As this story illustrates, sometimes the Lord’s provision comes in the most unlikely ways and from the most unlikely places

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"...go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” -Jesus, Matthew 17:27

Can you recall a day in the recent past that did not require you to swipe you credit card at least once? Personally, I cannot. It seems that swiping and scanning is key to survival.

Pay for this, pay for that, and then pay some more. It’s like our lives are just a continuous financial transaction.

Peter’s Tax Burden

There’s a great scene in Matthew’s gospel where the issue of paying taxes comes up. Yes, taxes! They’ve always been a thing. The particular tax at issue was the Temple tax, a fee that Jewish males were supposed to pay once a year for upkeep of the Temple.

When the tax guys, who apparently went door-to-door collecting, interrogated Peter as to whether Jesus was going to pay up, Peter assured them that he would. Then Peter went inside with Jesus and they had a talk. About taxes, of course. Here are few takeaways from their conversation:

1. Jesus taught that taxes should be paid, but hinted at a future day when paying taxes would no longer be necessary. If you follow their conversation, it seems that Jesus was trying to comfort Peter about the reality of taxes, saying in effect, “This is the way it has to be for now, but it won’t always be this way, not in my kingdom.” When Jesus used the word “free,” Peter’s ears probably perked up.
2. Jesus graciously (and miraculously) lifted Peter’s financial burden. This is the miracle where Jesus told Peter to throw a hook and line in the water (not Peter’s normal way of fishing – with nets) and the first fish he caught would have a valuable silver coin in its mouth. That coin, equivalent to hundreds of dollars in our day, would pay the Temple tax for both of them. Sound fishy? But it was true! What a beautiful example of how the Lord provides. Maybe Peter was thinking of this experience later when he wrote, “casting all your cares on him, for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
3. Jesus paid another debt, a really big one. Jesus paid Peter’s tax debt that day. How relieved Peter must have been, as he wouldn’t have to worry about it for another year. But this payment foreshadowed a bigger payment that Jesus would make on behalf of Peter, and the rest of us. About that payment, Peter would later testify:  

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. -1 Peter 1:18-19, NLT

As the classic hymn says, “Jesus paid it all.” The payment owed for sin was death, and on our behalf, Jesus paid it in full, leaving a zero balance. If you have placed your trust in him as Savior, you are out from under this debt forever. In Jesus, you are free.

Free, but Still Burdened

But life in this fallen world is still taxing. It gets hard and it gets heavy, even for the follower of Christ. Between family issues, health problems, and frustrations on the job, our burdens have a way of accumulating.

If, like Peter, life is taxing you today, do what he did. Have a conversation with Jesus and see where it goes. Never know, he just might do a miracle for you.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.