Chapter 18
Miracle of the Coin
The Reading: Matthew 17:24-27
The Problem:
In Jesus’ day, Jews paid taxes both to the Jewish temple as well as to the pagan government in Rome. The temple tax was a fee charged once a year to every Jewish man over 20, and was used for the maintenance and upkeep of the temple (Exodus 30:13-16, 2 Kings 12:5-17, Nehemiah 10:32-33). The amount owed by each man was a half-shekel, roughly equivalent to two days’ wages at that time.
Faithful Jewish men always paid the tax every year, while others (like today) always looked for ways to escape the responsibility. Rabbis were exempt from paying this tax, and so were the priests in Jerusalem. The men of Qumran (a group of priests and laymen pursuing a communal life of strict dedication to God) paid it only once in a lifetime. However, the Sadducees disapproved of the tax, so it was an ongoing matter of controversy with them.
Payments could be made in person at the Passover festival in Jerusalem, and collections were made in other areas of Palestine and abroad a month earlier. The situation in these verses came up about a month before the Passover.
In these verses, Peter was confronted by the religious leaders collecting the tax. Jesus, knowing about the conversation, asked Peter what he thought He should do. Keep in mind that, in Matthew 16, Peter had confessed Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Since the temple was the house of His Father, Jesus was raising a question with Peter regarding the propriety of His being taxed. After Peter said, “No, others should pay the tax,” Jesus confirmed that He should be exempt from paying the tax, because the Father doesn’t require it of His own Son.
However, after establishing His own exemption, Jesus addressed the issue from a completely different perspective. Although paying the tax wasn’t required, Jesus recognized the importance of avoiding needless controversy. He was willing to pay the tax in order to not offend the Temple officials, or set a bad example to other taxpayers.
The Turning Point:
Net fishing was the stock-in-trade of the people who lived on the lake, and the Gospels point to Jesus' knowledge of this. Hook-and-line fishing was used much less frequently, since it yielded fewer fish. But Isaiah speaks of it in connection with fishing in the streams: "The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament" (Isaiah 19:8). Amos also made reference to this type of fishing when he said, "He will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks" (Amos 4:2).
Peter was a professional fisherman who always used nets and went out in a boat when he fished. But Jesus told him to fish from the shore, with a rod and hook on a flaxen line. Some commentators have wondered if he was hoping none of his other fishermen friends saw him that day.
The Miracle That Followed:
Regardless of how he felt about it personally, Peter was obedient and went fishing in exactly the manner that Jesus told him to do it. And the first fish he caught was the fish with a coin in its mouth, and the coin was the exact amount that they owed.
Now think of what had to happen for the tax money to be provided this way. First, someone had to lose a coin in the water, probably another fisherman. Then, a fish had to take that coin in its mouth and retain it. Perhaps the fish was attracted to the shiny coin as it tumbled through the water to the depths below, and the fish ate it before it reached bottom. Then that same fish then had to bite down on Peter’s hook with an impediment in its mouth, and be caught … not get away … and not drop the coin in the process. It was too complex to be just a coincidence, especially when you factor in that Jesus predicted exactly what would happen. What a display of the lordship of Christ over creation and circumstances!
Jesus’ willingness to pay the tax demonstrated His submission to the law of God. He told Peter to take the shekel that came from the mouth of the fish and “give it unto them for Me and thee.” Note that Jesus made a distinction between Himself as the exempted Son of God and Peter as the non-exempted subject.
The Bottom Line:
Out of all the Gospel writers, Matthew is the only one who tells about this remarkable miracle. Matthew was led by the Holy Spirit to tell the story, but it might have held a special place in his heart because he himself had been a tax-man by trade. When Jesus performed a miracle to pay taxes, He was talking Matthew's language — just as He was speaking Peter's language when He used a fish to perform this miracle.
Jesus never performed miracles just for the fun of it. They were always “signs” as well as “wonders.” They always had a meaning and this miracle teaches several spiritual truths.
- Jesus didn’t owe the tax but paid it anyway to demonstrate that, although Christians are free, sometimes we must relinquish our rights in order to uphold our witness and not cause others to stumble. True freedom is not in serving ourselves but looking out for the welfare of others (Galatians 5:13).
- Jesus trusted in the miraculous provision of God. It’s not every day – or any day, actually – that someone catches a fish and takes a coin out of its mouth. But Jesus knew God would provide the money to pay His taxes. Likewise, Jesus can enable us to meet our obligations.
- Jesus demonstrated that He was in fact the Lord of creation through this miracle, because He knew there was a fish out there with one shekel in its mouth, exactly the amount they needed to pay the ½ shekel tax that was owed for each of them.
- And what a beautiful picture of our redemption. Since He was the Son of the King, Jesus didn’t actually owe the tax, but He paid it anyway – and at the same time, by the same method, paid the tax owed by Peter as well.
We are spiritually bankrupt on our own, but there is hope. Though death was not a debt He owed, Jesus paid the debt for us. He satisfied our sin debt, and gave us His righteousness in its place. It is now up to us to accept His payment in full.
