Should we pay taxes? Matthew 17, Blog through the Bible Project

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

 ²² When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. ²³ They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

The Temple Tax

 ²⁴ After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

The Brothers Become Brothers, Gen. 44, Day 54, Feb 23, Blog Through the Bible Project.

Peter Von Cornelius

People do grow and change. In the process of maturation is hope for our world.

Genesis 44

A Silver Cup in a Sack

 ¹ Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. ² Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.

 ³ As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. ⁴ They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? ⁵ Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’”

Joseph is human, after all. Is he exacting a tiny bit of revenge here?

 ⁶ When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. ⁷ But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! ⁸ We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? ⁹ If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

 ¹⁰ “Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”

 ¹¹ Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. ¹² Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

 ¹⁴ Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 

Fulfilling his dream.

¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?”

 ¹⁶ “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

 ¹⁷ But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”

He is testing his brothers to see if they have become brothers.

 ¹⁸ Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

 ²¹ “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’ ²² And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ ²³ But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ ²⁴ When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.

 ²⁵ “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’ ²⁶ But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

 ²⁷ “Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’

 ³⁰ “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, ³¹ sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. ³² Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’

 ³³ “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. ³⁴ How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”

The brothers have grown, they have matured. They are now men of conscience and kindness. Judah, in particular, shows why his tribe was Israel’s preeminent tribe, and why he was chosen to be an ancestor of the Messiah.

Conscience-stricken over the grief the selling of Joseph brought Jacob, Judah offers himself in stead of Benjamin–as centuries later, Jesus will offer himself as a willing victim in our stead. Judah’s character has significantly changed from the man who suggested selling Joseph into slavery, uncaring of the emotional effect this would have on Jacob.

The Lord is my Shield. Psalm 18, Day 53, Feb 22, Blog Through the Bible Project

Psalm 18

 For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

 ¹ I love you, LORD, my strength.

The opening verses sum up the theme of the Psalms, that David has found the Lord a reliable defender against his enemies.

 ² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

   my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

   my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
David describes the protection to be found in God in many images–God is his rock, on which he is firmly grounded, a fortress or stronghold of protection, a shield, a deliverer.
NIV. 
Rock, a common poetic metaphor for God was particularly appropriate to David’s experience for the Lord was his true security.

 ³ I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,

   and I have been saved from my enemies.

⁴ The cords of death entangled me;

   the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁵ The cords of the grave coiled around me;

   the snares of death confronted me.

 ⁶ In my distress I called to the LORD;

   I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

   my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷ The earth trembled and quaked,

   and the foundations of the mountains shook;

   they trembled because he was angry.

⁸ Smoke rose from his nostrils;

   consuming fire came from his mouth,

   burning coals blazed out of it.

⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;

   dark clouds were under his feet.

¹⁰ He mounted the cherubim and flew;

   he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

   the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹² Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

   with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

¹³ The LORD thundered from heaven;

   the voice of the Most High resounded.^d]”>[d]

¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

   with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed

   and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, LORD,

   at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
The turning point for David, as for many of God’s people through the ages was this: In this distress, he called to the Lord. And the Lord comes to his assistance, in a fearsome theophany

 ¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

   he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

   from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

   but the LORD was my support.

¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;

   he rescued me because he delighted in me.
God’s unexpected protection that astounds you when you experience it. 
The opposite of being hemmed in by threats and dangers.

 ²⁰ The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

   according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD;

   I am not guilty of turning from my God.

²² All his laws are before me;

   I have not turned away from his decrees.

²³ I have been blameless before him

   and have kept myself from sin.

²⁴ The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

   according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
This is generally the way God deals with his people.

 ²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

   to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁶ to the pure you show yourself pure,

   but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷ You save the humble

   but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
This eventually proves true.

²⁸ You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
God helps David’s life and undertakings to flourish.

   my God turns my darkness into light.

²⁹ With your help I can advance against a troop;

   with my God I can scale a wall.
How can we know this is true? We act with the confidence that God is with us. And if what we are doing is the right thing, in accordance with his will, then, of course, he is.

 ³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect:

   The LORD’s word is flawless;

   he shields all who take refuge in him.

³¹ For who is God besides the LORD?

   And who is the Rock except our God?

³² It is God who arms me with strength

   and keeps my way secure.

³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

   he causes me to stand on the heights.

³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;

   my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵ You make your saving help my shield,

   and your right hand sustains me;

   your help has made me great.

³⁶ You provide a broad path for my feet,

   so that my ankles do not give way.
Having had a life-changing (in terms of loss of fitness) serious ankle sprain, this is something I often pray.

 ³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

   I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;

   they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;

   you humbled my adversaries before me.

⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

   and I destroyed my foes.

⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—

   to the LORD, but he did not answer.

⁴² I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

   I trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

   you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

 ⁴⁴ foreigners cower before me;

   as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

⁴⁵ They all lose heart;

   they come trembling from their strongholds.

 ⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!

   Exalted be God my Savior!

⁴⁷ He is the God who avenges me,

   who subdues nations under me,

 ⁴⁸ who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

   from a violent man you rescued me.

⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations;

   I will sing the praises of your name.

 ⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories;

   he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

   to David and to his descendants forever.
NIV note–What David claims in this grand conclusion, and indeed in the whole psalm has been and is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ, David’s great descendant.