Matthew 17:26 Commentary and Bible Study

As soon as Christ asks the question, Peters gets the point. It is clear from Christ’s following words that Peter has seen the implication: ‘Then are the children free.’ It refers only to him, the Messiah. He is the Son of the living God. It would be completely inappropriate for the incarnate Son to have to pay a tax which would imply he was outside the divine family and not the eternal Son, loved by the Father. Honour to whom honour is due. All things are rightly ordered in the kingdom of heaven. Always the Lord was aware of his status, however slow others were to understand this. Peter should have seen this and therefore there is a gentle tone of correction in this encounter, but now he sees the point and his mind is eased. This is the answer that he would have liked to have given. He was instinctively aware as a believer that it was incongruous for Christ to have to pay the tax like another other Israelite man. After all, the disciples had already heard him, referring to himself, say, ‘In this place is one greater than the temple’ (Matthew 12:6). Nevertheless, there is a further factor to take into account.