Paying the temple tax

From today's reading: . . .the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?" He said, "Yes, he does." And when he came home, Jesus asked, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?" When Peter said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the children are free. However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me." Matthew 17:24-27

Today I did some research on the temple tax and verified that it was a head tax on males (age 20-50), collected in Moses' time after a census, but during the time of Jesus it was collected yearly. In our lesson, only Jesus and Peter were shown to pay the tax, resulting in an assumption that the other disciples may have been less than 20 years old. (Something I had not previously considered. I'm not sure it would make a difference one way or another - except it might explain why they sometimes seemed so slow to understand.) The tax was collected ultimately for God, so Jesus is saying that as sons of God, he and Peter are not subject to the tax. But he tells Peter to pay the tax from what is received for catching the fish so they might not give offense. Jesus is saying that even though he does not owe the tax, he will pay it as an example to others. I believe that the witness we are to others is so very important. What is it that we are proclaiming to others? Our actions speak much louder than words and as we walk through this world, people are watching us.