An Ordinary Man
“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 fist fish you catch; open its mouth and your will find a four –drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” Matthew 17:26b-27
This passage, to me, is such a great snapshot of Jesus’ humanity. Here he is just trying to pay his taxes. We see so few of these fully human moments in the Gospels but the apostles were with Jesus every day. While it is odd to me to think of Jesus as just another tax payer, it kind of helps me see where the people closest to him could still be amazed and surprised by his power. Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. One minute they’re walking along discussing where they will sleep that night and the next minute Jesus is pulling coins from the mouth of a fish or giving someone their sight. For us, the ordinary moments stand out but I wonder if it was the other way around for the disciples.
Lately I have been revisiting an old favorite TV show, Joan of Arcadia. In it a teenage girl has encounters with God, who shows up in various forms. Sometimes it’s a lovely man or woman, sometimes a grumpy one, sometimes a teenage boy or girl and my personal favorite, the seventy year old woman walking around in the body of the cutest little six year old girl. Pleasant or not so much, all the personalities of God have directives for poor Joan. The idea, I suppose, is God as Everyman, suggesting that we never know where He is or what He looks like. The theme song says, “what if God was one of us?” Well, for awhile He was, in the person of Jesus.
That theme song says, “Just a slob like one of us….trying to make his way home.” That’s true isn’t it? And here in Matthew we see Jesus, an ordinary man just trying to pay his taxes. A bit later in the same Gospel we will see the enormous struggle, as Jesus makes his way home. It is bloody and repugnant. It is horrifying but for those of us who believe the message of Jesus’ life and death, horrifyingly beautiful.
What if God were one of us? He’d pay taxes. He’d get mad when people messed up his Dad’s house. (Matthew 21:12-13) He’d weep when his friend died. (John 11:35) He’d delight in the presence of small children. (Luke 18:16) He’d love and comfort his friends. (John 11:38-44, Matthew 8:23-27). God was one of us, right here on Earth for a brief and wonderful time, and He went by the name of Jesus. Perfect Jesus now fully God was then, also, fully human, taxes included.
What if God were one of us? A slob, a poor pitiful human being, with limitations, stressors, relationships good and bad? Well, He was and because He was, we live today and are invited to live forever.
This passage, to me, is such a great snapshot of Jesus’ humanity. Here he is just trying to pay his taxes. We see so few of these fully human moments in the Gospels but the apostles were with Jesus every day. While it is odd to me to think of Jesus as just another tax payer, it kind of helps me see where the people closest to him could still be amazed and surprised by his power. Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. One minute they’re walking along discussing where they will sleep that night and the next minute Jesus is pulling coins from the mouth of a fish or giving someone their sight. For us, the ordinary moments stand out but I wonder if it was the other way around for the disciples.
Lately I have been revisiting an old favorite TV show, Joan of Arcadia. In it a teenage girl has encounters with God, who shows up in various forms. Sometimes it’s a lovely man or woman, sometimes a grumpy one, sometimes a teenage boy or girl and my personal favorite, the seventy year old woman walking around in the body of the cutest little six year old girl. Pleasant or not so much, all the personalities of God have directives for poor Joan. The idea, I suppose, is God as Everyman, suggesting that we never know where He is or what He looks like. The theme song says, “what if God was one of us?” Well, for awhile He was, in the person of Jesus.
That theme song says, “Just a slob like one of us….trying to make his way home.” That’s true isn’t it? And here in Matthew we see Jesus, an ordinary man just trying to pay his taxes. A bit later in the same Gospel we will see the enormous struggle, as Jesus makes his way home. It is bloody and repugnant. It is horrifying but for those of us who believe the message of Jesus’ life and death, horrifyingly beautiful.
What if God were one of us? He’d pay taxes. He’d get mad when people messed up his Dad’s house. (Matthew 21:12-13) He’d weep when his friend died. (John 11:35) He’d delight in the presence of small children. (Luke 18:16) He’d love and comfort his friends. (John 11:38-44, Matthew 8:23-27). God was one of us, right here on Earth for a brief and wonderful time, and He went by the name of Jesus. Perfect Jesus now fully God was then, also, fully human, taxes included.
What if God were one of us? A slob, a poor pitiful human being, with limitations, stressors, relationships good and bad? Well, He was and because He was, we live today and are invited to live forever.
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