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He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
Note 1 at Mt 17:25: This is one example of how Jesus "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant...he humbled himself" (Php 2:7-8). Jesus, as Creator (Col 1:16), was not obligated to pay taxes to His creation, yet He did with the explanation that He did not want to offend the tax collectors. This is in stark contrast with Joh 6:61 and Mt 15:12 when Jesus defended His actions that the Pharisees had found offensive.
Here, Jesus gave us the example to submit to civil authority as long as it doesn't contradict God's laws. In the Old Testament, the kings of Israel levied taxes (1Ki 9:15; 2Ch 10:4-18, and 17:10-11), and God also commanded Moses to take a mandatory offering for a ransom of every male in Israel, which was like a tax (Ex 30:12-13 and 2Ch 24:6). The New Testament further establishes submission to government in regard to taxes in Ro 13:6-8. Therefore, Jesus submitted to men's taxes lest He should offend them.
However, when it came to religious laws that had gone beyond God's true intent and had actually changed it, Jesus never compromised, regardless of who was offended (Mt 15:12 with Mr 7:6-13, see note 11 at Joh 6:61). Therefore, we are not to use our liberty in Christ as an occasion to the flesh (Ga 5:13), but we are to hold submission unto God as our number one priority. When man's laws or traditions conflict with God's Word (this usually happens in religion), then we should not obey man but rather God (Ac 4:19 and 5:29). When civil laws contradict God's laws, we can still submit ourselves to every ordinance of man (1Pe 2:13) without obeying their directives. Submission and obedience are not always synonymous.