The Tax-Paying Fish

Ravi Zacharias likes to tell the story of two brothers, known throughout their town as crooked and ruthless in their business dealings. When one of them died, the surviving brother sought out a minister who would be willing to say good things about the dear departed at the funeral.  He told one pastor:

“I will pay you a great sum…if in eulogizing my brother, you will refer to him as ‘a saint.’”

This minister was a man of principle, so he could not speak falsely for carnal gain; but he also knew that he could do some good with the promised funds, so he consented.  With the sanctuary full of those who had been swindled by the brothers and were hoping for some public vindication, the pastor rose to speak:

“The man you see in the coffin was a vile and debauched individual.  He was a liar, a thief, a deceiver, a manipulator, a reprobate, and a hedonist.  He destroyed the fortunes, careers, and lives of countless people in this city, some of whom are here today.  The man did every dirty, rotten, unconscionable thing you can think of.  But compared to his brother here, he was a saint.”               [Can Man Live Without God? pp.136-137, Word Publishing]

Something tells me that the minister in that little anecdote never received a dime from the surviving brother. Ravi's humorous story reminds us that men of principle cannot always do what others desire or expect of them.  

On one occasion, Jesus was asked to pay the temple tax, an amount that each Jewish man was expected to give to support the great Temple of Jerusalem. Here's the way the incident is recounted by Matthew, who, you may recall, was himself a tax collector for the Roman occupiers of Palestine before Jesus called him.

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?”  He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”  Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. [Matthew 17:24-26]

Jesus' point was, since the temple was for the worship of God, our sovereign king, it would not be appropriate to expect the Son of God---God in the flesh, to pay such a tax.

But because he had not yet revealed himself to all as God's Son (his time had not yet come), it would have caused undue offense to those who were collecting the temple tax for Jesus to refuse to pay it. This seems to be something of a predicament. When viewed as a matter of principle, God's Son should not have to pay such a tax, but when viewed as a matter of propriety, he, an observant Jewish man, should fulfill all the requirements of the law, and this one was spelled out in Exodus 30.

So Jesus solved what we've called a predicament in a surprising way. He had a fish pay the tax for both Peter and himself.

Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money, take that and give it to them for Me and you.” [Matthew 17:27]

This is quite amazing when you think about it. Peter was already convinced Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 16:16). But if any doubt had remained, this incident could have removed it.

They were in Capernaum, which was (and is) situated on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  When Jesus told Peter to cast a hook into the sea, he was speaking of that body of water, about thirteen miles long and eight miles wide at its widest point.

Notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter where to cast his line.  He didn’t tell him whether to fish from shore or use a boat. He didn’t tell him how deep to place his line, or what bait to use. But Jesus had already determined that the first fish Peter caught would have a coin----not in its stomach, but in its mouth.  It’s not unheard of for fishermen to discover coins and bottle caps and rings and indigestible bits of plastic in the stomachs of fish, particularly now, as earth’s waterways are filling up with our trash.  But this fish, Jesus said, would have a coin (a stater in the Greek---it may have been about the size of a half dollar) in its mouth, a coin of sufficient value to cover the temple tax for both of them. 

We are not told how the coin got there---dropped by a fisherman and mistaken for food by the fish?  Perhaps it was too large for the fish to swallow. Maybe it became lodged in a gill. Not only did Jesus know there was a fish in the Sea of Galilee with a coin in its mouth, he knew that when Peter cast a line into the sea, that particular fish, of all the fish in that large body of water, would strike the hook.

Furthermore, it's evident that Jesus knew that Peter would be confronted about paying the Temple Tax, and so in advance he preordained the conditions in which it could be paid without violating the principle that a son ought not to be expected to pay a tax to his own father.

It is one minor incident, recorded for us, I believe, only in Matthew's gospel. But it reveals a great deal, not only about the principles of Jesus of Nazareth, but about his wisdom and power and sovereign control over even minor events---the dropping of a coin, the movements of a fish and  the casting of a hook.. 

And if Christ's rule on earth extends to the path of a coin and the course of a fish, then you and I can trust that the events in our lives, even those that may seem minor, are not beyond his control.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will...Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31)

April 15^th is approaching.  I go a-fishing.