01/30/2026
Ponder This
January 2026
Restraining Our Liberty
In Matthew 17 we find the following exchange:
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 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? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.[g] Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Reading this recently, I was struck by the beginning of verse 27. Jesus expresses concern about offending the people who were collecting the Temple Tax, just after having told his disciples that they were free of that obligation. Huh? Jesus, concerned about offending others? Consider Matthew 23:1-33. After the tongue-lashing that Jesus gave the Jewish leadership on that occasion, it’s hard to imagine Jesus worrying about offending anyone.
And consider Paul in Acts 16:3. The same Paul, who would not encumber gentile believers (1 Cor. 7:19) with a requirement to be circumcised, had Timothy circumcised so he would not offend the Jews in the towns in which they ministered the Gospel. To leave Timothy un-circumcised would have resulted in a commotion among the Jews, and created a distraction from Paul’s ministry.
So, what can we learn here? Many things I’m sure, but what stands out for me is that we as Christian have many liberties that we are free to exercise, but sometimes willful denial of ourselves those liberties will serve a higher purpose.
1 Corinthians 10:23, 24
