I’ve never been much of a fisherman. Growing up in the Ozarks opportunities surrounded me, but I found swimming in the lakes and creeks more enjoyable than casting a line. My wife, on the other hand, slays the fish. She’s some sort of maestro, conducting fish to her hook, oddly beguiling the creatures. Which is good for me, because I’ll always eat her catch.

The Bible says a lot about fishing. In one of my favorite stories, Jesus instructed Peter to pay a temple tax by going fishing. Authorities levied a tax on Jewish citizens to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the temple. Before sending Peter off to catch the prize, Jesus discussed this tax:

Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, 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 reminded Peter, and the rest of us, that a tax imposed to maintain God’s house does not apply to the Son of God. Jesus is Lord—Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of all creation, and especially Lord of the temple in Jerusalem. He owes no taxes and is beholden to no earthly governments or institutions. But, to not give offense, he pays the tax for himself and Peter.

You and I pay taxes every day. Sales tax, income tax, county tax and school tax to name a few. The ways our government representatives load taxes on the citizenry reveals a great deal of creativity. But I pay my taxes, because as a citizen I owe them.

Although the Lord owes no taxes, Jesus quietly paid for himself and his disciple. Following this miracle, in a short period of time Jesus humbly endured death on the cross to pay for mankind’s estrangement from God. That tax we cannot pay—we need the Lord to pay it for us.

But with the debt paid, as sons and daughters we are set free. Free from the penalty of sin, free to let worry about taxes fade, and free to enjoy a life with the best fisherman of all.

Matthew 17:24-27

Photo by Thomas Park