We can relate to the necessity of the temple tax for maintenance of the place of worship as we do today for our churches. God’s provisions for expenses of the buildings, staff, and upkeep rely on our tithes today. Our gifts back to God for the church.
In this story, Christ sets the example of paying the tax as a witness to the tax collectors. The temple is His temple (God), but at that time the collectors would have never understood. I wonder if Peter even caught the whole story either.
So Jesus made the decision to “give back to Himself” as any other person responsible in paying the tax. He states, “we don’t want to offend them”. Have you ever considered your witness to an unbeliever with how you pay your tithes to the church? Do you keep a possible boast to yourself and let God see your heart silently?
Now to the fish story…..I have to think that Peter was more than wondering of the possibilities of finding money stuck in a fish’s mouth. However, he was with Jesus many times before of seeing miracles, so maybe he didn’t give it a second thought. What about you? Remember just before this time in chapter 17, Peter, James, and John had just experienced the transfiguration and the voice of God saying, “This (Jesus) is my beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him”.
Part of this lesson springs into Jesus teaching of who is going to be the greatest in God’s Kingdom. Do you think that in the minds of His disciples that they wanted to hear their name mentioned? Rather he taught by example of using a child. What do you think of Jesus (harsh) statement that unless you are converted and become like a child you WILL not get into heaven. Some meditation on this gives way to prayer about how we are living out our faith. Perhaps the message here is HUMILITY. If we welcome others (a child) on my behalf you are welcoming me.