First, we are subjects, citizens, and sons of God 

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081318.cfm
Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28
Matthew 17:22-27

We often hear about the obedience of Jesus paying for the Temple Tax with found coins supplied from the mouth of a fish as a sign of his respect for authority. On the surface that sounds kind of logical, I guess. 

Jesus tells Peter:

“That we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up. 
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”

A straightforward tale of duty and how we should pay our tax. Temple tax is due, so get it out of the sea from the mouth of a fish. Gotta pay our taxes, and that’s how we do it. Oysters deliver pearls, and fish deliver drachmas. 

Scripture may be properly considered as a fruitful manual regarding our responsibilities, but the weirdness of its instructions beg us to reconsider simplicity. There are lots of attitudinal instructions around humility and deference to authorities, which presumes our need to be dutiful. Sure, that’s true. Nothing, however, is black and white when we involve fish as a cash register.

We might get philosophical about this scripture and say, in essence, we are planets circling in an orbit around the sun. The path is there, and we are hitched to the pull of gravity. The deferential role we play in life comes with rules and connections to others with authority over us. 

Orbits, though, do not come with much wiggle room. Nonetheless, Jesus juggles orbits like a showman. He doesn't point out our orbital path. He reminds us who created gravity in the first place. 

The tax collectors ask Peter, “Does not your teacher pay the Temple tax?” That’s a loaded question. It’s got a familiar ring to it. “Have you stopped beating your wife?” In fact, the Temple tax was originally voluntary. Just like our Income Tax, it became a budgetary necessity. “Are you going to pay that now or later with penalties and fees?”

Jesus is not present when the tax collectors approach Peter. Peter answers, “Yes.” Peter assumes that Jesus will pay the tax. The deference to the authorities actually comes from Peter. So, why have we been conditioned to believe the entire scene of the Temple tax is in place to describe our need to pay our taxes? Well, we are planets in a governmental solar system. The government sits in authority as its gravitational center. The government is, in effect, the sun and we twirl and spin around it tied into a cosmic Merry-go-round. Peter considered that Jesus also has orbital boundaries.

So, Peter immediately responds, “Yes,” leaving no room for a discussion, and then heads off to see Jesus. The tax collectors may well have asked, “Does Jesus stand at the playing of the national anthem?” Peter would have responded, “Of course he does. Let me go get him and I'll show you.” 

Folks, that’s the end of any deferential fealty to authority right there. It's Peter who is deferential. Jesus has a lesson on orbital control for Peter that's going to involve fish.

Peter then walks into the house where Jesus is staying. Before Peter even has time to report to Jesus that the tax collectors have come Jesus presents Peter with a celestial planet and sun question. He’s either been eavesdropping or he’s Jesus Christ — capable of knowing Peter’s thoughts, and pretty much everybody else too.

“What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?"

That line “From their subjects or from foreigners” completely changes the actual authority analogy of this story. Subjects and foreigners differ regarding Temple tax. Subjects to the local king in Jerusalem’s solar system do not pay the tax. Peter correctly answers Jesus questions, “From foreigners.” 

Some bible translations prefer the Greek to describe subjects and foreigners as the King’s “own people” and the “people they have conquered.” Citizens are different from the conquered. Other translations use sons and strangers. “Then, the citizens, the sons, and the subjects are free from the tax,” would be a broader reading of the text we hear next.

“Then,” Jesus said, “the subjects are exempt.”

Why does he put it that way? Why doesn’t he say, “The Foreigners must pay their tax.” If this is a pay your taxes scripture that would substantiate financial fealty. Jesus would firmly point out the need for he and his followers to pay their tax. Not so simple, though. Jesus is heading in another direction than paying governmental taxes.

The Jews are obviously foreigners in the world of the Roman King. So, it may be that Peter believes since the Jews are foreigners they should pay the tax. Jesus, however, appropriately identifies the Temple tax as a religious system of authority. The King of the land has no jurisdiction over the Temple. The King of the temple has jurisdiction. The Temple is a Jewish house. It is, in truth, the house of Jesus’ Father. And, Jesus is the Son of the Father, the newborn King. Jesus, and his followers are "subjects," then, not foreigners.

In every choice of translation, whether subjects or citizens or sons the reference point for Jesus is that he is exempt from this tax because of who he is. We could justifiably say that Jesus told Peter, then, “The Son of the Father, the citizens of this Temple, and the subjects of the King are exempt from this tax.”

I find that when a scriptural translation is all over the map regarding scholars and their choices of word definitions we have some work to do as followers of Jesus Christ. We can surely take the shorter road and decide that paying our taxes has biblical support. Or, we allow the interactive nature of Jesus’ articulation to awaken us. We let all our senses be touched by the Holy Spirit.

In this story we’ve got tax collectors with their hands out; Jesus identified as a teacher; an ancient Temple tax originating from Moses morphed into an opportunity to trick Jesus; a multi-colored description of sons and fathers, subjects and foreigners, and citizens and conquered people; a fish caught by Peter acting as an ATM; and an admonition that Peter pay the tax for both he and Jesus so as not to offend some tax collectors. 

“But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.”

The intrigue never stops. “That we may not offend them,” Jesus says. When has that ever stopped Jesus? He told a woman who begged for food that she was like a dog. He described the Pharisees -- to their faces mind you -- that they were serpents. He called Peter, his closest ally, that he was Satan himself. In what strange circumstance is Jesus deciding not to be offensive?

There’s a part of me who finds Jesus’ tax payment from the mouth of a fish as pretty darn offensive. “Here’s your stinkin’ tax. Your money bag is going to smell like carp for a week.”

I dunno. Maybe it’s just me. 

The emotional range of this one scene includes snarky challenges, defensive postures, and prankster antics. It certainly requires more attention than paying our taxes. The interchanges include questions about politics, religion, finances and fealty. There is confrontation, juridical discussion, odd fishing experiences, and eavesdropping intrigue.

There’s more here than citizenry in a tax-infested world. This scripture attacks, rather than tells. It meets us head on, involving the ear and eye and nose and taste buds.

Jesus is way more fun, and certainly more interesting than anybody else. We are free, he tells us over and over, because he is the chosen one sent by God, the primary authority of all creation. So, should we pay our taxes or not? Probably, we should. I don’t think we should worry that listening to Jesus will ruin our proper role as good and faithful citizens. That's not Jesus' point. These rule following governmental expectations as citizens are simply not more important than Jesus and his Father. Regarding fealty, we take our direction from God.

Jesus is exempt from the notions of a Temple tax, a tithe on the citizenry of the Kingdom of God. So as not to offend, go ahead and pay your tax. Jesus clearly says what we should do because he is our King. We because we belong to him. And, remarkably, he will provide for us. We just have to know what our personal fishing implements will be. To know what we should do, pay attention to God's leading.

Following Jesus will have its challenges, and may even get us in trouble with folks who don’t like the idea of him. This fish story, however, tells me that Jesus will go to great lengths to flatten out the speed bumps and make us laugh while the world is offended by our association to him.