FIRST FISH

FIRST FISH

Matthew 17:24-27 NET

²⁴ After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes — from their sons or from foreigners?” ²⁶ After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

The first verse of today’s text is a good example of how hard it is to translate scripture. Translators want to convey the meaning of the text as they understand it, so they are often tempted to add words that are not in the original text, but they think those words are necessary to explain it.

For example, here is my more literal translation of verse 24:

Matthew 17:24 When they came to Capernaum, the double drachma collectors went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the double drachma?”

When Matthew wrote those words, everyone who read them knew that the double drachma (Greek δίδραχμα) was a toll levied on every Jewish male twenty years or older for the maintenance of the temple in Jerusalem. Matthew did not need to add the word temple or the word tax.

But our modern-day translators struggle with a dilemma. If they leave words like that out of their translation, they run the risk of not saying enough to convey the meaning intended by the original authors of scripture. But if they add too many words of explanation, they could be accused of not being true to what is there.

Since my translation is for my own personal enrichment, I don’t have to worry about adding words to it. I figure that the place to add words is in the exposition of the text, not the translation itself. I am telling you this because this kind of thing – the adding of words to the text to explain the meaning – is a characteristic of every Bible translation – even the ancient ones.

And that is not the only problem you will encounter as you read the text of an English translation. Sometimes you will encounter a word that claims to be a translation of a biblical word, but it is an interpretation – and possibly a wrong interpretation.

The fewer people we have in our churches that are trained in biblical languages, the more this is going to be a problem. Back when our denomination had bible colleges, our clergy had at least an introduction to Hebrew and Greek. That is not the case anymore.

The apostle Paul encouraged his trainee Timothy to make every effort to present himself before God as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately (2 Timothy 2:15). We owe it to the next generation to give them preachers and teachers who can do that.

Now, let’s look at the message of today’s passage. The first thing we see is that Peter is certain that Jesus agreed with paying the temple tax (24-25a).

When the collectors asked Peter whether Jesus was for the tax, Peter immediately answered in the affirmative. This was, after all, the temple of God. Jesus had called God his Father. There was no doubt in Peter’s mind that Jesus was pro-God and therefore pro-temple. The temple tax was a duty that dated back to the Old Testament. Exodus 30:13-16 prescribes this tax as a ransom for each male Israelite and a memorial to make atonement for each life. A rich man was not to pay any more, and a poor man was not to pay any less. Peter had every reason to believe that Jesus intended to pay the double drachma and to affirm that he would.

But when Peter got back to his house and discussed his conversation, Jesus asked him to think about something. Jesus challenged Peter to think about who his master is (25b-26).

Jesus asked Peter whether earthly kings collect taxes from their own sons. Peter hadn’t been thinking in those terms. He was thinking that since Jesus was a Jewish male and a believer in God, he would most certainly want to contribute to the upkeep of the temple by paying the tax.

It was true that Jesus was a human being, born of the house of Israel, and that he was a believer in God. But Peter had been learning that Jesus was a lot more than that. Peter watched as Jesus performed miracles that no man had ever done. He had seen Jesus heal the sick, walk on water, multiply the bread and fish. He had witnessed Jesus raise the dead.

In fact, this chapter begins with the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus brought Peter – along with two other disciples – up to a high mountain and there the three of them saw a vision in which Jesus “was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him.”

Peter – being Peter – immediately got the wrong idea. He thought that the three disciples were there because God wanted them to build three shelters so that they could listen to these three great heroes of the faith. They could take turns going from shelter to shelter to listen to what God wanted to reveal through these three heroes.

Suddenly, a cloud of bright light surrounded them, and they heard the voice of God in the cloud. God did not say “You’re right, Peter, each of these heroes of the faith are equal, and you should pay attention to each of them equally. No, God said “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!”

The message was clear. Jesus is unique among all the people who have ever lived because all other men are God’s servants, but Jesus is God’s one dear Son.

Now, notice how the question that Jesus asked Peter in today’s text relates to that event and that revelation. If the sons of the earthly kings are exempt from their taxes, how much more would God’s one dear Son be exempt from the taxes imposed for the sake of his temple.

What Jesus is establishing is that He had the right to exempt himself from the double drachma, and by extension, he had the right to exclude his disciples from that tax as well. The servants are obligated but the sons are free.

Now, notice something else very important is happening here. After establishing the justification for exempting himself and Peter from the tax, Jesus turns around and commands Peter to pay it.

Peter should pay the tax to not offend the collectors (27a).

The word offend is σκανδαλίζω – to put a trap in the way of someone. If people saw Jesus avoiding the double drachma tax it might lead them to think that the temple was unimportant. That might lead them to think that other things concerning God were unimportant as well. Even though he was free as the Son of God he submitted to God’s plan not to save himself but to save us.

So, having established that Peter should pay the tax, Jesus now commanded that he do so in an unusual miraculous way. He told Peter to go fishing – not with a net but with a hook.

Jesus told Peter the first fish would have the payment (27b).

He said “Go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Note how many miracles would have to happen for Peter to obey that command. Somebody had to lose a coin in the lake. That coin would have to be the exact denomination needed to pay the tax for two people. A fish had to catch that coin in his mouth, but not swallow it. The fish with the coin would have to go to the edge of the beach at the same time Peter went there to catch him. Peter would have to cast the hook in at just the right time to catch that fish. That fish would have to bite that hook at that instant.

Behind all these miracles is another miracle. Jesus had the supernatural omniscience to know that Peter would do all these things and catch that fish to pay that fee.

Matthew only tells this part of the story. We can only assume that Peter was obedient to his master and that all these miracles took place. Some have suggested that he didn’t do it, so the miracle didn’t happen. Some have suggested that the whole story is made up. But I submit to you that the same God who caused a great fish to swallow Jonah would have no problem causing a lesser fish to swallow a coin. There is a lesson here about who Jesus is and I think that lesson is obvious.

But there is also a lesson about who we are. Jesus had previously told his disciples that they needed to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him. Today’s story gives Peter an opportunity to do that. He could have told the tax collectors that he was a disciple of the Son of God, so they could go to someone else for their double drachma. But, instead, he submitted to the tax. Because Peter was obedient to Christ, Christ miraculously provided what he needed to pay the tax.

One implication from this story is that when you and I choose to be obedient to Christ, we open the door to his miraculous provision as well. Our master is watching to see if we are heading to the shed to get our fishing poles. He is watching to see if we will obey his commands in our everyday life. If we choose to disobey him, we have no reason to expect anything from him. But if we dare to obey him, we have every reason to expect miracles to happen.