Taxes for Jesus? ...

Not talking about tithes, they are an opportunity to share in the ministry of redemption with Jesus.  Tithes are asked of your increase (to remind you that you experience increase).  Tithes help you prioritize the value of what is important to you – hint: if money is what is important, you are missing quite a lot.  Then there are offerings.  Offerings are as the base of the word implies, an offer, of your treasure back to God from the free will choice of your heart.  You give to Him whatever you see fit to give.  You are not constrained to any limits of 10%, so no gift from you is too small, or too large.  It is only a reflection of your heart as you give it.  The joy you experience doing that, is a joy you alone can realize, and God alone can share as your heart shines open to Him.  Your gift is never made fun of.  It is never ridiculed.  It is never wasted.  It changes your heart each time you give it.  Repeated giving has a profound effect on you, and if it is accompanied by joy you feel from doing it, even more so.  If you would rather keep your treasure than give it, or giving it makes you angry, the sacrifice is not truly an offering.  Keep it.  Hold on to it; and realize the futility of trying to hold on to something as fleeting as treasure.  Give it; and learn to experience that giving is truly better than receiving, and far better than hoarding.  But tithes and offerings are not anywhere near the category of taxes.

Taxes are non-negotiable.  Taxes are certain (like the death they inevitably represent).  Taxes are imposed usually by governmental, or controlling entities interested in the preservation of power.  Taxes are not part of the system of government of heaven.  In heaven, people will long to find another way to give something more of themselves they have not thought to give already.  Ideas will be exercised full time in trying to give more, and make the lives of someone else in heaven, just a bit happier (as if that was possible).  No one will ask you to.  You will do it, because you cannot bear to do otherwise.  This is how God does it.  When you come in closer harmony with Him, it will rub off on you as well.  So in heaven, there is no need for even the concept of taxation.  But in this world, the devil is duly pleased with implementing as harsh a method of taxes as he can impose.  Taxes are never pleasant, usually wasted, utterly futile, and always too high.  So who could have imagined imposing a system of taxation in the name of Jesus?  Church leadership, that’s who. 

Matthew records an incident in his gospel to the Hebrews in chapter seventeen of just such a thing.  Let us take a second look at it and see what lessons may be hiding in these few verses.  Picking up in verse 24 it begins … “And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?”  Ouch.  To begin, the Temple at Jerusalem was more than just the physical place idealized by the nation as the best place to worship God.  It was also a symbolic seat of power.  What should have been dedicated to God alone, had become corrupted by the politics of trying to run a nation.  Sound familiar?  We need only turn on any news outlet today, and see where the influence of protestant churches attempts to influence the policy of the USA.  Catholics as well, continue to look to influence policies in nations all across the world.  It would seem, Christianity, which should have been a thing left to the pure worship of Christ, has now also become a symbolic power of political influence.

And where there is politics, and where there is power of any kind, there must also be funding to keep it so.  Thus a system of taxation is imposed for the maintenance of the Temple (or at least in theory that what it might be used for).  But then, have you ever known any kind of tax to be used on the thing it is supposed to be used on?  And more likely, have you seen taxes seem to find there way into the pockets of those in power, be they in the church, or out of it.  Here in this system of taxation, yet again the Sanhedrin looks for a way to trip up Jesus.  If Jesus refuses to pay the tax; they will claim He does not care about the upkeep of the Temple.  If He pays it, then He shows humility or deference to the Temple, and by proxy, to them.

Since Capernaum was Peter’s home town, the tax masters approach Peter, hoping to embarrass him when Jesus refuses (or at least that is what they expected).  Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “He saith, Yes. 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?”  Jesus however, had a different lesson to teach.  Instead of focusing on making the tax they asked for, He poses an entirely different question, about ownership.  Jesus divides the audience for tax payers into two camps, the children of the King, and strangers to the King.  He then asks Peter who the King is likely to taxes from, His own children, or total strangers.  Look closely my brothers and sisters, Jesus is here putting you into a classification you might forget you belong to.

Matthew continues in verse 26 saying … “Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.”  Peter responds what common sense calls for, a King would take taxes from strangers, never from His own kids.  Jesus then makes a very profound statement – Then are the children free.  You are not a stranger to your King, He calls you His child, and loves you so, and treats you so.  The children are provided for by the King.  The children eat because the King puts His food on their tables.  They wear the clothes the King has seen fit to dress them with (one day this will include a robe of righteousness none of us deserve, but all of us receive washed clean in the blood of our King).  The children need not concern themselves with how they survive, for the King takes care of ALL these worries.  It would stand to reason then, with our survival insured by our King, we are free to give of ourselves completely, without fear or regret.  To mirror for others what our King chooses to do in the great love of His kids.  Religious taxes are an anachronism we need not be bothered with.  However even free children must concern themselves with helping others come to Jesus to find freedom.

Matthew continues in verse 27 saying … “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”  Jesus ultimately paid the tax (for all of us), not because He needed to, but because He was free to.  Jesus was more interested in trying to find a way to the tax master’s heart, than He was about making a principled stand on why He did not need to pay this tax.  So He creates a miracle, where money, gold that is, is found in a random fish Peter catches in his hometown Sea of Galilee shores.  I imagine something that had never been done before.  The tax masters bear witness to the miracles of Jesus, even though they never asked for a sign.  The tax was still unfair.  But Jesus paid it.  He did not argue, or raise arms, or hold a revolution.  He did not even try to make sure His next church would never be consumed with thinking about these kinds of things again.  He just went the extra mile.  Because He still craved for the soul of those assigned to collect the taxes, and those wicked enough to dream up that system.

Jesus does not check back up on this tax, to see if it was used rightly.  He knows it will likely never be used rightly.  He is intentionally giving funds to those intent on killing Him.  They may wind up converting this gold coin into several silver ones, that one day briefly line the pockets of Judas who will betray Him over it.  That gold coin may instead have found its way into Roman pockets, funding a spear that would one day pierce His side, or a cross He would one day hang upon.  Where His tax money went was STILL not His concern.  The life of the tax master was.  Life was more important than money.  A pathway to the heart more important that asserting His freedom not to pay.  He did what was not required, because His treasure is in hearts reconciled to Himself.  A silly gold coin was not going to get in the way of that.

And where are we today in how we value our money, and our gold?  Have our Christian churches decided we must defend ourselves, in effect, choosing to take on the role of the King, rather than trusting in the King to do what His love demands of Him.  Have we lost trust in our King, choosing to fight to live, rather than trust that our King has our eternal lives in His hands, and our earthly ones as well.  Have we told ourselves it is our “job” to “provide” for our families, and look to our King, only when we don’t believe we have enough money to get the job done.  We fight to hold on to our taxes, to keep as much as we can.  If not from our churches (and some treat tithes and offerings, not much different than taxation), then from our governments.  And we never once consider trying to find pathways to any heart outside of our own.  We develop a spirit of fighting to keep what is rightfully ours.  And in this spirit, we try to keep those other Christians who may disagree with our beliefs, away from us.  We reason we must fight the devil, and since they do not agree, they must be with the devil.  Yet all of us claim to follow Christ.  And there was no fight in Christ, to keep what was His, not even His life.  He gave all, to reach all, to reach me, and you.

Perhaps our churches today, could abandon ideas of influence and power, leaving behind the provinces of Satan.  Perhaps instead we could hone our skills in loving others, trying to give more of ourselves to others, to meeting needs anywhere and everywhere – without fear, or regret.  In this we would enter the provinces of Jesus, and find a King already there, working so hard already, now looking for those of us who are ready to join with Him, in the ministry of finding a pathway to hearts.  Even if that means we lose a few things along the way or give up what should not be required.  At the end of it all, the real treasure, is the treasure of souls.  Gold is nothing but pavement for city streets, worth nothing more than gravel is today.  But the feet that may one day walk on it, are priceless.

 

Misplaced Priorities ...

A magician uses the art of distraction to make the illusion more realistic.  A beautiful assistant, or magic words said at an opportune time, are all meant to draw the eye and allow other actions to remain as concealed as possible.  This is done by intent.  But what happens when the focus is meant to be on one thing, but is drawn to something else no matter what you do?  How frustrating is it, to try to explain something to a friend, and have the friend focused on what you are wearing, or the bird outside the window, anything but on what you are saying?  Imagine the patience of Christ, to attempt to explain to us how salvation works, and have us focused on anything but that topic.  An excellent example of this phenomenon was relayed by Peter to John Mark in his gospel chapter eight.  Most Bible’s rightly classify the first section of verses with the header “the Feeding of the Four Thousand”.  This would be an excellent summation.  It also has the benefit of keeping the event distinct from the prior feeding of the Five Thousand (though both events only seem to count the adult males in the crowd, the women, children, and old folks make greatly inflate the total number of people at both events).

As we begin to read, we expect to see a story about a miraculous feeding of at least Four Thousand men, plus women and children.  Our attention is rightly focused there, as that is exactly what Peter will describe.  But there is far more buried in these verses.  There are several points that are concealed here if anyone just takes the time to look.  We will give these verses a second look and discover perhaps the greatest frustration of Jesus Christ while here on earth working in ministry to save us all.  Peter begins by recalling the facts of this event in verse 1 recounting to John Mark and saying … “In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, [verse 2] I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:”  It is right here.  In the first 2 verses of this section.  Yes, having a large multitude gathering around Jesus is nothing new.  His fame is widespread no matter how He may attempt to conceal the fullness of who He is.  People want to do more than be healed, they want to hear Him speak.  And of course the compassion of Christ to sympathize with our human weaknesses is ever present, so wanting to feed this crowd is not new either.

But the biggest mis-direct, the biggest illusion of these verses, is the focus on the food.  Peter is recalling a gospel, a letter of good news to the readers of his day.  What is completely absent in the story he is relaying, is … “what” Jesus had been saying or preaching for the last 3 days!!  Imagine the sermon it must have been to so captivate the multitude of this size, that no one even thought of food up till now when it was time to go home.  This crowd had fasted almost without knowing it.  This crowd has been so captivated by what Jesus said, that they literally forgot about hunger, and stayed there riveted to listening to Jesus.  They may have slept at night, but there was no thought of supper, or of breakfast when they awoke, they only craved to hear the words that came out of Jesus’ mouth.  And you and I have NONE of them recorded here.  Instead, we are treated to a story of miraculous physical feeding, and completely MISS the 3-day sermon that was so good, no one thought of feeding themselves.  They came to the edge of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus gave them a tutorial on the mission of salvation, but our story remains on the food.

John Mark continues recording the words of Christ to this situation in verse 3 saying … “And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.”  Many of these listeners did not go home during the 3-day sermon because home was a long journey off.  Jesus knew if He released this crowd without feeding them first, they could be overcome by their natural human weakness, and may not make it home again.  From the perspective of Christ this was not just a casual need the crowd had developed it was a critical one.  But despite it all, despite the sermon that so moved a crowd that it would forget its own hunger; and despite the miracles Jesus had performed before, and the miracles the disciples had joined Him in, they still thought of solutions only in human context.  So they respond in verse 4 saying … “And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?”.

Where is the Denny’s out here?  Where is the iHOP?  How do you (Jesus) think you are going to feed a crowd this size, in this place?  Or in other words, you are talking non-sense.  The crowd is just going to have to gut-it-out, go home, and fix food when they get there.  They all knew this would be the case.  They made their decision to stay and listen to Christ without bringing sufficient food with them.  It is their collective fault they are hungry now.  If hunger were so important, they could have simply gone home, and re-located Christ at another time, in another venue.  But here we go again.  The sermon Christ was preaching about was so revolutionary, so radical, so filled with the love of the Father God … that not one of the crowd made the choice to let food or bodily needs supersede listening to Jesus.  What on earth did Jesus say?  Don’t you want to know?  Have you ever been to church and heard a sermon so good, you would be willing to stay there for 3 days to hear more?  Why is Peter telling us about the food, instead of the content of the sermon?

Jesus, as always, does not see human limitations to solve human problems.  He responds in verse 5 saying … “And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. [verse 6] And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.”  Jesus feeds this crowd because He knows their needs, way better than they know them themselves.  But there is more, as there usually always is.  The story continues in verse 7 saying … “And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. [verse 8] So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.”  The bread this crowd ate, could have been all there was, it would have met the basic need.  But Jesus does not just meet our basic needs, He goes well beyond that, and satisfies us as no other love could.  He offers fish to the crowd as well.  And when the meal is ended, Peter recalls how not a single person was still hungry, and left overs were collected throughout the multitude (presumably for the poor as the last event happened).

This section of verses concludes with the logistical details.  John Mark transcribes beginning in verse 9 saying … “And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. [verse 10] And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.”  The crowd was large, and right after this event concludes, Jesus takes his boat to a far corner of the seashore near a place called Dalmanutha.  But the sequence of events is not over yet.  On arrival in the new venue, the Pharisees come to tempt Him, as did Satan in the wilderness, to use His power on something that would benefit Himself.  They intimate, that if Jesus will perform a miracle, they will believe He is the Messiah and the Son of God. 

This is in effect a trade.  You perform, and I will believe.  It is a very similar claim that atheists make with glee today.  If a 50’ Jesus appears at the Superbowl on the 50 yard line, and performs a miracle, “then” the atheist will believe.  But in reality, it is an empty promise.  No miracle, would be believed, because the choice to believe has already been discarded.  A 50’ Jesus would be attributed to special effects in the video control room, or mass hysteria based on a release of hallucinogenic drugs to the crowd if witnessed in person.  The beneficiary of the miracle, would be said to have nothing wrong with them in the first place, and like a beautiful assistant for the magician, just a pawn in the deception offered.  Any miraculous event would be simply explained away using science no matter how absurd the premise must be.  For this is what already happens with the origins of life, and the complexity of our design.  How would another miracle ever trump that one?  The Pharisees had no intention of believing or holding up their end of the solicitation.  And Jesus had no intention of violating the principles of “who” He is, by using His power for a shortcut, or benefiting Himself.

John Mark records the interchange in verse 11 saying … “And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. [verse 12] And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. [verse 13] And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.”  Now keep in mind, Peter has just gone through the trouble of telling us about a miracle of feeding the Four Thousand.  Jesus “could” have simply pointed to what He had already done, and said for the Pharisees to take their evidence of a sign from those actions.  But He does not.  Instead He declares that there will be “no sign” for this generation and then He left this area.  The miracles did not stop after this event.  So Jesus could not have been referring to Himself displaying supernatural acts of love to those in need.  No, this declaration had to have been for something else, for something deeper.  Perhaps, the great “sigh” that Jesus suffered in His Spirit, was due to the mis-direct of the Pharisees, and Peter, and You and I, always focusing on the food, and not the revival of our souls.  Perhaps His frustration, was that after a riveting 3-day sermon, that captivated the crowd, we have only the story of the feeding, not that salvation tutorial.

But there was still more to be learned from this experience.  John Mark continues transcribing the events continuing in verse 14 saying … “Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. [verse 15] And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. [verse 16] And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.”  This had to have been the final straw of frustration for Jesus Christ.  The leaven of the Pharisees, or the additional ideas that came from their interpretations of scriptures, had led them to believe they did not need a Messiah to be saved.  They especially did not need this Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ.  Being leaders in the “right” religion, and having the Bible in its current form, was still NOT enough for these men to be saved.  They were lost, because they rejected Jesus Christ who was right in front of them.  Their interpretations of scripture did not lead them to love others, it led them only to wish to retain power over others.  Are we different?

The leaven of Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, who justified the taking of his brother Phillip’s wife, and while He was willing to embrace the message of John the Baptist, he fell short when the influence of his wife came into conflict with it.  Herod would rely upon the forgiveness, without wishing for the reformation that would change the behavior requiring forgiveness.  Herod, in a different way, would find himself having in common with the Pharisees, the conviction that he could save himself.  He too would not need this Messiah, or any Messiah.  He too, though considering himself a member of the “right” religion, and being a student of scriptures, would not find himself led to love others.  Instead he too, would wish only control over others.  Both groups would “leaven” the bread of salvation, by refusing to love others, or be changed into people who sought only this kind of love.  Yet the disciples missed the entire salvation perspective on this.  They saw only a missing quantity of physical bread.

Jesus responded in perhaps His most frustrated manner saying in verse 17 … “And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? [verse 18] Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? [verse 19] When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. [verse 20] And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. [verse 21] And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?”  These questions go unanswered in this gospel.  Peter recalls these events but does not record how Jesus answered these deeper questions.  Instead he leaves this rebuke as it stands in scripture.  But the rebuke is for us as well.  How do we read the entirety of the life of Christ, and still refuse to be changed into someone who loves others?  We have eyes, ears, and a basic understanding, but we allow ourselves to be misdirected to see the food, instead of the change.

We should be craving the sermon, the words of Christ, that would rivet us to stay at His side for three days and not even think about food.  It should be Jesus asking to feed us, because we forgot the need, rather than fitting Jesus into our schedule and never seeming to have as much time for Him as we do for the restaurants and home cooked meals we enjoy.  We think ourselves devout if we squeeze in a 2-minute prayer before we eat, especially when done in a public place, in front of an audience.  But to consider spending 72 hours at the side of Christ, engaged in loving others and making a difference in their lives with nothing to gain in our own, is a new concept for most of us.  Instead of public prayers of thanks for food we have not yet eaten, perhaps we should be inviting people to join us, that would be truly thankful, because they have not the means to do so on their own.  Then when we ask the Lord to bless our food, He will have already done so.  It is the change of heart we need.  When our hearts are changed by His so great love, living this way, will not be a stretch, it will be natural and normal.  Perhaps then, we can avoid our misplaced priorities …