Peter said unto him, Of strangers. Jesus said unto him,
Then are the children free.
All Commentaries on Matthew 17:26 Go To Matthew 17
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
But that we may not. Jesus Christ pays the tribute, not as one subject to the law, but as consulting the infirmity of the people; but he first shows himself exempt from the above example, lest his disciples might take occasion of scandal therefrom. (St. Chrysostom, hom. lix.)
For me and thee. A great mystery this: Jesus Christ paid not only for himself, but for the future representative of Him and his Church, in whom, as chief, the rest were comprised. (St. Augustine, q. ex Nov. Tes. q. lxxv. tom. 4.) Jesus Christ here, as well as on many other occasions, pointedly marks the precedence of Peter, which might give rise to the strife and contention of the disciples, in the commencement of the ensuing chapter, on the subject of superiority. Thus St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, Tirinus
