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Have you ever noticed that God works in ways that we rarely expect? It’s His way of reminding us that His ways are not our ways … and His thoughts are not our thoughts.(1) Are you walking through a circumstance in your life today where you are trusting God for an answer? Perhaps you are expecting Him to answer in a certain way … or perhaps you have no idea. Regardless, trust Him to answer in His perfect way … no matter how unexpected it might be. Just ask the fish!
It is not surprising that Matthew, the tax collector, is the only Gospel writer that records this conversation and miracle.(2) The temple tax was a law of God instituted through Moses.(3) It was a required offering given by each male twenty years of age and over for purification. Each man was to annually give half a shekel regardless of whether they were rich or poor. It wasn’t a large sum. It was roughly the equivalent of two days’ wages. The offering was then to be used for the care of the tabernacle, and later the temple.(4)
After Jesus was rejected in Nazareth,(5) Capernaum had become the center of His activities whenever He returned to Galilee. He taught in the local synagogue, so the locals now considered it to be His hometown. As a Jew living in Capernaum, it would have been expected of Him to now pay a tax in that town.
One day, the collectors of the tax came to Peter to inquire about Jesus paying the tax. Though it would have been an appropriate question for them to ask, the way they asked it infers their intent to find “another infraction” with which to accuse Jesus. Peter, who had been paying the tax since he had turned twenty, hastily spoke without thinking … again. He blurted out “yes” without first having asked Jesus. There is a part of me that believes that he did so because he wanted to defend Jesus against another slanderous accusation. Peter’s outbursts were often done with the best intentions, though they were most often ill-conceived.
As he approached Jesus to ask about payment of the tax, he didn’t even have time to get the words out. Jesus already knew what he was going to ask. Let’s pause here for an important truth. There is nothing that we will ever come to ask Jesus that He doesn’t already know. That should never preclude us from asking, but it should give us great confidence. He knows everything that concerns us, and He has truth for our every situation. But He does desire that we ask Him. And He desires that we learn from Peter to ask Him first – before we speak – or before we act.
Jesus walked Peter through an important truth that day that he had not considered – and one we would do well to understand. It is about the notion of “purification”. Remember, this was an offering of purification, and it was given to enable the people of Israel to enter into the presence of a Holy God.
Allow me to add two other terms – justification and sanctification. If we are followers of Jesus, our hearts are purified by faith in Jesus – and Him alone. He has paid the price of our sin debt. He has paid our “temple tax,” if you would. Like justification, it is not a process; it is a one-time act. At the moment of my salvation, God declared me to be purified and justified – to no longer be a sinner, but to be perfectly righteous before His high bar of justice. God credits us with the righteousness of Jesus, by His grace. Then because we are justified (and purified), He is continually working in our lives to “sanctify” us – to conform us more into the image of Jesus through His Holy Spirit.
So the reality is, as Jesus explained to Peter, He did not have to pay the temple tax. He is the Son of the King – and most definitely did not need purification. And Peter was a child of the King by virtue of his faith in the Son – and as Peter would later write, Jesus was about to pay his ransom with His “precious lifeblood” as the Lamb of God.(6)
But as the Son of Man, Jesus did not want to offend the people. Being a Jew, He did not want the people to perceive that He was violating God’s Law. Bear in mind, Jesus had no reluctance to challenge the traditions of men that the Pharisees were placing as burdens on the people. But this was the Father’s Law, and though He knew it did not apply to Him, He also knew that those around Him could not immediately comprehend that truth… even Peter.
So He taught Peter another important truth. We can never use our freedom in Christ to hurt or destroy others. The apostle Paul would later teach the believers living in Rome “to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”(7)
With that in mind, Jesus sent Peter out to make a withdrawal from the first “Fish Bank and Trust Company”. It is significant that Jesus chose to provide the silver coin that was needed through a fish. He had turned five loaves and two fish into a feast for five thousand men. He could have used anything to provide the silver coin that was needed. But He chose a fish. Peter had been fishing all his life. He had probably harvested thousands of fish. And i would venture that not one of them ever had a silver coin in its mouth. But give Peter credit, he never questioned Jesus.
You may recall the day Jesus came to Peter and told him to “Follow Me,” Peter had been fishing all night and hadn’t caught a thing.(8) Jesus told him to go out into the deep water and let down the nets. And when they did, their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! So Peter had already seen enough examples from Jesus to know that He had dominion over all of creation. If Jesus said the silver coin would be in the mouth of the fish – that’s exactly where it would be!
It would be interesting to know the events that our Lord orchestrated for that fish to end up with a coin in its mouth. And how He orchestrated for that one fish to be the first fish that Peter caught that day. We don’t know the details. We rarely do. What we do know is that our Master is able to accomplish His purpose, His plan and even provide the needed resources through any means He chooses.
As you walk with the Master, remember Who He is. He is our Purifier and our Justifier. He is our Savior and our Lord. He is our Provider. He is able to answer anything that concerns us … and probably in the way we least expect. Take it, not only from Matthew, the tax collector … and Peter, the fisherman, but also … from the fish … who i’m sure has quite a story to tell!
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Portions of this post are taken from Walking With The Master, chapter 38, entitled “From The Mouth Of A Fish.” This fourth book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is also available through Amazon in print or for your Kindle or Kindle app. Click HERE for more information on this book.
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(1) Isaiah 55:8-9
(2) Matthew 17:24-27 (NLT)
On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your Teacher pay the Temple tax?” “Yes, He does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?” “They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”
(3) Exodus 30:11-16
(4) Nehemiah 10:32
(5) Luke 4:28-30
(6) 1 Peter 1:18-19
(7) Romans 14:13
(8) Luke 5:2-11
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