Matthew 17:14–27

The *disciples return to their ordinary life.

Away from the mountain, there was ordinary life. Someone was still ill. There was an argument about taxes.

A total failure (Matthew 17:14–21)

There is a big contrast between Matthew 17:1–13 and Matthew 17:14–21. Three disciples saw the glory of Jesus. The other 9 disciples were without Jesus, in the valley. A father asked them to heal his son. This was what Jesus had already told them to do. (Read Matthew 10:8; Mark 6:13 and Luke 9:6–10.) The disciples failed, which was sad. But Jesus was still the same. It did not mean that he was weak too. It did not mean that he was not willing to help. And the boy’s father realised this (Matthew 17:15).

Matthew 17:19–21 give the reason why the *disciples failed. There is a difficulty with these verses. It is hard to know what Matthew wrote. Some Bibles do not have the words in Matthew 17:21. Many people think that he did not write them. These words are in Mark 9:29. But, most Bibles leave out two words there too. The words are: ‘and fasting’. (This means to go without food.) They are probably not words that Jesus or Matthew used.

There is another problem in Matthew 17:20. Jesus described what was wrong about the disciples. It is not clear if he meant ‘unbelief’ or ‘little faith’. Probably it was ‘unbelief’. The disciples had sent evil spirits away from many people. Perhaps they thought that their own power did this. In the *disciples’ minds it could be like a kind of magic.

So, they did not have a living faith in Jesus. They could only do miracles because Jesus gave them the power. Even a little faith would have been enough. But they had to use it in the proper way. Here, the disciples had acted on their own. They did not use the power of Jesus. The amount of *faith is not the important thing. The important thing is the fact that it is genuine. This meant that they would have a humble trust in Jesus. They would trust Jesus for everything.

This was what Jesus was saying to his disciples. He tried to encourage them in Matthew 17:20. He used a popular word picture of the time. People might want to say that a thing was impossible. In ancient Israel, they spoke about it as a mountain. Nobody could move it. But Jesus told his disciples what they must do. A thing might be impossible. But they must trust him. If he planned to do it, then it would happen. Jesus would do what he promised to do.

Sons of the Living God (Matthew 17:22–27)

Jesus repeated his earlier teaching. He told his disciples that he must die. (Read Matthew 16:21–22.) This made the disciples very sad. The natural question to ask would be: ‘Why?’ Some strange events followed. But the events had a purpose. (Read Matthew 17:24–27.) Jesus was suggesting an answer to their question.

Every Jew must pay a certain tax. It was for the care of the Temple. The tax was especially for the sacrifices. (Read Exodus 30:11–16.) The sacrifices were necessary. They were because of the sins of the people. God hates sin. So everyone who sins must have eternal death. (Note: Eternal means before time began; for all time and for ever.) God had taught the Jews that he would forgive their *sin. But they must offer another life in their place. God allowed them to use an animal. In this way, God showed them two things. He was holy. But he wanted to forgive them too.

The men who collected this tax came to Peter. They asked him if Jesus paid the tax. This was a natural question. Some Jewish teachers and their disciples did not have to pay it. The officials may not have been sure about Jesus. Peter answered: ‘Of course he does’ (Matthew 17:25).

Jesus used the incident to teach Peter. In the ancient world, there was a common practice. Kings and their families did not pay taxes. The same thing usually happens today. Jesus is the Son of God. So he did not need to pay the tax. He had no sin. So he did not need to pay for a sacrifice. But, there was even more. Peter did not need to pay the *Temple tax either. He, too, was a son of God!

Peter was a Jew. Jesus’ words must have surprised him. But he may not have understood them completely. Then Jesus did a wonderful little miracle. This was to explain what he meant. Jesus showed that he knew all things. He showed that he had power over all things too. These two facts are only true about God. Then, by the *miracle, he chose to pay the tax for himself and for Peter.

This emphasised something. Jesus did not need to die as a punishment for his own sin. So, when he died, Jesus was paying the spiritual debts of other people. He was taking the punishment that all people deserve. But there is another important truth here. Jesus’ death would be the final sacrifice. So Peter would not need to pay the tax. Jesus’ death would pay for it. This meant that *sacrifices would not be necessary any more.

So, this little passage told the reason why Jesus would die. He would die for the sins of all his disciples. By his death, he would make them the children of God.

Questions

• Someone might say: ‘I wish that I had your faith.’ What should you say to them? Is it possible to measure faith, in any way? If so, how could you measure it?
• Christians are citizens of heaven. (Read Philippians 3:20.) Why should we pay taxes to a government on earth?