“As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And they were overwhelmed with grief.
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, ‘What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?’ When he said, ‘From foreigners,’ Jesus said to him, ‘Then the subjects are exempt. But 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.’” (Mt. 17:22-27 NABRE)
Jesus exemplifies humility by submitting to earthly authority in today’s Gospel. Though Jesus is the Lord and has Divine power as God Himself, He submits to earthly authority by paying the temple tax. Jesus is our one, true King, and yet He Himself sought not to offend the kings of the earth.
In the same way, Jesus calls us to live with humility. We are called to submit ourselves to the service of others just as He did.
When we find ourselves in a situation where we feel as though we do not want to submit to the service of another, whether it be our spouse, our boss, child, parent, teacher, or whoever it may be to us, we must remember how Jesus submitted Himself, even to the point of handing His life over for our salvation.
Sometimes we may want to be “right” in a disagreement, we may want to do something as we see fit rather than as we’ve been asked to, or maybe we sometimes feel like too much is being asked of us and we will never be able to satisfy the expectations of others.
Jesus’ example in today’s Gospel reminds us to always approach such situations with humility. We must remember to regard others as more highly than ourselves and to serve them with love and respect. If Jesus, Who is God, submits Himself to others even to the point of death, then we can sacrificially submit ourselves to others too.
And we are not alone in this! Just as Jesus provided the coins for the temple tax in today’s Scripture passage, He will provide us with the graces and strength that we need to commit ourselves to the loving and humble service of everyone in our life.
“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4)
“If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” (Mt. 5:40-42)