The Miracles Of Jesus (Pt 7) Series

Our first miracle is found only in Matthew.

One pericope or heading is: Miracle Temple Tax in a fishes mouth.

There was an occasion years ago, while fishing with my grandfather, Daddy Mac, on Lake Livingston, that he and my stepfather, wagered a small beat on who could catch the total weight of black bass one morning.

This was when the black bass were schooling on Lake Livingston, so the only stipulation was that the fish couldn’t be shorter than 12”.

My grandfather and I were in one boat, and my stepfather and his son were in another.

It was a particularly light day of catching fish that day, so my grandfather got creative. Before we headed back to the marina, my grandfather decided to load the two largest fish with fishing weights in order to make them weigh more.

We weighed all the fish, and our catch weighed more than their catch.

My stepfather just couldn’t accept that those largest two bass weighed as much as they did, but he reluctantly paid my grandfather the wager.

My grandfather went as far as taking the money from him, before he admitted what we had done!

We all got a big laugh, and as usual, we ate good that night!

Matthew 17:24–27 “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. 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.””

I’d like to break this down just a bit this morning.

This is an unusual miracle, in a couple of ways, but the most glaring is: we don’t actually see the miracle take place.

I know that it did, because Jesus said it would!

But, I still have questions, such as:

If the coin was in the fish’s mouth, how did it not drop the coin, when it took the hook?

Of all the hundreds of fish I have caught over the years, why have none had coins so I could pay my taxes?

Have you ever had a specific financial need and that need was supplied, pretty much to the exact amount?

Apparently, that is what happened here. The coin in the fish’s mouth, was exactly what was needed to satisfy the temple tax.

Depending on the translation, the coin was described as:

shekel

a piece of money

a coin

a 4 drachma coin

a bit of money

By what I can tell, it equalled a little over .50c.

Let me read the NASB version v24.

“Now when they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax, came to Peter and said “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax””?

I had to read read several translations to get it in my thick skull that, the reason the amount in the fish’s mouth was a 4 drachma coin, was that since the tax was two-drachma, the fish had enough for Peter to pay both his tax, and Jesus’ tax.

I’d like to read v25-26 from the NLT, because I didn’t understand the NKJV.

I’ll begin with the NKJV, so we can compare.

Matthew 17:25–26 “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.”

Here’s the NLT:

“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.”

I don’t know about you, but that makes more sense to me!

The Jews were a conquered people at that time weren’t they? Who were the Romans collecting taxes from? The conquered Jews.

This was known as a Temple Tax.

Think about it. This was essentially a “ministry tax”.

It supplied the needs for the priests.

It supplied the needs for the upkeep/maintenance of the Temple.

It paid for the animals used for the general sacrifices.

Also, from some accounts it paid to help the widows.

If you study the outlay of the temple, apparently there were rooms for widows to stay.