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Gospel Reading for August 12, 2024 – Matthew 17: 22-27
NOTHING LEFT
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.”
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During Jesus’ time, Jewish males over the age of 20 were required to pay the temple tax of half a shekel of silver (approximately US$1.10 today), which was originally instituted to pay for each person’s sins, but later was for the upkeep and maintenance of the temple and those running it. Nowadays, it is more popularly called Tithing (a tenth), although even during Abraham’s time, they already practiced giving a tenth of their produce as a way of giving back to God the blessings they received from him.
There are those of us who donate large sums of money to the Church but expect to be given special favors; who donate thinking it would exonerate us from our sins; who donate to look good as benefactors; and so on and so forth. Perhaps, when we donate to the Church, to the needy, and to all good causes, we have to go back to Abraham’s time of donating as a way of giving back to God the blessings we have received from him. Even doing volunteer work for the Church or civic organizations that help the poor, or to our communities, are ways of giving back to God the goodness we have received from him. God does not even expect us to give back to him all we have, otherwise, we will have NOTHING LEFT. Jesus himself, Son of the God they worshipped in the Temple, found it right to contribute to the temple tax because he lived on earth.
Teach us Lord, to give, as a way of showing our gratitude to you!
