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Commentary on the Gospel for august 12, 2024
Chapter 17 of Matthew kicks off with the Transfiguration. The writer tells us that Peter, James, and John were there with Jesus when he transformed. We don’t know how long the impact of seeing Jesus not just as a teacher and miracle worker, but as God, lasted for them. You’d guess that experience stuck with them forever, but it seems like they still saw him as human afterward – someone extraordinary, but still human. Matthew says they were «saddened» when he talked about his upcoming suffering.
The next part we get in today’s reading is a surprising story: Jesus gets the coin to pay the Temple tax, required by Jewish law since Moses, in a really unusual way.
Peter had already told the religious leaders in Capernaum that he and Jesus would follow the law. Then there’s this conversation between Jesus and Peter that not only confirms Jesus’ divine nature but also teaches a valuable lesson about giving up your rights so you don’t lead others astray.
The social context of this short story is clear. Let’s say Capernaum is Jesus and his disciples’ home base as they travel around the area preaching and healing. It’s a big town on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Peter has his house, close to the synagogue. The religious leaders are the ones asking about the sacred duty of contributing to the Temple’s upkeep. It’s a contribution that ultimately means «paying for sins.» Obviously, the Son of God (who hadn’t sinned and had even become human to redeem our sins) had no obligation to follow this rule. But he wisely decides not to upset those who didn’t yet know about salvation but were still meant to hear the message.
Sometimes we look down on people who haven’t had a strong Christian education, and their faith is expressed through devotions and practices we see as childish, folksy, or even superstitious. But these practices are how they express and live their faith. As Christians, we’ve been given the mission to preach… and we’re asked to be brave. But we also need to be discerning, to be, as we’re told elsewhere, «as innocent as doves and as shrewd as snakes,» so that instead of winning hearts for Christ, we don’t push people away with our «superior» comments to those we want to bring to know and love Christ.