# The Temple Tax - The Gospels

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 6 Mar 2024, 9:47.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/4c387bfe-2659-498f-98b0-b4d60184d85f/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 168. In Capernaum, when asked about paying the temple tax, Jesus used a unique way to provide for it, instructing Peter to find a coin in a fish's mouth to cover both their taxes. Jesus then addressed His disciples' argument about who was the greatest among them, teaching that true greatness comes from being humble and serving others, much like a child's innocence. He emphasized welcoming the humble and cautioned strongly against leading the innocent astray. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: Dear God, thank you for teaching us today what it
[0:12] Speaker 1: takes to be great in your kingdom. When we try
[0:16] Speaker 1: to be the first and feel important, remind us of
[0:19] Speaker 1: your words to be humble like little children. Help us
[0:23] Speaker 1: to find ways today to serve others instead of focusing
[0:26] Speaker 1: on what we think makes us great. Your way is
[0:30] Speaker 1: always better. In Jesus' name, amen.
[0:35] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:38] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[0:42] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[0:46] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests with hands-on crafts and
[0:50] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more. All with a
[0:54] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more
[1:00] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code blessed.
[1:09] Speaker 3: The Temple Tax In our last story, Jesus took Peter, James,
[1:15] Speaker 3: and John and was transfigured on the mountain. A voice
[1:19] Speaker 3: from a bright cloud said, This is my son. Listen
[1:24] Speaker 3: to him. In this story, Peter will pay the tax
[1:28] Speaker 3: with the help of Jesus, and the disciples will argue
[1:31] Speaker 3: over who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,
[1:36] Speaker 3: as inspired by the Gospels.
[1:42] Speaker 1: Hi friends, this is Julianne Thompson, guest hosting for Julia
[1:45] Speaker 1: Jeffress Sadler. Welcome back for another story from the Kids
[1:49] Speaker 1: Bible in a Year podcast. What are those disciples arguing about?
[1:53] Speaker 1: And why do they think they're so great? Well, we're
[1:56] Speaker 1: about to find out. Let's listen in to see what
[1:59] Speaker 1: Jesus has to say about how things work in his
[2:02] Speaker 1: forever kingdom. It just might surprise you.
[2:08] Speaker 3: Jesus and his disciples arrived in the town of Capernaum.
[2:12] Speaker 3: While they were there, the tax collector asked Peter, Does
[2:16] Speaker 3: your teacher pay temple tax? Peter told the man that
[2:20] Speaker 3: Jesus does but Peter was not so sure that Jesus
[2:23] Speaker 3: actually paid the taxes to the temple. Later on that day,
[2:28] Speaker 3: Jesus asked Peter, What do you think? Do kings make
[2:32] Speaker 3: their children pay taxes, or does he make others pay it?
[2:37] Speaker 3: Peter said, He has the others pay, not his children.
[2:41] Speaker 3: He would not have his children need to pay the taxes.
[2:44] Speaker 3: Jesus replied, That is right. The children do not need
[2:48] Speaker 3: to pay taxes anymore. because their father will make sure
[2:51] Speaker 3: that it is covered. This is what you need to
[2:54] Speaker 3: go do. Get on a boat and go out upon
[2:57] Speaker 3: the water. Go out there and catch a fish. When
[3:01] Speaker 3: you catch the fish, there will be a coin in
[3:04] Speaker 3: its mouth. That should be enough for you to pay
[3:07] Speaker 3: my tax and yours as well. As they were continuing traveling,
[3:12] Speaker 3: the disciples were arguing over who was considered to be
[3:15] Speaker 3: the greatest. Jesus asked them, What are you arguing about?
[3:20] Speaker 3: The disciples did not answer because they argued about who
[3:24] Speaker 3: was the greatest. So, when they sat down in the house,
[3:28] Speaker 3: Jesus said, To be first, you must be the last
[3:32] Speaker 3: and serve others. I tell you the truth. You must
[3:37] Speaker 3: change and become like little children. If you don't do this,
[3:41] Speaker 3: you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest
[3:45] Speaker 3: person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who
[3:47] Speaker 3: makes himself humble like this child. He took a child
[3:51] Speaker 3: in his arms and said, If you welcome a child,
[3:55] Speaker 3: you welcome me. If you welcome me, you are welcoming
[3:59] Speaker 3: the one who sent me. Jesus told his disciples, Do
[4:03] Speaker 3: not cause little ones to stumble. It would be better
[4:07] Speaker 3: to be thrown into the ocean with a rock around
[4:09] Speaker 3: your neck than to cause a little one to stumble.
[4:17] Speaker 1: Today's story begins with a tax collector asking Peter if
[4:21] Speaker 1: Jesus paid something called the temple tax. This was a
[4:26] Speaker 1: certain amount of money that every Jewish man had to
[4:29] Speaker 1: pay once a year at the temple. Peter said yes,
[4:33] Speaker 1: but later Jesus asked him an interesting question. Who pays
[4:38] Speaker 1: taxes to the king? His children or strangers? Strangers, of course,
[4:44] Speaker 1: said Peter. He was right. A king would never ask
[4:48] Speaker 1: his children to pay taxes to him because he takes
[4:51] Speaker 1: care of all of his children's needs. In the same way,
[4:56] Speaker 1: Jesus said he belonged to God the Father. And as
[4:59] Speaker 1: God's son, he did not have to pay those taxes.
[5:03] Speaker 1: But because he probably knew that the tax collector would
[5:07] Speaker 1: not understand or argue with that, Jesus provided the money
[5:11] Speaker 1: for his taxes and Peter's. In the mouth of a fish!
[5:17] Speaker 1: And then he continued teaching his friends just what God
[5:20] Speaker 1: thinks about children. The disciples were having an argument over
[5:25] Speaker 1: who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God.
[5:27] Speaker 1: I'll be the greatest. I'll have the best seat. Hmm.
[5:32] Speaker 1: I guess they were all feeling pretty good about themselves.
[5:37] Speaker 1: Jesus sat down to eat with them that night and
[5:39] Speaker 1: gave them a very important lesson about his kingdom. You see,
[5:44] Speaker 1: They were thinking about this all wrong. What they thought
[5:48] Speaker 1: made them great didn't mean much of anything according to Jesus.
[5:53] Speaker 1: He said that instead of wanting to be the first
[5:56] Speaker 1: in line, have the best seat at the table, and
[5:59] Speaker 1: be seen as the most important person in the room,
[6:02] Speaker 1: you should be the last in line. Take the worst
[6:06] Speaker 1: seat at the table and don't think of yourself as
[6:09] Speaker 1: super important. It doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. but
[6:14] Speaker 1: thinking of yourself less. In other words, act like a
[6:18] Speaker 1: small child, humble, trusting, and just happy to know you're
[6:23] Speaker 1: loved by God. And when you do, that is what
[6:28] Speaker 1: will make you the greatest in the kingdom of God.
[6:32] Speaker 1: Let's stop here for a minute and think about this.
[6:35] Speaker 1: If someone were to say, what makes you great? What
[6:38] Speaker 1: would your answer be? Perhaps you would say something like,
[6:43] Speaker 1: I'm great at football. I'm an excellent singer. I have
[6:48] Speaker 1: very good grades. I'm super good looking. I'm a talented artist.
[6:54] Speaker 1: Or I'm the tallest in my class.
[6:57] Speaker 3: If those are.
[6:58] Speaker 1: The things that you think make you great, you aren't
[7:01] Speaker 1: the only one. This world tells us all the time
[7:05] Speaker 1: that we need to be bigger, stronger, and better than
[7:09] Speaker 1: anyone else in order to be seen as important. But
[7:13] Speaker 1: if that's what we think, we need to hear what
[7:16] Speaker 1: Jesus is saying in today's story. Maybe God has given
[7:21] Speaker 1: you gifts and talents, and that's a good thing. You
[7:24] Speaker 1: can use those gifts to bring him glory and bring
[7:27] Speaker 1: joy to others. But those things aren't what make you great.
[7:32] Speaker 1: Do you know what really makes you great? Giving up
[7:35] Speaker 1: your chair when someone doesn't have a place to sit
[7:38] Speaker 1: at lunch. Letting people get in front of you to
[7:41] Speaker 1: get the cookie cake you are craving. Saying a kind
[7:44] Speaker 1: word or compliment to a teacher who is having a
[7:47] Speaker 1: hard day. Doing the dishes for your mom or dad
[7:51] Speaker 1: after a long day. According to Jesus, those are the
[7:56] Speaker 1: kinds of things that make you great in God's kingdom.
[8:00] Speaker 1: Can you think of something else you could do today
[8:02] Speaker 1: that would make you great in God's kingdom? Thanks for
[8:06] Speaker 1: being here and listening to this special lesson from Jesus.
[8:10] Speaker 1: It's so important to hear his words and.
[8:12] Speaker 2: Do what he says.
[8:13] Speaker 1: He is so wise, loving, and kind. Make sure you
[8:18] Speaker 1: come back next time to hear a story about Jesus,
[8:21] Speaker 1: a super rich guy, and some amazing treasures you'll get
[8:25] Speaker 1: one day. And remember, the Bible is the best story
[8:29] Speaker 1: ever told. It's God's story to you, and it's all true.
[8:34] Speaker 1: Can't wait for the next episode. Hit that subscribe button
[8:37] Speaker 1: for Kids Bible in a Year and never miss an
[8:40] Speaker 1: adventure in exploring the Bible. Thanks for listening to Pray.com's
[8:44] Speaker 1: Kids Bible in a Year. For more inspiring stories and
[8:47] Speaker 1: wisdom to last a lifetime, download the Pray.com app for
[8:50] Speaker 1: free today. Thanks for listening to Kids Bible in a Year.
[9:02] Speaker 1: I want to invite our adult listeners to check out
[9:04] Speaker 1: my other show, Unapologetic, God's Truth on Today's Topics. It's unfiltered, important, inspiring,
[9:12] Speaker 1: and we have awesome conversations and amazing guests such as
[9:17] Speaker 1: Candice Cameron Bray, Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Robert Jeffress,
[9:22] Speaker 1: Shannon Bream, Maddie Pruitt, and so many others. We are
[9:27] Speaker 1: helping you have conversations, that empower you to have bold
[9:31] Speaker 1: faith in a broken world. You'll be excited, inspired, and
[9:36] Speaker 1: encouraged in your faith as you check out Unapologetic.
[9:39] Speaker 3: Remember that you can tune in wherever you get your
[9:42] Speaker 3: podcasts and on Pray.com.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.