Thread: The temple tax

Mat 17:24 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?”
25 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?”
26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and 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.”

The temple tax mentioned was a didrachma or half a shekel, the amount made mandatory in the law according to Exodus 30:13. According to the law, both Peter and Jesus were required to pay that tax. The amount of money Peter found in the fishes' mouth, a stater, was the amount required to pay for Jesus plus himself.

Jesus says that the only reason why they were going to pay that tax was so as not to offend the religious authorites. This was before the new covenant was instituted and Jesus was fulfilling the law as a man under the law. At the same time he defined himself and those who belong to him to be in a different position in relation to the religious tax, using the analogy of a king who extracts taxes from strangers and not from his own sons. God is the King whose temple they collected taxes for and Jesus was his Son and we are also God's sons and daughters in Him. So we are exempt from the religious taxation of the law, according to sonship under the new covenant. That would of course relate the same way to every religious tax found in the law, including the temple tax, the various tithes and the 1.1% tax on the spoils of war that Numbers instituted in place of the 10% tax that Abraham payed Melchizedek on his war spoils.

We are simply free from that taxation system. That is why there is no amount or percentage specified in the New Covenant rather the NT authors teach that one should give as lead, in the Holy Spirit. And based on the fact that we are entirely purchased by the Lord, which includes all our belongings. Being a servant and steward is different to paying a tax.

Originally Posted by Colonel

We are simply free from that taxation system. That is why there is no amount or percentage specified in the New Covenant rather the NT authors teach that one should give as lead, in the Holy Spirit. And based on the fact that we are entirely purchased by the Lord, which includes all our belongings. Being a servant and steward is different to paying a tax.

Exactly. The children are free. There is no 'kingdom tax' of 10% or any other amount. Be generous and a cheerful giver. And be led by the Holy Spirit. "It seemed good to us and the Holy Ghost..."

Originally Posted by fuego

Exactly. The children are free. There is no 'kingdom tax' of 10% or any other amount. Be generous and a cheerful giver. And be led by the Holy Spirit. "It seemed good to us and the Holy Ghost..."

I've always read that passage as a variation on other passages that talk about paying taxes to Caesar, which equals the Roman authorities. It occurred to me only when reading that today that the temple tax refers to a tax prescribed by the law of Moses rather than simply a tax the authorities had decided upon at the time of Jesus. Which is confirmed by the amounts described in the original Greek !

Which means that Jesus actually took the time to annul the taxation in the law, it doesn't merely follow from the general obsoletion of the letter of the law plus a failure to reinstitute the taxation part.

Something to ponder

You believe God called you to this church which teaches NT tithing. Later on you were were asked to be a leader but part of the leadership commitment was to tithe 10%.

What would you do ???

Originally Posted by Cardinal TT

Something to ponder

You believe God called you to this church which teaches NT tithing. Later on you were were asked to be a leader but part of the leadership commitment was to tithe 10%.

What would you do ???

One is free to pay a tithe just like Jesus and Peter payed the temple tax. It gets worse if they demand that one teach, promote or defend the view. If it's that important to them then perhaps one is in the wrong church ? Otherwise one should pray about what to do, there will always be differences.

Paying a tithe is scriptural. We should do it gladly.