Money in a Fish’s Mouth

The Story

Jesus and His disciples had just arrived back in Capernaum when some tax collectors came up to Peter. Every Jewish man was expected to pay a yearly tax to support the temple. “Doth not your master pay tribute?” they asked.

“Yes,” Peter said quickly.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him before he could even bring it up. He asked Peter a question: do kings collect taxes from their own children, or from others? “Of strangers,” Peter answered. “Then are the children free,” Jesus said. The temple was His Father’s house. The Son didn’t owe a tax to it.

But Jesus didn’t want to cause offense. So He gave Peter one of the strangest instructions in the Bible. Go down to the lake. Throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth, and you’ll find a coin. Use it to pay the tax for both of us.

Peter was a fisherman. He usually fished with nets, not a single hook. But he went. And the first fish he pulled up had a coin in its mouth, exactly enough to pay for two.

Reflection