17:24 The two drachma tax was a Jewish tax that every male Jew between 20 and 50 years of age had to pay toward the maintenance of the temple and its services (Exod. 30:13). There was no two drachma coin in circulation at this time, so two adults often went together and paid one shekel that was worth four drachmas.683
17:25-26 Jesus turned this inquiry from the tax collector into a teaching situation for Peter and presumably the other disciples. Jesus changed the tax from a religious one to a civil one to make His point clearer. The principle is the same in both cases, but it was easier to illustrate in the civil arena of life.
Jesus' point was that as the sons of kings are exempt from the taxes their fathers impose, so He was exempt from the taxes His Father imposed. He meant the temple tax. The temple really belonged to Jesus (Mal. 3:1). Jesus was teaching Peter the implications of His deity. He was not teaching Peter to fulfill his civic responsibility.
17:27 Even though He was exempt, Jesus would pay the tax because He did not want to offend anyone needlessly (cf. 5:29). Failure to pay the tax would create unnecessary problems. Because Peter was one of Jesus' disciples and one of God's children through faith in Jesus, he also had no obligation to pay the temple tax (cf. 12:1-8). Paul later followed Jesus' example of not giving offense in a similar situation (1 Cor. 8:13; 9:12, 22), as all God's children should.
God had declared Jesus His Son clearly in the Transfiguration (v. 5) as well as at Jesus' baptism. Yet Jesus' glory remained veiled as He moved toward the Cross. This established a pattern for His disciples (cf. 18:1-5). Since the sons of God are exempt from maintaining the temple and its service, the end of this system of worship appeared to be approaching, as it was. Here is another indication that Jesus ended the Mosaic Law (15:11). Again the disciples failed to grasp the major significance of these things until after the Resurrection.
Jesus alone could obtain the stater (shekel) as He did. Again the sinless Man fulfilled the command of the Adamic Covenant to exercise dominion over the fish of the sea (cf. 8:27; 14:25). Even though He was free from the law's demands, being God's Son, He submitted to them and miraculously provided for His disciples to do so. This demonstration of humility and power is even more impressive following as it does an announcement of Jesus' passion. Jesus proceeded to teach His disciples the importance of following the examples that He provided for them in the next section (ch. 18).
