank you that you are the temple and that we are your people, the building blocks of your temple. Lord, we pray that you would bless us to stay. We pray that you would conform us to your image. In Jesus' name, amen. Lord, bless you. Have a great day.