24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak.“What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
I spent the day today doing something pretty incredible. After a half a day of Homiletics class, the entire TITUS camp loaded up and went to Hackleburg to do disaster relief work. It was awesome to see the kids working so hard to do their part to help out. But for me, the defining moment was after we had loaded up to go home. We were pulling through the wasteland that used to be a town, and I was staring out the window at all the empty lots that used to be someone’s home. Then behind me, a voice started singing. “Savior, He can move the mountains.” Another. “He is mighty to save, He is mighty to save.” And another and another. “Forever, author of salvation.” Pretty soon the entire bus was singing. “He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave.” I couldn’t help but cry, thinking about the enormity of the statement that was being made.
Those are the moments that make things like TITUS Camp wonderful and special. They’re defining moments in our lives.
The only thing is… for every awesome, incredible moment, there are a thousand more filled with the mundane. With the paying of bills and running of errands and driving to work and cooking supper. What I noticed about this, and I guess it’s because I read it on the heels of such an amazing moment, is that Jesus dealt with those mundane moments too. Here he’s having to worry about taxes. But I love the fact that, even something that must have been so incredibly trivial to him, he does the right thing and makes sure not to offend anyone. He takes care not to tarnish his example. (I also love that he threw a little miracle in there, as if to say, “I may be paying these taxes, but I’m still the Lord. Don’t forget it.”)
Great day. Great end of the day reading. Thank you, God, for all the blessings in my life.
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