In Matthew 17:1-8 we are shown a miniature of the full manifestation of the kingdom. This chapter presents a contrast. On the one hand there is the kingdom on the mountaintop, and on the other hand there are demons in the valley. This is a picture of today's situation. Sometimes in the church meetings, it seems that we are on the mountaintop enjoying the Lord's transfiguration. But the world and human society are full of demons. We need to exercise our faith and pray, even with fasting, to cast out these demons. Why are there so many demons? The Lord Jesus gave us the reason: it is an unbelieving and perverted generation (Matt. 17:17). Toward God this generation is unbelieving; toward themselves they are perverted. Because of this degraded situation the demons have many opportunities to possess people. We need to realize both sides of this situation. On the one side is the mountaintop with the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus, and on the other side is the plain with the demons. We need to come down from the mountaintop and cast out the demons. Of course, this does not mean that we must cast out every demon, but at least we must cast out some of them. We must release some of the demon-possessed people by prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:14-21).
In Matthew 17:24-27 we have Peter's answer to the poll tax gatherer who inquired if the Lord Jesus paid the temple tax. As we have seen on another occasion (see Christ versus Religion), Peter answered wrongly because this tribute was not paid to the Roman Empire but to the temple. On the mountaintop the Lord Jesus had revealed to Peter that He was the Son of God. The temple belonged to God, and as the Son of God, the Lord Jesus was the Son of the Owner of the temple, and thus had no need to pay tribute. However, Peter had forgotten the vision he received on the mountaintop. He had seen the vision, but when a practical situation arose, he was unable to apply it. When Peter came into the house, the Lord Jesus asked him if the sons of the king needed to pay tribute. Peter then realized that he had answered incorrectly, but the Lord Jesus said, "That we may not stumble them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for Me and you" (Matt. 17:27). If you want to know the details of this incident, read Christ versus Religion. In this chapter I want to point out primarily one matter—in the kingdom life we need to be flexible regarding matters which are not related to morality. In the kingdom we need reality, but we do not need legality. In religion there is no flexibility. For instance, you must observe the Sabbath. With the Lord Jesus, in a sense, it is permissible to pay the tribute and, in another sense, it is permissible not to pay the tribute. By being flexible, we may either pay or not pay.
When I was young, I was bothered by Romans 14 because it seemed that Paul was too liberal about eating and about the keeping of days. Paul said that it was right either to observe a day or not to observe a day. I wanted to ask him, "Brother Paul, which is wrong and which is right?" But Paul said, "He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God" (14:6). To Paul both were acceptable. Could you imagine that a great teacher like Paul had such a liberal attitude in the matter of keeping of days and in the matter of eating? In Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, Paul speaks about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. When I was young, I simply could not reconcile these portions of the Word. In some verses it seemed that he was very strong against eating the idol sacrifices, and in other verses he said that it was permissible to eat. Later on, by experience, I was able to understand Paul's meaning: in some situations, you may not eat sacrifices offered to idols, and in other situations, you may eat them. You need to be flexible, not legal.