Fishing for Funds

"And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma [tax] came to Peter, and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma [tax]?" He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. But, lest we give them offense, go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."
Matthew 17: 24-27

Unless we confront the worries that we meet up with in our daily activities, our confidence in knowledge will remain unproven. We will still lack the needed experience. Jesus showed us how He trusted God for His sudden needs and desires. We need to learn from Him.

For example, what if you owed some taxes and the collector came up to you demanding that you hand over the money. The problem is compounded by the fact that you didn't have the money. Would you worry? Would you fret? Would you deceive the person? Jesus knew God His Father had the solution. He put His trust in Him. Let's look over the sequence of events step by step.

Jesus needed to pay a tax.

Jesus was not expecting a pay check.

Jesus did not have any savings for the tax.

The tax collector asked Peter, Jesus' disciple, for both Jesus and his own personal tax.

Jesus was busy doing what God wanted Him to do.

Jesus had confidence that His Father would take care of this need.

Jesus sent Peter, the former fisherman, to get the tax money from a fish's mouth.

The fish was caught and the money found in its mouth.

The tax was paid.

A pressing need - needed it now

A real need - just didn't have it

A monetary need - wanted cash

We all learn an important lesson on how we need not worry when we have a legitimate bill that needs to be paid even if we don't have the money.

Jesus trusted God that by His sovereign design a fish in the sea would have swallowed up what He would need to pay in taxes. He also believed that Peter would catch that one fish just at the right moment. Clearly it is a miracle. It proves God's love for His children. God works even in this complicated modern world.

Do you still think God is not concerned or able to help those in financially difficult times? Let the truth of God speak to you.

Some might miss this lesson because they assume Jesus with super human powers could produce a miracle whenever He needed it. The opposite is true. Jesus limited himself so that He would share the nature of man. See Philippians 2:3-11. Jesus restrained Himself from His own miracles. He only did what His Father in heaven told Him to do. He then lived a perfect life of dependence upon His Father. He was not self-reliant but Father reliant. Jesus, then, serves as a perfect example about what kind of life we should be living.

Jesus took responsibility for his need. In one sense He did not have to pay the Roman tax at all. He said this. However, He paid it to give us an example on how we can trust God to take care of our needs as long as we are busy doing what God wants us to do. And in this case, God even miraculously provided for a need that wasn't a need!

Let's review some basic principles from this session. Next page

Overcoming Anxiety:

Finding Peace, Discovering God Manual

Take the ten steps over the bride of hope to the peace of God. Each step leads further from anxiety and closer to God and the truths of His Word. Instruction on how to overcome fears, worries and handle temptation for lasting peace.