Peter said to him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Therefore the children are exempt.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 26. 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 shews himself exempt from the above example, lest his disciples might take occasion of scandal therefrom. Saint John 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. Saint 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 Saint Jerome Chrys. Tirinus, and so forth