Go Fish

Matt 17:22 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. 24 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?" 25 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?" 26 Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. 27 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."

The Son of God IS the Son of God.

That may sound a bit redundant, but the understanding of Who Jesus is seems to dawn on man rather slowly.

Here we have Jesus, once again explaining to His own disciples, (and I emphasize His own,) that He is on His way up to Jerusalem to suffer and die, and yet His own disciples could not seem to either grasp this point or even begin to celebrate it.

The reason seems to be because they heard, “suffer and die,” but did not hear, “and the third day He will be raised up.” Oh, they heard Him say it, but they did not hear Him. They did not fully understand Who He Is. And so they were VERY sorrowful about the thought of His suffering and death because they did not understand the necessity of it according to scripture.

To emphasize the point, Jesus allowed Peter to be placed in a contentious situation regarding the Temple, and the tax congregants were required to pay. Peter was caught in one of those classic ‘Peter-type’ situations, (feeling the need to give an answer when he didn’t have a clue what the answer was.) Ever been there?

“Does YOUR Teacher NOT pay the temple tax?” Peter was asked by those who collected the temple tax. Yikes! What to say here?

Knowing he could not say, “No, my Teacher does not pay the temple tax,” (after all, Peter had never seen Him pay it,) Peter gave the only answer he knew to give – which was to avoid any possible indication of law-breaking or contention and say, “Yes.” (Of course He pays the temple tax. How could He not?)

When he gets back in Jesus’ presence, an amazing thing happens. Jesus begins to speak to Peter about what just happened, (even though He wasn’t there, and even though Peter hadn’t told Him about it.) Now He calls Peter ‘Simon’ once again. The reason is because he has reverted back to his old self.

“Who do kings collect taxes from, strangers, or their sons?” The answer is obvious. Kings do not require their own sons to pay taxes. (Do you now see why you have never seen Jesus pay the temple tax?) (Jesus is saying, “I AM the Son!”)

To emphasize the point even further, Jesus tells Simon the fisherman to go fish.

-Pastor Bill