A Fish Story: Christ’s Identification With His People

Uplook – March 2022 — Grace & Truth Magazine

A Fish Story
CHRIST’S IDENTIFICATION WITH HIS PEOPLE

Some of the most profound lessons in the life of Simon Peter, as a disciple of Christ, revolved around fishing (see Lk. 5:1-11; Jn. 21:1-8). He was a fisherman by trade, and the Lord Jesus used what His disciple was familiar with in order to teach Him. In Matthew 17 we get another fish story, but this one involves a hook rather than a net, and the focus is not on the fish as much as what is found in the fish’s mouth – with a wonderful lesson on Christ’s gracious identification with His people.

Another point that will be observed is that the events of this story are triggered by a question from Christ’s enemies to Simon Peter, resulting in a question from Peter that he never actually had a chance to ask the Lord. In response to Peter’s unasked question there is rather a question from the Lord Jesus directed to His perplexed disciple. I know it sounds confusing, but it all becomes clear once we read the story. It is interesting to see the large place that Peter’s questions have in the Gospels. He has lots of questions, and the Lord’s various answers to His disciple’s questions opens up much truth for us. Thank God that Peter asked a lot of questions!

Peter’s questions are an opportunity for the Lord to introduce much New Testament teaching, truth that we hear for the first time. It is not only Peter’s questions through which gospel truth is introduced but also his statements, confessions, failures, perplexities and impulsive mistakes. This is not in any way a criticism of the great apostle. The Spirit of God has recorded these details about the Lord’s servant for our profit. Peter must have been a very large-hearted, warm-hearted and personable man to whom people would have been immediately attracted. And, I am convinced he would be happy for us to learn from his many questions and mistakes.

Does Your Teacher Pay?
The account which we are about to explore is found in Matthew 17:24-27. Let’s take a moment to read the passage (NKJV).

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.”

This story, with Simon Peter as the central figure, concerns the subject of the temple tax. The temple officials questioned Peter, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” The religious authorities in Israel would sometimes ask the disciples questions in an attempt to attack Christ indirectly. This was one of those occasions.

Peter, anxious for his Lord to be seen as a good Jew, responded hastily to their question with a robust, “Yes.” The reality however was that he really did not know the answer. He answered in the affirmative probably because he didn’t want his Lord to appear in a bad light. Peter did not have to wait long to find out the right answer. Christ knew Peter’s thoughts and what had transpired between him and the religious leaders.

Peter could not wait to get the Lord alone to ask Him if He paid temple tax. But coming into the house together, even before Peter could say anything, the Lord “anticipated him,” meaning as we say in English, “He beat Peter to the punch.” As the omniscient Lord He knew all things. Before Peter asked his question, Christ asked it for him, “From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter correctly answered, “From strangers.” Generally it was Peter who asked the questions, but now it was Christ who was doing the asking. The Lord’s explanation was, “Then the sons are free.” But in order not to offend the others, the Lord Jesus pretty much added, “Peter, you need to go fishing.” He directed Peter to “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 for you.”

The Sons Are Free
The implication of all this is as clear as it is profound. Christ, the Son of the great King (5:35), identified Peter with Himself as a son. Then Christ, the Lord of creation, provided the exact amount for the temple tax from the mouth of a fish. We saw the Lord’s omniscience in that He knew Simon Peter’s thoughts (17:25), but here we see His omnipotence in that He could provide a fish with a coin in its mouth. In fact the value of the coin was exactly the right amount* to pay this tax for two people! He knew where to find a fish with money in its mouth; the right amount for two people; and beyond this, He miraculously directed the fish to Peter’s hook.

Christ marvelously and graciously identified Himself with Peter in this story, saying, “for Me and you” (v.27). This lesson was not for Peter alone but for us as well. We are sons (Gal. 3:26) and we are free! He is the firstborn Son and He makes us sons by the Spirit of adoption (4:5-6; Eph. 1:5; consider Rom. 8:29). So even before He transforms us into His image in resurrection, we are presently identified with Him: “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 Jn. 4:17). Wonderful truth!

There is yet another important lesson for us: we are to use our liberty for the glory of the Lord. The Lord Jesus told Peter that the “sons are free” (Mt. 17:26) from paying the tax. The sons are free because God is their Father. In monarchies kings do not charge their children tax. But Christ adds an important statement: “Lest we offend them” (v.27). In other words, even though we are free we should be careful not to offend the authorities of the world. Peter would later write about this in his first epistle, saying that when it comes to the authorities of this world we have liberty, but we should submit ourselves “to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake … as free, yet not using our liberty as a cloak” for sin (1 Pet. 2:13,16; see also Rom. 13:1-7; Ti. 3:1).

For Me and You
This story of the coin in the mouth of the fish is unique to Matthew. An interesting theme of Matthew is how the Lord desires to identify Himself with us. In this gospel we see Christ “with us” as God (1:23), yoked together with us as Teacher (11:29-30), in our “midst” when gathering in His name (18:20), and “with you always … to the end of the age” as the risen Lord (28:20). This emphasis can be clearly seen in the passage we have been looking at as we recall Christ’s words to Peter: “for Me and you” (17:27).

Summing up this unique and interesting experience in the life of Peter we conclude with the Lord being transfigured on the mountain (vv.1-8). There we see Moses and Elijah appearing with the Lord in glory. What a picture of the future of the believer when we will appear with the Lord in the glory of His kingdom (2 Pet. 1:16-18; Col. 3:4). Thus in bringing the two accounts together we learn that the Lord will associate us with Himself in the glory, and with the story of the coin in the mouth of the fish, we see the Lord identifying Himself with us in our situation down here. Whether now or in the future glory, the Lord Jesus associates us with Himself – what grace! For Me and you!

ENDNOTE
* This was not the tax paid to Rome but was the tribute money every Jew over 20 years old had to pay. It was the “half-shekel” which can be traced to Exodus 30:13-14, the “ransom” money or the “shekel of the sanctuary.” It was used in Christ’s day for the upkeep of the temple. The single coin found in the mouth of the fish, according to the Darby Bible, was valued at two didrachmas or one stater. It was equivalent to one shekel, and since the temple tax was a half-shekel for one person then the coin covered the tax for two people.

By Brian Reynolds

Although the Lord Jesus has been seen to forgo His own rights – He who is by right infinitely great – the disciples showed the opposite attitude in desiring some rights above those of others in the kingdom. This is evident in their question as to who is greater in the kingdom (Mt. 18:1). They all needed the object lesson the Lord gave them. Calling a little child, who obediently came, He virtually told them that one who desired greatness would not even enter the kingdom, let alone be great in it. They must be converted, their attitude changed from one of self-seeking to one of lowly dependence, as a little child depends on its parents rather then seeking to rule its parents.

An attitude of voluntary humbling of oneself as a little child therefore would constitute one greater in the kingdom of heaven. This is not the kind of greatness they were thinking of, but it is what God considers greatness in spiritual character. He added to this that whoever received such a little child in His name would be receiving Him (v.5). This consideration of the weak and dependent is an indication of what one’s true thoughts are toward Christ. —Leslie Grant, Comments On Matthew, adapted.