Matthew 17:14-27--Jesus Rejoins the Other Disciples

​Matthew 17:14-27 English Standard Version (ESV)
Listen:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.17.14-Matt.17.27
​
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection
22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

The Temple Tax
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

---

Remember that only Peter, James, and John went up the mountain with Jesus to pray and saw the Transfiguration.  The other disciples stayed behind and we get some hint what they've been up to in the first part of of the passage we'll talk about today.  They have no idea what's just happened and Peter, James and John have been given strict instructions not to tell them or anyone else until after the Resurrection.

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John come off the mountain they are immediately greeted by a man whose son has been tormented by a demon.  While some people make it out that this child simply was having epileptic seizures and that the father blamed something physiological on something spiritual, I don't think that's the case here because we see other places in the Bible where the word "epileptic" is used and the parents simply ask for healing and the Lord or one of the apostles is used to provide healing.  But in this case it's very clear that Jesus also sees demonic influences as the source (and He would know the difference) as He speaks to the demon and commands the demon to come out of the boy.  We also see from the teaching that Jesus gave the disciples after this that this was clearly a demon that was case out.

The disciples didn't seem to marvel anymore at the fact that the demons listened to the voice of Jesus and it seemed that the people were starting to learn that Jesus had authority over demons even when the disciples did not.  Jesus said it was because of a lack of faith on the part of the disciples that they were unable to cast out the demon.  This seems to have been a recurring theme as we've seen that faith seems to be the gas in the tank to make the vehicle function and that the way to get that gas in your tank is by fasting and prayer.  Jesus tells them that the faith of a mustard seed (a very small seed) can move mountains can do unimaginable things and move insurmountable obstacles as if you told a mountain that was in your way to move itself and throw itself into the sea to get out of your way and it would listen to you.  Ultimately though the demons don't listen to anyone other than their master--and that is God, so even when we by faith cast out demons, we need to remember that it is God doing the work through us and we need to make sure that it is done in a way where God gets the glory and He is in control of us, otherwise we may end up like the sons of Sceva in the book of Acts 19:11-20.

Jesus then made another very clear declaration to the disciples, seemingly out of nowhere for the ones that hadn't been on the mountain with Him, that His mind was now set on His death, burial and resurrection, and that He would be delivered over to be tortured and killed and the disciples were understandably sad to hear this.  They continued together back to Capernaum which seemed to be a kind of headquarters for them--probably because Peter was from there as we have read other places that Peter's mother-in-law lived in this town.

​When they get to the town they are greeted by tax collectors....not the kind that work for the Romans, but the kind that collect the temple tax.  Let's ignore the origins and purpose of the temple tax for now, as we'll come back to other stories in the gospels later where it will be easier to talk about that.  The tax collectors talk to Peter and Peter answers without consulting with Jesus because Peter is sure that Jesus was the kind of man that would always pay His taxes.  The passage does not say that Jesus does not pay His taxes, but Jesus does pull people aside to teach Him something.  The conversation goes something like this.

The temple tax was instituted by God the Father to take care of His house and the priest and other Levites who are in service to Him in the tabernacle (now the temple).  God the Father is king.  I am the Son of God.  Sons do not pay taxes to the king because the king's family and heirs are tax-exempt, because ti would be like paying tax to yourself.  However, Jesus knew that the tax-collectors did not understand this to be His position and so Jesus told Peter to go fishing (something that Peter knew a lot about) and that the first fish he would catch would have a shekel in its mouth to pay the poll tax for himself and for Jesus (the tax was a half-shekel per man).  Jesus had every right to not pay the tax, but gave up the right and privilege like so many others when He came here to earth.  We may also have many rights and privileges as children of God, but we should follow the example of Jesus here and be willing to give up those rights for those whom we might offend as long as we are not breaking God's law in doing so.  There will be time where us being obedient is offense enough to people, but we can and should make concessions when possible, especially where the reputation of Jesus and Christians is at stake from those that don't understand our position and privileges as sons and daughters of the king.