He said, “Yes, he pays.” And when he entered the house, Jesus spoke to him first and said, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tax or tribute, from their sons or from strangers?”
Peter perhaps answers the tax collectors without thinking, saying that Jesus pays the temple tax; but when he enters the house, Jesus speaks first, without Peter having raised the matter, showing his omniscience. He gives Peter a rhetorical question, drawing a connection between earthly kings and their sons. Next, Jesus will finish his explanation on this occasion.