19TH MONDAY HOMILY OF ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B

19TH MONDAY HOMILY OF ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: HE IS GOD FOREVER

BY: Fr. Karabari Paul

Ezekiel 1:2-5,24-28, Psalm 148:1-2,11-14, Matthew 17:22-27

“And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute?”

In the Gospel of today (Matthew 17:22-27), when the disciples of Jesus came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma (half-shekel) tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax?

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The question Jesus asks is supremely important to understanding this text. Jesus is asking a question that Peter will immediately know the answer to in order to make a point. So Peter answers, “from others.” It’s obvious that a king’s sons would naturally be exempt from any tax imposed by their father, the king. This is why Jesus follows up then by saying, “then the sons are free.”

Jesus is saying that if they really understood who He was, they would not be asking Him to pay the Temple tax because something greater than the Temple is here. The very God who instituted the tax is in their midst, and their hardened hearts have made them blind to it. So there is a great sense of irony that Israel’s tax collectors would come asking Jesus to pay this Temple tax.

Evidently, Jesus wasn’t with Peter when he wasj approached with that question. But He knew about it. There is something unspeakably solemn in the thought that the Lord Jesus knows all things. There is an eye that sees all our daily conduct; there is an ear that hears all our daily conversations. All things are naked and opened unto His eyes. Hiding is impossible; hypocrisy is useless. We may deceive others, but the Lord sees us through and through. We can not deceive Christ.

We ought to endeavour to make practical use of this truth. Let it be our daily aim to say nothing we would not like Christ to hear and to do nothing we would not like Christ to see. Let us measure every difficult question as to right and wrong by one simple test: “How would I behave if Jesus were standing by my side?” Such a standard is not extravagant and absurd. It is a standard that interferes with no duty or relation of life; it interferes with nothing but sin.

We also see the Lord’s Almighty Power over all creation. He makes a fish His paymaster. He makes a dumb creature bring the tribute money to meet the collector’s demand. We see here the fulfillment of the Psalmist’s words: “You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet: the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:6–8). He who first created could at His will command the obedience of all His creatures. “By him were all things created, by him all things consist” (Col.1:16-18).

It should be noted that if Jesus paid the Temple tax, it means we can not be a good citizen of heaven if we are not a good citizen of the earth. We must maintain harmony and promote government policies that aren’t ungodly. Again, if fish could be His paymaster, it means that when God is involved in your case, even nature can be on your side. This should compel confidence in us and help us to live well. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God bless you and your household always through Christ, our Lord Amen. Good morning.

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