Jesus and taxes!

"But to avoid shocking these people, go to the sea, throw the hook, and open the mouth of the first fish to fish, there you will find a coin, then take the coin and give it to them, for me and for you" ( Matthew 17:27).

Dear Community! Do not fail to fulfill your obligations to the house of God, giving your loving and generous contribution.

What Jesus gives Peter to understand, because he has not yet fully grasped it, is that since He is the son of the temple owner, of Him who is worshiped in the sanctuary, He is not obligated to pay the tax . He pays it, however, even though the temple was the house of his Father (John 2:16), because he does not want to be a stumbling block to those, like the collectors, who ignored that truth. In this way He gives us an example that on certain occasions it may be necessary for us to renounce our rights, or prerogatives, so as not to be a scandal for anyone.

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The disciples of Jesus were being asked if, by chance, Jesus paid the temple tax. Jesus did not answer either 'yes' or 'no', He first questioned the deepest meaning of things. "From whom do kings collect taxes: from children or from strangers?" Peter replied: "From strangers!"

Strangers are those who are not considered children. We are not strangers in the house of God, in the world that He created we are children. The truth is that the world treats us as strangers, and we live in this world with the strangeness of not belonging to this world, because it belongs to God.

There are some things that are important for our reflection today. When we pay our taxes, it does not mean we agree with them. Well, many of the taxes and fees we pay are unfair, too many, dishonest and, many times, are not used the right way. But not concordant, not finding the way of justice through them, we can not scandalize, we need to fulfill our obligations.

It is also worthy to note that Jesus paid that tax even though, in his own words, the temple had become a den of thieves (Matthew 21:13). If Jesus paid that tribute, which was an obligation of every Jewish believer, despite the fact that those who received them-the temple authorities-were his sworn enemies, what excuse could we claim to stop paying our obligations to the treasury, or church?

The first of our obligations is with God, with the house of God and with the things of Him. The tax charged by Jesus or his disciples was related to the Temple tax. We do not pay taxes to our temples, we pay the tithe, we give our contribution with our offerings. Do it from the heart, do not do it as a stranger, but as a son.

The son has an obligation to the things of the Lord, to take care of the house of the Lord. We do not find Jesus preaching tithing, we do not find Jesus forcing anyone to pay tithing or linking faith to the conditioning of paying the tithe, but He presents us as an example, a detachment, as someone who does not scandalize and wants to take care of what are the obligations.

Do not fail to fulfill your obligations to the house of the Lord by paying your tithe, giving your loving and generous contribution. Do it as a son!

But if the world treats us as strangers, even as strangers pay our taxes, our contributions and we are not cause for scandal. Let us be an example for the world in which we live.

God bless you!