Monday in the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time, August 8, 2022

Matthew 17, 22-27

As Jesus and his disciples 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, “Does not 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.”

The fact that the disciples responded with exceeding grief to the Lord’s declaration that he will be put to death tells us that finally they are taking him seriously.  He had told them this before and they had gone into denial over it or refused to understand that he meant this literally.  Now, as the Lord gathers his followers in Galilee for the journey to Jerusalem, they are grieved.  In their minds, this was to be the march at the end of which the Lord would seize Jerusalem, declare the Kingdom of David restored, and inaugurate the revolt against the Romans.  His announcement even before they begin their journey, confused and deeply upset them.  We can well imagine them asking themselves, If our leader sees only ignominious defeat, why are we going there?  Nevertheless, the Lord is adamant about going, and at some point the disciples decide they must as well.  Perhaps we should remember how Thomas urged the disciples to return with Jesus to Judea on the occasion of the death of Lazarus: “Let us go that we may die with him” (John 11, 16).

“When they came to Capernaum.”  It would seem logical to assume that the journey began from Capernaum, but Matthew’s wording makes it sound that they started at another place.  Perhaps then they started from Bethsaida or Chorazin, towns we know our Lord visited which are to the north of Capernaum.  “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”  It is striking that the tax collectors here do not ask Jesus himself.  Perhaps they had looked for him and not found him, or perhaps they sought to cause dissension among the Apostles regarding the Lord’s position on the tax.  “When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him.”  The Lord was possibly resting at Peter’s house.  That Matthew refers to Peter’s house as simply “the house” tells us of this house’s importance to the early Galilean Christian community. This is borne out by archaeological digs that confirm that under the site traditionally identified as Peter’s house, a church did exist in the first century A.D.  A larger, eight-sided church was built over the site in the 400’s.  The current church was built in 1990.  

“What is your opinion, Simon?”  It is interesting that the Lord continues to call Him “Simon” after he has recently named him “Peter”.  He calls him “Simon” even after his Resurrection, though the Angel tells Mary Magdalene at the tomb, “Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee” (Mark 16, 7).  Perhaps the new name was used only as a sort of title early on, and later, when Peter was preaching to the Gentiles, “Simon” fell out of use.  We might be seeing this in how St. Paul refers to him in Galatians 2, 8-9.  “From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?”  Notice how the Lord uses ordinary occasions to teach about the Kingdom.  “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.”  The Lord teaches Peter that as one who belongs to the true Kingdom of God, he need not pay the Temple tax.  This was a very important point for the Galilean Christians for whom Matthew was writing his Gospel: they no longer needed to worship at the Temple in dangerous, hostile Judea because they belonged to Christ now.

The Lord’s instructions to Peter have him engage in his (former) occupation, which the Lord will bless and bring to fruition.  We see how Almighty God sets us to work in a particular field according to his will.  We obey his will and engage in the work, for his greater glory.  He then provides us with the benefit of the work.  In this case, a coin, which pays the tax for both Jesus and Peter.  But this is also how missionary work succeeds: the Lord directs, we act accordingly, and he provides the harvest.

St. Dominic, whose feast we celebrate today, followed the Lord’s directions and won great catches of fish.  We pray for Dominicans today that they may continue to spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.