Matthew 17:24 Tribute is not the Temple Tax

 Mt. 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25a He saith, Yes.

      All modern commentaries on the Bible say that Matthew 17:24 is a reference to the temple tax. Also, much older commentaries such as Matthew Henry 1714 A.D., Adam Clarke 1832 A.D., John Calvin 1564 A.D., John Gill  1771 A.D., John Broasdus 1895 A.D., and Oregin in the 3rd century  A.D. say the tribute is the temple tax. What does the Bible say about the temple tax? Let us review the relevant scriptures.

Exodus 30:11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord.

      We learn from Exodus 30 that God commanded that the temple tax would be collected from the children of Israel and that it would be half a shekel. This is not a tax on strangers.

Exodus 38:26 a bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

      From Exodsu 38 we learn that every man 20 years old and older was to pay the half shekel. The following three scriptures show how the tax was collected over the years. This began as a tax collected when they numbered the men in a census, to a tax collected annually. It's also important to note that this is a tax on the children of Israel, God's children, not on foreigners or strangers.

Numbers 3:47 thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

2 Chronicles 24:9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

Nehemiah 10:32 Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;

      You wouldn't understand that these tax collectors were temple tax collectors from what Jesus asked Peter. The Lord of the temple and the kings of the earth have nothing in common. The kings of the earth tax strangers but the Lord of the temple does not take money from strangers to support the temple. 

Matthew 17:25b And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

If we are to understand from the conversation Jesus has with Peter that he, as the son of God, the Lord of the temple, Jesus is free and doesn't have to pay the tax, and all who Jesus gives the power to become the sons of God are free and don't have to pay the tax to support the temple. That would suggest that Christians don't have to support the church today.

      Where do scholars get the idea that Matthew 17:24 is the temple tax? There is no scripture to support this position. Almost all commentaries on this subject make reference to the writings of Josephus, who wrote his history of the Jews from 90 A.D. to 100 A.D. 

Josephus, War. 7.6.6 He also laid a tribute upon the Jews wheresoever they were, and enjoined every one of them to bring two drachmae every year into the Capitol, as they used to pay the same to the temple at Jerusalem. And this was the state of the Jewish affairs at this time.

Josephus, Ant. 3.8.2 And when he had gathered the multitude together again, he ordained that they should offer half a shekel for every man, as an oblation to God; which shekel is a piece among the Hebrews, and is equal to four Athenian drachmae. 

Josephus Ant. 18.9.1 There was also the city Nisibis, situate on the same current of the river. For which reason the Jews, depending on the natural strength of these places, deposited in them that half shekel which every one, by the custom of our country, offers unto God, as well as they did other things devoted to him;

      It seems to me, that the understanding that Matthew 17:24 is the temple tax comes from Josephus. There is nothing in the passage to suggest that these tax collectors are anything more than representatives of a sovereign lord, collecting tribute or custom from travelers entering his sovereign (King Herod) territory. Citizens who return home would be free from paying tribute or custom, but strangers would be taxed. The lesson we should take from this is that Jesus is treated as a stranger and not a citizen of this world, we are all strangers and pilgrims in this world, and this is not our home. Secular history should support and not explain or interpret scripture.

Wilderness Testing after Cana Wedding

 Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted by satan after he had turned water to wine in Cana, and had gone to live in Capernaum.

    The above statement is opposed to the traditional view. The traditional view says that Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted right after he was baptized by John the Baptist. If you research this question you might find the article on Answers in Genesis website by one of their associates, Ron Dudek. Answers in Genesis ministry was founded by Ken Ham, the founder of the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, in Kentucky,  wonderful Christian places I highly recommend. I usually agree with their positions on the Bible, but not in this case. I'm going to do a short review of their article and then give my position. 

This is a link to their article:    https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/wilderness-or-wedding/  To follow my short review you should read the article by Ron Dudek.

    The article "Wilderness or Wedding?" begins with a question that misinterprets scripture and presupposes a contradiction between John's gospel and Mark's gospel.

Was Jesus in the wilderness or at the wedding in Cana three days after His baptism?

 If our interpretation causes a contradiction in the scriptures, the problem is not the scriptures, it's our interpretation. The writer does what he tells us not to do, "We should never read our own ideas into the text, but we should rather read them with the intention of finding the Author’s intended meaning."  he reads his own idea into the text. In his reading of Mark 1:9-13 he reads it chronologically, the events of each sentence following in order of time, one right after the other. As such he sees no gap in time between Jesus being baptized and then going into the wilderness. The next sentence, which is verse 14 says, "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee," we should remember that there were no chapter or verse divisions in the original. If we use the writer's rule of interpretation we should assume that after Jesus had been in the wilderness, and then hearing that John was in prison, he went into Galilee, there being no gap in time between those two events. Jesus' wilderness experience would have been followed by John being cast into prison before Jesus went into Galilee. But there is a problem with the writer's interpretation, John was cast into prison months after Jesus was baptized. If Jesus didn't go into the wilderness right after he was baptized, then how do we understand what is meant in Mark 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. In the King James Version Mark 1:10 says straightway, but in the version used by the writer of the article Mark 1:10 And immediately, coming up from the water,. the Greek word in verse 10, is a different Greek word used in verse 12. The question we should ask? is why did Mark use a different word that means almost the same thing but not exactly. I think it is because there is a gap in time between Jesus being baptized and his going into the wilderness.

     The writer, of the article, wants to explain what some see as a contradiction, by saying that Jesus had gone into the wilderness before he came to John the Baptist in John 1:29. But by his own rule of interpretation, John the Baptist should have been cast into prison. The writer's opening question assumes that it was three days after Jesus was baptized that John's gospel places him in Cana, John 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. John's gospel tells us that Jesus was where John the Baptist was for two days, then on the third day, he departed into Galilee. It is about 100 miles to Cana from where John was baptizing, it would take three days to make that journey on foot. On the third day, he would make it to Cana. The answer to his question is neither, Jesus wasn't in the wilderness and wasn't at the wedding in Cana three days after he was baptized. 

                                                                    My Position

    

     Mark in his gospel says that Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. And the spirit like a dove descended upon him, Mark 1:9-10.

      John's gospel doesn't tell of Jesus's baptism or wilderness testing. John speaking in the past tense says he saw the spirit descending like a dove on Jesus. Some of John's disciples follow Jesus and stay with him that night, it being the tenth hour, or about 4 P.M. John 1:24-51. The "day after" in verse 29 isn't necessarily the day after Jesus was baptized. It could be the day after John was questioned by those sent from Jerusalem. Jesus could have gone up to Jerusalem after he was baptized to one of the three feasts that every Jew was required to present himself before God at Jerusalem and then come back to where John was at the Jordan River, verse 29. "The day following" of verse 43 would be the third day after John was questioned by those that had been sent from Jerusalem, Jesus goes into Galilee.

      Jesus goes to Cana of Galilee, which is the hometown of Nathanael. This is the third day after Jesus had left Judaea to go into Galilee, John2:1-12. At Cana Jesus turns water to wine, afterwards, he goes to Capernaum to live.

      Jesus goes from Capernaum to Jerusalem for Passover, afterwards, he goes down to the Jordan River, John is baptizing nearby. John had not yet been cast into prison, John 2:13- 3:24. Between John 3:24 and 4:1 Jesus was in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan. Jesus goes through Samaria and meets the woman at the well. After two days he goes into Galilee, John 4:43, Mark 1:14, Luke 4:14, Matthew  4:12.

      In Luke's and Matthew's gospels, we learn that Jesus came to Nazareth when he came into Galilee. 

He reads from the scriptures and then says, Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. From this, we learn that he had been living in Capernaum before he went into the wilderness. John's gospel also tells us this.

          

 Mansion over the Hilltop.

       Does the Bible really teach that Christians will get a mansion when they die and go to heaven? 

       A mansion, a beautiful place where we can go, that's all our own, a mansion, like we think of a mansion in this life? The answer is yes and no. First, let us look at where this idea of a mansion in the next life comes from.

       The idea of a mansion comes from the words of Jesus in the gospel of  John. So if Jesus said it, it must be true, right? But we are reading a translation of what Jesus said in his language written down by John in another language, Greek, and then translated into English. We don't know the language that Jesus spoke. Probably  Hebrew, but others say he spoke Aramaic. His words were first written down in Greek by his disciples, who were moved by the Holy Spirit. Let us look at how those words were translated through the years.

       John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: This is the King James Version (KJV), of this verse. Modern translations of this verse, such as the English Standard Version (ESV), In my Father's house are many rooms. New American Standard Bible (NASB), In My Father’s house are many rooms; New International Version (NIV), My Father’s house has many rooms; New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995), In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; Latin Vulgate, John 14:2 in domo Patris mei mansiones , was translated by Jerome into Latin from the original language in 390 A.D. and was the only Bible that most Christians had for over 1000 years.  

       Now let us take a closer look at his words, as they were written down by his disciples. The Greek word μοναι appears twice in the New Testament, both are in John 14. In the KJV,  verse 2 is translated as mansion, and verse 23 is translated abode. Why is the word translated as mansion in verse two? We can see why the King James translators would translate it that way, It had been that way in the Latin Bible that all of them read. The real question is, why did Jerome translate it that way? I think we can find the answer to that question in the writings of the Apostle Paul.

       2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: Our earthly house that we live in is our fleshly body, our heavenly house will be our glorified body, What would you call our heavenly body that is built by God? Mansion? Compared to this earthly body it will be a mansion. 

       1 Corintians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. When we lay down this earthly house we will put on that heavenly house built by God. We will be like Jesus, Philippians 3:21 who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,

       

Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday

                         Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday

                                                  Which day has scriptural support? 

      Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. He said everything written about him would be fulfilled, Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. He is the Passover Lamb in the law. He fulfilled all the types given in the law concerning the Passover Lamb written in the Law, Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. In the Jewish calendar, the day begins at sunset. One day ends and another day begins. The Passover Lamb was selected on the 10th day of the month, and killed on the 14th day, then eaten on the 15th day. It is eaten at night after sunset, which would be early on the 15th day, called Passover day. How did Jesus fulfill all that was written in the law about the Passover Lamb? The scriptures tell us in the gospel of John 12:1  Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. Six days before Passover would be the 9th day of the month. So Jesus came up from Jericho on the 9th day. It is about 15 miles from Jericho. All uphill. Jericho is about one thousand feet below sea level, and Bethany is about twenty-five hundred feet above sea level. People who hike that trail today take about 8 or 9 hours. Jesus was traveling with a large group, so we should consider this an all-day journey. He didn't enter Jerusalem that day. Scripture tells us in John 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. This is the 10th day of the month, this was Jesus being selected by the people to fulfill the type of the Passover Lamb. It is almost universally taught by Protestants and Catholics that Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday, what is called by tradition Palm Sunday. If Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday that would mean that he traveled from Jericho on Saturday. Saturday was the sabbath day. Jesus never broke the sabbath law as it was given to Moses by God. The Bible tells us what a sabbath day's journey was; a sabbath day's journey was the distance a person was allowed to travel on a sabbath day; Luke 24:50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:   Acts 1:12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. Bethany was a little less than 2 miles from Jerusalem, John 11:18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:. Jesus would not have traveled from Jericho to Jerusalem on a sabbath day. Church tradition says that Jesus was crucified on Friday, which they call Good Friday. The Passover Lamb was to be killed on the 14th. Jesus was crucified on the 14th to fulfill the type of the Passover Lamb. If the 14th was Friday then Sunday would be the 9th, and Monday would be the 10th, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem. If as some say, Jesus was crucified on Thursday the 14th, then the 9th would be on Saturday, the sabbath day, and the 10th would be on Sunday. This would have Jesus coming up from Jericho on the sabbath day. Some, like myself say that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday the 14th. This would mean the 9th was on Friday, and Jesus entered Jerusalem on the Sabbath, Saturday the 10th day of the month. This is further supported in Mark's gospel, Mark 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. There were no money changers at the temple on the sabbath day. The next day, which is Sunday they are there, Mark 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; 16 and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. Jesus being crucified on Wednesday is also supported by the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:40 for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Placed in the tomb just before sunset on Wednesday, sunset on Thursday, that's one day, sunset on Friday, that's two days, sunset on Saturday, that's three days. Resurrection Sunday, Luke 24:1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday, sometime after sunset on Saturday, which marked the beginning of Resurrection Sunday. this is the day with scriptural support. There is no scriptural support for Palm Sunday or Good Friday.

       Leviticus 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Resurrection Sunday is the Feast of Firstfruits. When the priest was waving the sheaf of barley, the firstfruits of the harvest, Jesus was the firstfruits of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.