From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?

12 AUGUST (Mt 17,22-27)

Jesus is the true Son of the Father. He is his Only Son. This truth is the essence and substance of the New Testament. It is enough to read some passages and this truth emerges in all its splendor. Jesus is God, the Only true Son of the Father, the eternal Word of life, the universal Mediator in creation and redemption. He is all this in the truth of his incarnation. The Word made flesh.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people 7 did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth (Cf. Jn 1,1-14).

In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory. Therefore, I, too, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of (your) hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens (Eph1,13-20).

Being the Only begotten Son of the Father, Jesus is the Lord of the temple. He is exempt from paying any taxes. However, he is also a true man and his brothers might be scandalized. They do not believe in his divinity. They see him as a man. Nothing more. Jesus fully accepts his human condition and asks Peter to provide.

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

Everyone is called to live according to the truth of his own human condition. It is not what one is inwardly that must prevail. Instead, it is what one is externally that obliges him. The externality is the law of life for all. We are called to be perfectly exemplary in exteriority. One can also be inwardly holy. He must also be outwardly. He is if he avoids all those actions that can offend his brothers, who do not know his inner greatness, his purity of conscience, his humility of heart and the peace of his mind. Jesus is the true saint because he is inwardly and outwardly, in soul, in spirit and in body. He is extremely careful for no scandal to arise for him. The hearts are too fragile and the minds very weak. A nothing is enough and his work is at risk. There is nothing in Jesus that cannot be imitated. On the contrary, few things can be imitated in us.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints help us live in true holiness.