“After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?’ ‘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 sons or from others?’ ‘From others,’ Peter answered. ‘Then the sons are exempt,’ Jesus said to him. ‘But so that we may not offend them, 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.’” (Matthew 17:24-27)
There are times to take a stand even if it means offending people. Jesus did when He went into the Temple and drove the money changers from it.
There are also times to give up your own rights in order to keep from offending people. That’s what Jesus did in the passage above. He had a right to claim exemption from the temple tax, but to keep from offending those responsible for it, He paid it anyway.
I know I have a hard time deciding when it is time to stand and when it is time to give in. I do think there is a clue in the life of Jesus. Jesus gave in when it was His own rights that He had to set aside to keep from offending. Jesus stood firm when it was the rights of others or the principles of God that were being challenged.
But for me, my rights are usually the hardest to give up! Lord, help me to overcome my own selfishness in order to think more highly of others than myself. Help me not to cling to my rights no matter what, but to willingly lay them aside for the sake of others, especially those who do not understand!
Remember, He gave up His rights for you!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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