Matthew 17: 24-27 - The Sons are Free!

[00:00:01] Tyler. This morning's message is, the sons are free. [00:00:03] Now we're going to continue on in our series in the Gospel of Matthew. So turn in your bibles to Matthew, chapter 17, and we're going to pick up where we left off last Sunday by reading verses 24 through 27. [00:00:19] When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? Yes. He said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first. What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? From strangers, he said, then the sons are free. Jesus told him, so we won't offend them. Go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth, you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them. For me and you. Let's go ahead and pray. [00:00:57] Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for you. [00:01:01] We thank you for the wonders of you. We thank you for the beauties of you. We thank you for the incredible glory of you. And we thank you for the promise that as we meet, your presence is with us. [00:01:15] And so, Father, I pray that as your instrument this morning, that you would speak through me, that you'd use me for what it is that you want to speak to your people. And as we sit here collective as a community, we also sit here individually in relationship with you. So I pray that each individual would open their mind and heart to what it is that you want to speak into their lives this morning. May it enrich our thoughts, lift our thoughts. May we have greater thoughts of you. May we get to know you more deeply, and may we get to know your will for our lives and act upon it in Jesus name. Amen. [00:01:50] So Pastor Sam spent the last four Sundays in a series titled who is Jesus? Where he continued to walk us through the gospel of Matthew with a focus on the person, teachings, and ministry of Jesus. And earlier in chapter 17, we saw, first of all, the transfigured Jesus. We got to see Jesus completely transformed into his heavenly glory, full of brilliance, holiness, righteous perfection, and absolute beauty. [00:02:14] Then we got to see the triumphant Jesus, where we saw the power of Jesus over disease, the demonic and the devil as he set free a boy who was plagued with epilepsy. So this week, we're going to look more closely at the tax Jesus. [00:02:29] The tax Jesus. [00:02:32] Four brief verses with a subtitle in my Bible saying, paying the temple tax. [00:02:37] At first glance, the story about taxes seems out of place here, it seems rather ordinary and mundane. [00:02:45] Just before this, Matthew records the second time that Jesus predicts his death and then jumps into a brief story about paying taxes. [00:02:52] Why was Matthew the only one of the four gospel writers to include this account of Jesus paying the temple tax? [00:02:59] Why did he believe it was important to chronicle this as a significant part of Jesus life and teaching? [00:03:05] If you remember, Matthew was a former tax collector. He didn't collect taxes for the temple, but for the government of Rome. Maybe he was wanting to give a shout out to some of his old tax collecting buddies. Hey, guys, I promised to put you in the story, so here it is. [00:03:20] Not likely. [00:03:22] Maybe the encounter served as an important reminder to Matthew of the sinful life he once led before he met Jesus, when he served as a stooge of the roman government, collecting exorbitant taxes from his fellow jews, their hard earned money that would go to their enemies, those who conquered them and occupied their land. [00:03:39] You see, tax collectors would not only collect for the Romans, but they'd extort extra money out of the people for themselves. And there's even more reason why they were hated, despised and seen as traitors. They were seen as sellouts to their people. [00:03:53] Now, because of Jesus, Matthew left all that behind to follow him, to find forgiveness of his sin, life through him, and a king and a kingdom truly worth living for. [00:04:03] While remotely possible, I don't believe either of those were reasons for Matthew, including this story and his account of Jesus life and ministry. [00:04:11] The real reason I believe Matthew included the story of Jesus paying the temple tax is because God wanted him to. [00:04:18] All of scripture has been inspired by God, and he proclaims is useful. [00:04:22] It is God who led each writer to write down what they did. It's God who chose to include what now we read in the pages of our Bible. It is God who has sovereignly preserved his word for generations. And it's Jesus himself who declares in Matthew 518, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. [00:04:46] The Bible is God's word to us. [00:04:50] So as Christians, we believe that everything in it, from Genesis to Matthew, from Leviticus to Galatians, from numbers to revelation, is there because God wants us to know his mind, his heart, his will, and his plan of redemption. [00:05:04] You know, we all have those times when we read in our bibles that we come to a section in the book we're reading, and we just read it over quickly and move on, believing there isn't really any importance to gleam, you know, like portions of Leviticus or numbers or any long genealogy. [00:05:21] These four verses in chapter 17 of Matthew's gospel telling us about paying temple taxes could be one of those times. [00:05:27] But if it has been included as the inspired word of God, then we can know that it's there for a reason. And we're going to see if we can uncover a deeper significance to the story. This morning, earlier in chapter 17, we got a glimpse of the glory of King Jesus. [00:05:44] Then we got to see the power of King Jesus. [00:05:48] In this brief text, Jesus is going to reinforce his claims as king and stress the importance of the freedom, blessings, privileges and provision that comes as being a child of the king. [00:05:59] So let's go ahead and dissect this brief passage verse by verse. Verse 24. [00:06:06] When they came to capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, doesn't your teacher pay temple tax? [00:06:13] Yes, he said, Jesus and disciples were gathering in Galilee after they spent some time in Caesarea Philippi. Capernaum was a town on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it was a town Jesus had chosen to be the central hub of his ministry. [00:06:29] It was the hometown of Peter, James and John. And it is believed when there, they would stay at Peter's house. And this is where this interaction between him and Jesus takes place. [00:06:38] This will be the last time that Jesus goes to this town. [00:06:42] It's less than a month out from Passover when Jesus and his disciples would share their final Passover meal. And afterwards, Jesus would institute the Lord's supper for the very first time, where he shares bread and wine with the disciples as a representation of his body that would be slain and his blood shed for our forgiveness. [00:07:00] The next day, he would be betrayed, arrested, beaten, and condemned to be crucified. [00:07:06] Men collecting the temple tax approached Peter and asked him a question. Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? [00:07:13] Jesus always held a lofty and respectful view of the temple. Even though he was the son of God, it represented the place where his people would worship the father. [00:07:22] He gathered there with his family. As a child, he began to teach there. As a teenager, he worshiped there with others. And yet, he said, concerning himself in Matthew twelve six, I tell you, one greater than the temple is here. [00:07:36] And when Jesus cleared the temple, it happened right here in Capernaum. When he arrived at the temple one day and saw there were men selling animals for sacrifice and exorbitant prices, exploiting the poor, placing obstacles in the way of their worship of the father, he angrily and righteously rebuked them for their sinful greed, turning over tables. And he started yielding a whip. [00:07:57] In John 212 22, it says to those who sold doves, he said, get these out of here. How dare you turn my father's house into a market? [00:08:08] His house shall be a house of prayer. [00:08:11] His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. Then the Jews demanded of him, what miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this? [00:08:22] And Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. [00:08:27] And Jesus replied, it has taken 46 years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days. [00:08:33] But the temple he had spoken of was his body. [00:08:37] John writes further that after jesus was raised on the third day, the disciples recalled his words, and they believed the scripture and the words jesus had spoken. [00:08:47] The tax being collected was specifically to go to the temple to pay the priests, sustain the services conducted there. And for upkeep of the building and grounds. And it sounds similar to what we do with our tithes and offerings, doesn't it? [00:09:01] Without garnering that support, the priests could not feed their families. The services and ministry of the temple could not be sustained. And the temple's house and grounds would fall in disrepair. [00:09:11] Remember, this is not taxes that the roman government demanded. It was collected by the Jews for their temple. And it was levied on all males 20 years and older. [00:09:22] In Jesus day, the amount given was two drachmas, or half a shekel annually. [00:09:27] And the imposition of the tax lacked the sanction of roman law. But it was understood that the Jews would still pay it. [00:09:34] Similar to our motivation to give to the church. [00:09:37] We're no longer under the law, but believe because of God's amazing grace. And all that he's done for us, we're compelled to love and sacrificially give for his kingdom work. [00:09:49] So the typical worker, the amount they gave would equal two days wages. [00:09:53] And the pattern for the collection was based on what can be found in Exodus, chapter 30. [00:09:59] I want to read that paraphrase that says, verses eleven through 16. [00:10:03] The Lord spoke to Moses. When you take a census of the Israelites, to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for his life to the Lord. Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel, which is a contribution to the Lord. Each man who is registered, 20 years old and more. Must give this contribution to the Lord. The wealthy may not give more, and the poor may not give less. When giving the contributions to the Lord to atone for their lives. Take the atonement prize from the Israelites and use it in service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before the Lord to atone for their lives. [00:10:37] A message behind this giving to support the tent of meeting, which at the time served, in a sense, a mobile temple, because, if you remember, this is where God resided. But the Israelites had not established their own land as of yet. [00:10:51] Their giving represented the atonement given not only to support the priest and the upkeep of the temple, but was payment for their sins. [00:10:58] It served as their reconciliation to a holy God, the divine act of grace whereby God draws human beings to himself and makes them one with him, those who were once alienated because of their sin. [00:11:11] In the Old Testament, the shed blood of sacrificial offerings affected atonement for the one who offered the sacrifice as a demonstration of the belief that he was a sinner in need of a savior, and there was nothing that he could acquire to do gain salvation apart from God's grace, the sacrifice pointing to a promised future Messiah who would shed his blood for the forgiveness of sin. [00:11:32] It's the blood of Jesus that was soon to be shed that would affect the forgiveness and the atonement and reconciliation with God for all who believe in Christ. The messiah. [00:11:42] In Exodus 30, God describes the temple tax as a ransom, which means to pay a price to ensure the freedom of another. [00:11:52] The giving to support the tenement meeting served as a ransom and which involves three elements of redemption. [00:11:58] And the picture here is that of a slave in the slave market, and a picture of you and I when we were enslaved in our sin, in bondage, and captured to the influence of the devil, blinded from the truth and dead in our trespasses and sin. [00:12:12] What Jesus blood for us means is the ransom price for your freedom is paid in full. [00:12:19] It means you have been removed as a slave from the marketplace. [00:12:23] It means your full and permanent release has been put into effect. [00:12:28] And I love what the writer of Hebrews says about this in chapter nine, verses eleven and twelve. [00:12:33] But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, and the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not of this creation. He entered the most holy place once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for all who have faith in him. [00:12:53] Brothers and sisters in Christ, your ransom, your atonement, your redemption, was paid in full by the only one who could afford the purchase price, the sinless lamb of God, who alone could meet God's righteous requirement for your soul, which is sinless perfection. [00:13:13] In Galatians 313, Paul writes, christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us because it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. [00:13:22] And in two corinthians 521, he says, he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And that verse right there is always talked about as the great exchange. And what happens for those who believe in Christ is as if we've taken our sin and handed to the Christ, who he carried on the cross, shed his blood, and died for those sins and in place because of our belief in him. As he rose from the dead, we also have new life in him. We have been given his righteousness. [00:13:52] All praise goes to KinG Jesus. [00:13:57] Let's continue. In our text this morning the temple tax collectors asked Peter, doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? And Peter's quick response was a simple yes. [00:14:10] It appears to me that Peter is somewhat caught off guard by this question and impulsively blurts out an answer without being certain. [00:14:17] As a jew, Peter knows the importance of the tradition behind paying taxes to support the temple. He knows how important the temple is to the religious life in his town. He knows that paying this tax is an indication to the community on whether or not you are considered a faithful and devoted jew. [00:14:33] So it appears to me and to some commentators that Peter feels he needs to defend Jesus without really knowing the answer. [00:14:43] Have you ever encountered a skeptic or a cynic of Christ or Christianity? [00:14:48] You know, that person where they're kind of obnoxious and irritating and they're throwing verbal assaults on your beliefs or on the God you have given your life to, and suddenly ask you a pointy question about something you're not sure on how to defend, and it kind of throws you for a loop. [00:15:04] You're a bit flustered in the heat of the moment, you're unsure of how to respond, you angrily feel as if you need to defend God, and you blurt out something that immediately you wish you could take back. [00:15:16] Anyone ever experienced that? [00:15:21] Because of the interaction with Jesus that follows? I think that this is the position Peter was put in, and Jesus is going to gently instruct him and give him some important theology that Peter can take with him for future encounters. [00:15:35] What you and I need is to be better prepared for such encounters and to be able to give a reason for the hope that's within us, and do so with gentleness and respect. [00:15:46] We need to know the heart and mind of Jesus. We need more time in his word to read it, to study it, to meditate upon it, to dialogue over it with other believers. We need more theology. We need to be better prepared to prepare ourselves to get an adequate and accurate defense to our beliefs. [00:16:05] We need to hear from Jesus, who speaks directly to us through his word as we are led by the Holy Spirit. [00:16:16] Let's go on. In verse 25 and 26, when Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke to him. [00:16:23] What do you think, Simon? From who do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? And the word strangers there actually means citizens or subjects. [00:16:34] Does the king collect it from his sons are from his citizens and subjects? [00:16:39] And Peter says, from strangers, then the sons are free. Jesus told him. [00:16:46] Even though Jesus didn't have a part of the interaction with the tax collectors, he must have overheard what was asked in Peter's response to the question. [00:16:54] Jesus isn't looking for Peter's opinion on the matter, just as Jesus isn't interested in your or my opinion on things. [00:17:02] He most certainly wants us to share our thoughts and concerns. [00:17:06] He wants us to share our doubts and struggles. He wants us to share with him our desires and plans. He knows them anyway. [00:17:14] In psalm 139 one four, it says, o Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely. O Lord, you see, God has absolute and complete knowledge of you and me. [00:17:35] He knows your thoughts and desires of your heart, but he wants you to be open and honest with him about them. [00:17:41] This is what being in a relationship that involves love and trust is all about. [00:17:46] He wants us to share things with him when we are at our best and when we're at our worst. [00:17:51] He wants us to share our joys and our sorrows with him. He wants us to talk with him and when we're soaring in faith and when we're struggling in doubts, but he's not interested with our counsel, advice, our ideas on any matter we face. [00:18:09] We live in a world where people increasingly think they can question God on how he handles things because they think they know better than he does. [00:18:18] They believe that if they were God, they would do the things far better than he would. [00:18:22] They'd have a more moral and caring response to life difficulties, sufferings, and the problems of the world. [00:18:29] Do you know anyone who thinks they would do a better job at being God? [00:18:34] I think even some christians at times think that when something is confusing or difficult, or when the world seems as if it's in chaos, that God needs their insights on how to handle things. [00:18:47] Isaiah 45 nine says, woe to him who quarrels with his maker. Does the clay say to the potter, what are you making? Or why are you doing this God? Or, why are you allowing this God? If I were you, I would do this. [00:19:03] And then romans 920 21, but who are you to talk back to God? So what does form say to him who formed it? Why did you make me like this? [00:19:14] You know, and it's often the people who think they know better than God, who have made such a mess of their own lives and end up blaming God for the mess. [00:19:23] Think of what they'd do if they were responsible for the world. [00:19:28] Think of how you'd do if you were responsible for the world. [00:19:34] When Jesus asked for one of his disciples opinion, as he does here, it's to direct the person to a deeper truth, an unseen reality, to impart instruction as to the mind and heart of God, his will and his ways, what it means to truly submit to his will, his ways. [00:19:52] Jesus will soon demonstrate his submission to the father. In the garden of Gethsemane, just before his arrest, while praying to the father, he was hit full force emotionally and spiritually with the reality of the pain and suffering he's about to endure. [00:20:05] He doesn't tell the father how he thinks it should be done, nor does he give him a list of what he thinks are better options on the road to redemption. He prays, Father, if there's another way, let's do that, but not my will. Your will be done. [00:20:21] Jesus throughout his earthly life, lived for the will of father. He lived with absolute trust, absolute submission, absolute surrender to the will of God, his father. In everything he faced here on earth, he surrendered and submitted to the will of the Father. And he is our example in this. [00:20:40] This is why the scriptures are clear that we are to give God our everything each and every day, not just our leftovers. [00:20:50] You know, how after we filled our lives with what we need to do and what we want to do, we kind of give God the leftovers of our time, our money, our energies, our plans and pursuits. [00:21:02] Let's know what God says about this. [00:21:06] He says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. [00:21:12] He says, call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. [00:21:20] He says, if you love me, you will obey my commands. He who loves me will be loved by my father, and I too will love him and manifest my presence and power to him. [00:21:30] Just as Jesus demonstrated his full submission to the Father in everything we are to love God with all that we are and all that we have. We are to seek God with all that we are and all that we have. We are to obey God with all that we are and all that we have. And you know what he promises? He promises to love us deeply and to manifest his presence and power in and through our lives. Guys, the trade off of what we give up in full submission to fully him and compared to what we are given and returned by him, it's no comparison. [00:22:07] So Jesus asked Peter, what do you think, Simon? [00:22:10] From whom do earthly kings collect taxes? From their sons or their subjects? [00:22:15] From their subjects. [00:22:17] Then the sons are free. [00:22:21] The analogy Jesus uses here is that the sons of earthly kings are exempt from their fathers taxes. A king is not going to exact taxes on his sons or on his family. He's going to exact them on the citizens who are outside of his family. [00:22:36] Only those outside of the king's family have a ransom to pay. [00:22:41] Jesus is saying that he's exempt because he's the son of God, the son of God the Father, the temple in all of its practices, its worship and its teachings. They all point to him. [00:22:53] In this scenario, Jesus is the king who collects the taxes, the ransom, the payment for sin. [00:22:59] At this point, prior to his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus has not taken his rightful place as king. [00:23:05] Jesus takes on the role as his ascension into heaven after his resurrection, signifying his spiritual reign over all creation, with the full manifestation of his kingship occurring at his second coming, when he will physically return to earth as king of kings and lord of lords and will restore all things as he promises to his original intentions and creation. [00:23:28] In the passion of Jesus, he will usher in a new covenant which will make the temple and its old covenant sacrifices and taxes obsolete, as he will soon fulfill the ransom payment for our sin, completing God's plan of redemption. In his completed redemptive work, he will be inaugurated in his church, of which he is the head, where every believer in Christ, through the indwelling Holy spirit, will become the temple of the living God. [00:23:53] In one corinthians 316, Paul, speaking to the believers in the church of Corinth says, don't you yourself know that you are God's temple and that the spirit of God lives in you? [00:24:04] Thus every believer in Christ whose ransom has been paid in full have become sons and daughters of the king. There's no more payment to be made that can achieve your atonement other than the finished work of Christ on the cross. Those who reject Christ are subjects, not children, whose ransom remains unpaid. [00:24:24] Matthew's gospel ends with final instructions from Jesus just before he ascends as king over all. [00:24:33] Matthew 20 818 20 says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. [00:24:38] And what he's saying there is delegated authority from God. The father has been given to him as his reward the father's great pleasure and full trust in his son completing the work of redemption. [00:24:50] Jesus our king gives final instructions just before he ascends to his kingly throne in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father. [00:24:57] And here are the king's marching orders to all of his children. This is what he commands each of us to do, because all power and authority has been given to him. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age. Jesus has some final instructions for his disciples, those who have walked with him for three solid years, who've heard his teachings, who have seen his miracles, who now see him raised from the dead, that he really did fulfill the promise that he would die for our sins, that he would be buried and he'd rise from the dead. And what does he tell them, knowing full well that he's about to ascend to the throne in heaven? [00:25:44] He says your mission for the kingdom is to go and make disciples. [00:25:50] He says your mission, the importance of your mission, is to advance the kingdom here on earth. And how do you do that? You do that through evangelism and discipleship. [00:26:03] Our lives are to be solely lived out for the king who has paid our ransom. [00:26:08] And we do this by advancing Christ's kingdom in this world through evangelism and discipleship. [00:26:16] And the reason why we gather here on Sunday mornings, the reason why we gather in gcs during the week, the reason why we might go to Bible studies, the reason why we might get in small discipleship groups with other christians, is all to get energized and fed and prepared to do the actual work that he's called us to do. [00:26:40] Which is to go and make disciples. [00:26:44] Let's finish our text for this morning. Matthew 1727. [00:26:50] So we won't offend them. Go to the sea, cast in a fish hook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth, you'll find a coin, take it and give it to them for me and you. [00:27:05] That phrase sticks out to me, but so we don't offend you. See, while Jesus made it clear to Peter that they were not obligated to pay the temple tax, they were going to do it anyway. [00:27:15] The reason Jesus gave was so that they would not offend those who were collecting the tax, and by doing so, create a stumbling block in the way of those who had not yet believed in him. [00:27:25] We live in a world where people believe that there is such a thing as my truth and your truth. [00:27:31] And just as long as those truths do not collide with my desires and perceived liberties, we'll be okay with each other. [00:27:38] While it's a world that cries out for diversity, equity, inclusion, those crying out will include you if you agree with their truth. [00:27:46] When you disagree, you're ridiculed and rejected. And this is not how christians should be. [00:27:53] We even see christians arguing with one another over social media as nonbelievers watch and how grievous it is as you lay stumbling blocks before people who don't know Christ. Evaluate the things you post and respond to over social media. Evaluate the memes and videos you post and follow. Ask yourself, do they honor Christ and Christianity, or do they join in the mocking and defaming christians in the name of Christ? You see, if you can't honor Christ on social media, then you shouldn't be on social media at all. [00:28:25] What we see consistently in Jesus throughout the accounts of his life found in the four gospels is that he's never going to set aside truth to avoid offense. [00:28:34] But the offense he's willing to give was always centered on the truth of the gospel. [00:28:41] The apostle Paul says, it is the truth of the gospel that will offend, but does not stop us in sharing because we love and care enough about people who may be lost and separated from God forever. [00:28:53] Biblical truth will also offend when we're sharing with people about how their sin is hurting their lives and keeping them separated from God. But we refuse to hold back that truth because we love and care enough to tell the truth to people who are destroying their lives, and we always do it with gentleness and respect. [00:29:12] You see, when we have people in our lives that are lost and we know that they're lost. And we withhold the truth of the gospel from them. What we're saying is that we love ourselves more than we love those people. [00:29:24] And when we see sin in a person's life who doesn't know Christ, whether it's our friends or family or whoever it may be, and they need to hear the truth because their destructive choices are destroying their lives. And we don't share the truth of that with them. [00:29:39] We're actually saying that we love ourselves more than we love them because we want to stay safe in our comfort zone, because we want to stay safe in our relationship. Because if we offend, we might feel like we might lose that relationship. But the reality of it is they've either lost their lives for all eternity, or their sin is causing them great harm and harm to their relationships. That's why we speak truth. [00:30:01] We don't speak truth to have a win lose game. [00:30:06] We speak truth to have a win win game. [00:30:08] You know, it's those times sometimes in your marriage when you're in an argument and you think that my goal here is to win this argument and to win that argument, I actually damage my wife. [00:30:20] You see, in marriage, an argument should be win win that both benefit in the end from the truth that's been shared. [00:30:34] What we see in Jesus agreement to pay the temple taxes, he will set aside personal rights and freedom in order to simply have an opportunity to love and care about people and to not place an unnecessary obstacle or hindrance in the way of a person's path. To him, this is what his coming to earth on a rescue mission was all about. [00:30:52] In Philippians two, five, eight says, your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, which means something to be held tightly to, but made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. You see, what that's telling us is Jesus put aside his eternal glory that he had in heaven with the Father to come on a rescue mission for you and I. And he put aside that glory, and he put aside his rights and his prerogatives and his privileges that he shared with the Father in heaven to come to earth for you and I. And by doing this, he placed you and I and our desperate need first before his rights and his privileges and his glory. And that's what he's calling us to do. He says, and this passage begins with take the example of Christ. Follow the example of Christ, be as Christ is. And what he's calling us to do in our world is put aside our rights and our privileges and our comfort because we love people more than we love ourselves, because we love the plight that they're in more than we love our own comfort and rest and pleasure and security. [00:32:08] Matthew 2028 says, the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. [00:32:16] Imagine that the eternal God, the creator of all things, the sustainer of life in the world, the one who is ruler over all, came into our world not to be served by us, but to serve us by giving his life as our ransom to pay the sin debt that we owed so that we might be taken off the slave market, set free. [00:32:35] Wow, that's the kind of God that we have. [00:32:40] How incredible is that? [00:32:45] Finally Jesus instructs Peter, cast in a fishhook and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin, take it and give it to them for me and for you. [00:32:59] This is the only time in the gospels where fishing is spoken of with line and hook rather than a net. [00:33:08] Peter was instructed by Jesus to take a fish hook and catch one fish. [00:33:13] And maybe he instructed him to do that because there would be greater validity to the miracle and prevent the fish with the coin to be caught up with many other fish in a net. You know? Can you see Peter on the shore tossing out a net, getting about 30 fish in there and sitting there? No, not that one. No, not that one. [00:33:31] I don't know. [00:33:33] Jesus could have placed the one fish with a coin in a net. Jesus could have manufactured money out of thin air. [00:33:41] You've got to wonder, did Jesus cause someone on the sea of Galilee to lose a shekel and it fell overboard while they were out to sea? [00:33:48] Did he cause this one particular fish to swallow it? [00:33:53] Who minted the silver? Who engraved the coin? Who lost it? [00:33:58] What are the odds of Peter hooking the exact fish on the first cast, who had its mouth, the exact amount of money needed to pay the temple tax for him and Peter, what does this tell you? [00:34:13] It tells me something about the world we live in. [00:34:17] It tells me something about your life, my life, our friends and family's lives. [00:34:23] It tells us that God is in charge and in control of it all the earth is his and all that is within it. [00:34:31] It tells us that he knows what we need. [00:34:34] It tells me that he's the provider of it all. And when we have no idea how it will be possible for things to work out, he makes a way. He is and always has been the God of miracles. [00:34:47] What is a miracle? [00:34:50] Well, atheists, those who believe there is no God, and naturalists, those who believe that all that exists is matter, that matter is eternal and evolved from itself, they would tell you that the natural law is said and cannot be interrupted. So there's no such thing as miracles. [00:35:07] Christians believe a miracle is a special act of God that interrupts the normal course of events. It's an act of God that breaks through the course of natural events to bring forth something supernatural. [00:35:17] This miracle of Peter catching a fish with a coin in its mouth, just like Jesus first miracle, changing water into wine. Both seem kind of small and less significant than the ones like feeding thousands of people with a plate of food or calming a threatening storm where the disciples feared they were drowned, or healing lepers, or delivering the demon possessed. Or raising someone like Lazarus from the dead. [00:35:40] Have you ever tried to rank Jesus miracles in your mind from what you thought was least to the greatest? [00:35:49] Let me tell you, I believe that the top two miracles aren't even on that list. [00:35:56] There are two, and they were equally great. And without them, none of the other miracles God has performed yesterday, today or tomorrow would even matter. [00:36:05] Do you know what they are? [00:36:08] The first ranked in no particular order is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. [00:36:14] That God would come into our world through a virgin birth by the power of the Holy Spirit as a baby and God's means of redemption. [00:36:21] I think that's a top two miracle. [00:36:24] The second is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that it would be prophesied hundreds of years before he came. Jesus himself would predict it prior to his death, that on the third day the tomb would be empty and hundreds would proceed to see him alive. They'd eat with him and they'd speak with him, they'd touch him, they'd watch him as he ascended to heaven. [00:36:44] If it's true, which I believe it is, that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. If it's true, which I believe it is that Jesus, the eternal God, came into the world born of a virgin named Mary to pay for our sins. If it's true, which I believe it is that after paying for our sins, dying, being buried and raised to life on the third day, if all that's true, which I, I believe it is, that nothing else is impossible for him to do both in this world, in your life and the lives of your loved ones. Amen. [00:37:15] This brief and seemingly insignificant text in Matthew's gospel about paying the temple tax reveals to us that Jesus is, first of all the humble servant God. [00:37:27] It reveals to us the only true messiah, that he's the only true messiah able to pay for our ransom. [00:37:35] It shows us that he has earned his rightful place as king of kings. [00:37:41] And it shows us that he's the sovereign God who provides for our needs and who repeatedly breaks into our world to do the miraculous. [00:37:51] These seemingly four insignificant verses at the end of our chapter in Matthew's letter gave us profound theology about the reality of the God that we believe in, the God that we love, and the God that we serve. [00:38:09] Ben, you guys can come back up. [00:38:17] I want to close the message this morning by going back to the title which says, the sons are free. [00:38:26] And in John 823, it says, he who the son sets free shall be free. Indeed. [00:38:32] Brothers and sisters in Christ, you have been eternally set free, and that deserves a hallelujah. [00:38:42] Do you realize how much you are loved by Goddesse? [00:38:46] Before human beings were created, God prepared a place called heaven. [00:38:51] Before human beings ever sinned, God envisioned a plan of redemption. [00:38:55] Before Adam and Eve broke their promise to God by eating fruit from a forbidden tree, God perceived another tree that would be cut down and used as a beam for a cross in which Jesus would be nailed, a cross that would suspend Jesus between heaven and earth. [00:39:12] Heaven and God's plan of redemption was never an afterthought. [00:39:16] And just as God prepared hell for the devil and his angels, God prepared heaven with you in mind. [00:39:23] And make no mistake about it, he wasn't thinking of everyone in general terms. [00:39:29] Before you were ever born, your name was written in the lamb's book of life. [00:39:33] And I love thinking about God writing every individual's name in his book, picturing each person who would, by faith, receive eternal life. Picturing me, picturing you and him with a huge smile and great satisfaction of heart, writing your name in his book. [00:39:51] Because of the ransom Jesus paid, you have crossed over from death to life. You who were once dead in your trespasses and sins have been set free and made alive in Christ. You are sons and daughters of the kingdom. [00:40:05] God declares that every believer in his son, Jesus, is eternally secure in his family and in his heavenly kingdom. For Jesus says in John chapter ten, no one can ever snatch you from my hand. [00:40:17] I and the father are one. No one can snatch you from our hands. [00:40:23] You are forever safe in his loving embrace. [00:40:29] Romans eight says, nothing or no one can separate you from his love. Nothing in all creation, nothing that you can imagine, nothing that can ever happen to you, no other person in your life, no other circumstance can ever separate you from his love that you have found in Christ. [00:40:46] Hebrews 13 says, he will never leave you or forsake you. There is nothing that you can ever do, where he will turn his back on you or give up on you, for your sins have been paid in full. And now when he looks on you, he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He doesnt even see see your sin. [00:41:04] You are forever his, and he is forever yours, and you have been forever set free. [00:41:12] He who the son sets free, will be free indeed. [00:41:20] This morning, I can't say how God has spoken to you, spoken to your heart. [00:41:26] And the thing that I love about our God is that there's 60 people here, and it's quite possibility he's spoken to each and every one of us in a very unique and personal way. [00:41:38] That's what I want you to take to him. This morning, in our ministry time, we're with a bunch of people. But in the aloneness of your private moment with him, I want you to talk over what it is that you feel like he spoke to you through these four simple verses. [00:41:55] I want you to take that to him. Regardless of where you're at in your life and what's going on in your life, whether it's good or bad, whether you feel like worshiping him in your heart, because of what you have learned about him and who he is, maybe it's a way that you've been struggling with your belief, and you want to take that to him. [00:42:11] Whatever it is, I want you to take that time right now, spend that time with him.