In this one, we unpack one of Jesus' timeless demonstrations of Sovereinty over earth's resources as the perfect man when He wowed Peter in his own game; the fishing business.
Matthew 17:24-27: ""After Jesus and His disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, 'Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?' 'Yes, He does,' he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was first to speak. 'What do you think. Simon?' He asked. 'From whom do the kings of the earth collect duties and taxes-from their own children or from others?' 'From others,' Peter answered. 'Then the children are exempt,' Jesus said to him. But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line, Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours." - Sometimes, all we need to do is take a break and just observe all these power moves by Jesus Christ!
Before getting into the meat of this digest, I'd like to comment on an outright injustice that has even been plainly revealed by Jesus Christ concerning the religious organizations of His day - even today's religious organizations. This is the fact that the temple keepers actually collect tax from the people who enter the temple - having to pay tax in order to enter an environment where they obtain spiritual nourishment! The local Church at my place also does this; only labelling it with what I believe is a less conspicuous term: membership fee. I mean; take the instance of someone who has barely [or even not yet] experienced the joy of salvation which is in fact a free gift from Jesus Christ and then he [or she] becomes obligated to affirm his [or her] commitment to a denomination by paying a fee. I mean, isn't Kingdom citizenship [not denomination "membership" but Kingdom "citizenship"] primarily a heart affair whereby we first invite people's hearts into God's house so that they subsequently serve from a point of willingness and not obligation? Isn't the heart supposed to come before the money?
Anyway, getting back to the main message; we should first recognize that Jesus specifically sent Peter to collect money from an actual fish. At this, Jesus had perceived beforehand that the man still carried around his fishing line to serve as a contingency plan in case things didn't go as desired with the Lord's ministry which Peter had committed himself to [This was bound to happen at some point as Peter eventually backslid into his boat after betraying Jesus Christ on the fateful night of His arrest and subsequent persecution - John 21:3-6. It's marvelous how Jesus returned to the sea just to lift Peter up from the very pit he'd fallen back into; sealing it with a second miraculous fish catch]. In this case, we need to appreciate how well-aware Jesus Christ always was such that He knew and dealt with each person in a manner that He could be able to get the best out of every situation with everyone; especially Peter. This was Him demonstrating the wisdom which He Himself also encouraged us as believers to employ [Matt 10:16]. With Jesus' perception of Peter's doubt about destiny, He didn't turn to rebuke the man but rather; Jesus' used the opportunity to reveal to Peter something unheard-of about fishing: that with the Lord on his side, Peter wasn't meant to go fishing just to eat or trade for a wage; but to demonstrate a more outstanding gift of unlocking supernatural provision from an otherwise natural venture. I mean; the man actually found four drachma lying in waiting within the fish's mouth! How about this for extravagance; and what better occasion would have existed for Jesus to reveal this mystery to Peter!
Anyway, I think we might have missed the joke but the point is this: we need to understand just how big our Lord thinks. While one of us might be out there faithfully working a job for a wage; the Lord is there as well with a better deal: to help us realize more from our labors. In this case, just like Peter, who through Spiritual backing from Jesus Christ was able to make extra money in his regular fishing job; you and I can be able to do the same. We all have innate gifts built into us by our Maker, Jesus Christ, that are able to take us well-beyond the set limits of our acquired abilities which are mostly academic in nature. In this case, academic or any kind of informal training; just like Peter's fishing skills did; affords us a platform through which the Lord is able empower us beyond finite human reach. This makes what we learn on earth just as important as it helps refine the gifts which have been built into us by the Lord. In this case; your gift in baking, singing, painting, dancing, sport, problem-solving, etc has been put inside of you with a reason: to enable you add a unique dimension to your profession so that you are able to be more than just a laborer working for a wage. Some are meant to be Godly policy makers in government using a Law degree as their fishing line; others Christ-empowered business moguls working towards sponsoring God's agenda on earth, some born-again school and hospital owners and others Godly mentors in different kinds of profession which collectively serve critical functions all around the world. We only need to be humble enough to draw a lesson from Peter's fishing career as Jesus transformed him from being a fisherman (earning meager wage) to a fisher of men (influencing men's lives worldwide with God's culture while not lacking any necessity in life).
This is what it means to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. We have been tasked as believers to approach our individual market places or career fields with the goal of influencing others with the better way; not just making daily wage. I mean; the reward that comes from spiritual influence far-outdoes that of physical labor. Even take a look at the big names in politics, music, sport, business, medicine, etc - talent, skill and physical ability have only done so much for many promising figures who never had a chance to dominate the worldly state. Statistics don't lie! Of the numerous lessons we can learn from this encounter Peter had with the Lord; I believe this one stands out as being the most critical; as we can all equally relate to it.
On the other hand, another critical lesson from Peter's encounter with the Lord is that we can never hide anything from the Lord; no matter how shrewd we may try to be. He knows that I trust more in my ability to save up some money from the job in order to purchase a piece of land in a few years' time just like you trust more in your cake-baking skills' ability to draw the best client list around town than we do trust in His unmatched ability to prosper us beyond our human skills. His thoughts are higher than ours and His ways above ours just as heaven is above earth. He is willing to provide us with unexpected streams of wealth - even at our workplace - just like He did with Peter if we are willing to walk faithfully with Him; submitting every aspect of our lives to His counsel. He doesn't just want your tithe and two hours of mourning on a sunny Sunday morning (as unfavorable weather is usually an excuse for many of us skipping time with God); He wants your entire life to be submitted to His will across every day of your existence which is His anyway. He enables you to learn, work, rest, socialize, feed, watch, and so on and so forth. In other words, it's okay to walk around with that fishing line (school certificate, work license etc) at least until the time when we are able to do without it because life is all about striking perfect reason and good balance: only submit your usage of the fishing line to the Lord as well; do not allow the fishing line to be the means to your end (your god). Stay blessed!
