Jesus and the Temple Tax

Why did Jesus pay the tax? The same reason He was baptised?

He was the Lord of the Temple, and by right He did not need to pay the taxes. Yet He chose to pay to show us that we need not worry of such petty things, God will provide for us. This is highlighted in an elaborate way – going to the sea and fishing and finding just the right coin in the fish to give to the Temple authorities. This again is a response/showing of what Jesus taught on the Beatitude Mount in Matthew 6:33, Seek first the Kingdom of God… and it is His responsibility to provide everything else.

We worry much, myself include, about many things; but worry is not what God has made us for, worry is a result of we trying to work/plan our own lives without God. Even if we have God in our lives, He is relegated to being a passenger in our life and we the driver. Therefore we worry, because we want things to work out, our plans to be successful etc. But if Jesus is the Driver, and we by choice have asked Him to drive our lives; then effectively and consciously we show our trust in Him. We know He is good, and will provide, protect and exalt us, and therefore we will not worry. Worry in the human psyche is a reflex action, to ensure that one is safe and the future secured. But humanity is not given the liberty to know the future, and it always seeks to worry.

As such, today what is your response to Jesus going to be? Are you going to invite Him to drive, take forward your life – and as a mark of your trust in Him, are you going to stop worrying? Open your mind and heart to the Holy Spirit and invite Him to better your relationship with Jesus, and make it one that is confident. Come Holy Spirit.