Verse 25 Peter's ready answer indicates that it was our Savior's custom to conform to the regulations of society, and to pay all the customary taxes. And yet he knew, in regard to this case, that the service of the temple, which his payment would sustain, had become exceedingly corrupt. The case must be extreme which will justify us in refusing to support any divine institutions, on account of dissatisfaction with the form or manner in which they are temporarily administered.--Prevented him; anticipated him in the question that he was about to ask, by asking one, himself, relating to the subject. The word prevent, which now means to hinder, originally meant to go before,--whether for the purpose of hindering or merely of anticipating. In this case, it evidently means anticipate. For other striking examples of this, see Psalms 88:13,119:147; 1 Thessalonians 4:15.