INTRODUCTION
In this “divided kingdom” portion of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus sets out the way of life and the government for His church.
THE TEXT
“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? . . . ” (Matthew 17:24-18:14).
TEMPLE TAX
Jesus prediction of His death closes out the section (17:22-23) that began at 16:21. Verse 24 begins a new section. The temple tax is rooted in the “atonement money” collected by Moses from Israelite men going to war (Exodus 30:11-16). Later, this Mosaic tax was the basis for a regular temple assessment (2 Kings 12:4). Peter tells the tax collectors that Jesus pays the tax, but Jesus’ relation to the temple is more complex. Princes are exempted from a king’s taxes, and Jesus as the Son is exempt from a tax from His Father’s house. Jesus implies that the disciples, as His brothers, are also “sons” of the Father who don’t owe the tax. Yet, Jesus agrees to pay the tax to avoid offense (v. 27). The sea is a symbol of the gentile world, and fish are symbols of Gentiles. A fish coughing up a coin is like Gentiles coming to pay tribute to Jesus and His church. Disciples can pay whatever dues are imposed because they are confident God will provide through fish from the sea of nations.
LITTLE ONES
The first part of Matthew 18 is divided into three sections. Jesus tells His disciples that the “little ones” are the greatest in the kingdom (vv. 1-5), severely warns them not to offend the little ones (vv. 6-9), and tells a parable concerning a sheep gone astray (vv. 10-14). In answer to the disciples’ question, Jesus says that they must become like children to enter the kingdom (vv. 1-3). Children are weak and dependent, and Jesus says that the subjects of His kingdom must recognize their vulnerability and need. Instead of competing for status, as both Jews and Greeks were in the habit of doing, they must recognize they have no status.
STUMBLING BLOCKS
Jesus goes on to say that our treatment of insignificant members of the church is the standard by which we’ll be judged (v. 5; cf. 25:40). In an honor-shame system, one acquires status by associating with other people status. You give a banquet or do a favor so that someone else will do you a favor or invite you to a banquet. Jesus overturns this kind of social maneuvering and status-climbing. Instead, He tells His disciples to attend to the least of those who believe, and warns that if they ignore or cause little ones to fall they are in danger of hell.
SHEEP ASTRAY
Elsewhere, Jesus tells this parable (vv. 10-14) as a condemnation of the behavior of the Pharisees (Luke 15:5-7). Here, Jesus is setting up the government of His own community. He is warning the Twelve not to ignore the smallest member of the church who wanders away. God is not willing for any to perish; a 99% success rate is not good enough.