The Silver Coin in the Mouth of a Fish. Never Underestimate God!

I’ve recorded a podcast meditation on Matthew 17: 24-27  below (and would love you to listen 🙂

The Silver Coin in the Mouth of a Fish. Never Underestimate God

So the taxman comes for Peter: Does Jesus pay the voluntary,

but expected tax for the upkeep of the grand temple and its

priests (like today’s tithe)? And, as he often does, Jesus asks

Peter what he thinks because, as a friend, he’s interested, and

as a brilliant teacher, he wants Peter to think for himself.

Sons do not pay tax to their fathers, they both agree. Then, Christ,

who repeatedly referred to his powerful body as God’s temple on

earth, decides to pay temple tax anyway to avoid a skandalon, offence.

Christ was unafraid of offending the legalistic Pharisees; he healed

on the Sabbath; he allowed his disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath;

he overturned the tables of profiteering temple moneychangers: brave

stands against legalism, greed, and hardheartedness. However, since

his blazing eyes, which see into our eyes, hearts and souls, saw silver

in a fish, to refuse to pay tax would distract from his message. And,

if we, his followers, must sometimes offend our friends, church, or

community, let’s ensure it’s on spirit-guided, God-directed issues.

And Jesus instructs Peter to cast a line and a hook–as amateur

fishermen did–insulting for a professional with boats and nets.

And Christ again demonstrates that he knows best even in Peter’s

one area of professional expertise. And Christ knows best in our

areas of giftedness. His call often involves working just outside

our zone of competence, forcing us to function with the magic of

God’s spirit and energy. The grain of pride must die for resurrection.

And Peter finds silver in a fish. When you lack the money to fulfil

the dream God has placed in your heart, do not rule out His

wonder-working power. Pray for God’s miraculous provision, or

for Christ’s surprising strategies to create wealth, rather than work

yourself to a breakdown, or manipulate or use others to get money.

Will God tell us, on request, which fish in the multitudinous seas

has swallowed silver? He sometimes might, for he hates waste. But

not always. Tim Keller writes, “People think if God has called

you to something, he’s promising you success. But He might be

calling you to fail to prepare you for something else through the failure.

To work all night and catch nothing, as Peter did, strengthens our

character and endurance so that we are capable of becoming fishers of

humans, and, if God pleases, sometimes, perhaps even fishers of money.