22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, TheSonof man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:
23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tri- bute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute ?
25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus pre- vented 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?
26 Peter saith unto him, Of stran- gers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up thetish that first cometh up ; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money : that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
These verses contain a circumstance in our Lord's history, which is not recorded by any of the evangelists excepting St. Matthew. A remarkable miracle is worked in order to provide payment of the tribute-money, required for the service of the temple. There are three striking points in the narrative, which deserve attentive observa- tion.
Let us observe, in the first place, our Lord's perfect knowledge of everything that is said and done in this loorld. We are told that those who " recieved tribute-money
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came to Peter and said, Doth not your Masterpay tribute ? He saith, Yes." It was evident that our Lord was not present, when the question was asked and the answer given. And yet no sooner did Peter come into the house than our Lord asked him, " What thinkest thou, Simon ? of whom do the kings of the earth take cus- tom or tribute .?" He showed that He was as well acquainted with the conversation, as if He had been listening or standing by.
There is something unspeakably solemn in the thought that the Lord Jesus knows all things. There is an eye that sees all our daily conduct. There is an ear that hears all our daily words. All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him, with whom we have to do. Concealment is impossible. Hypocrisy is useless. We may deceive ministers. We may impose upon our re- lations and neighbors. But the Lord sees us through and through. We cannot deceive Christ.
We ought to endeavor to make practical use of this truth. We should strive to live as in the Lord's sight, and, like Abraham, to " walk before him." (Gen. xvii. 1.) Let it be our daily aim to say nothing we would not like Christ to hear, and to do nothing we would not like Christ to see. Let us measure every difficult question as to right and wrong by one simple test, ''How would I behave, if Jesus was standing by my side ?" Such a standard is not extravagant and absurd. It is a standard that interferes with no duty or relation of life. It interferes with nothing but sin. Happy is he that tries to realize his Lord's presence, and to do all and say all as unto Christ.