Reflective Bible Study

While reading about Peter’s encounter with the temple tax collectors, a question entered my mind that completely changed how I saw this event, and this new angle shows an amazing picture of God’s love for all of us as His children.

When Jesus gives Peter instructions in the last verse, we begin to see something incredible. After explaining how the king’s children are exempt from paying taxes, Jesus continues by saying, “But we don’t want to upset these tax collectors. So go to the lake and fish. After you catch the first fish, open its mouth and you will find a coin. Take that coin and give it to the tax collectors for you and me.” (v. 27)

This set of instructions is surprisingly simple, yet detailed. Peter is to go fishing and the first fish he catches will have a coin in its mouth that is valuable enough to pay the temple tax for two people.

The question that entered my mind while reading this is “Who ultimately paid the temple tax?” While Peter made the final delivery to the tax collectors, the coin that was taken did not come from the disciples own reserves of money. Peter didn’t ask Judas Iscariot for a coin from their donations to use for this tax.

Instead, for this to have happened exactly like Jesus had instructed, a coin had to have fallen out of a boat, and then a fish would have had to catch it on its descent towards the bottom of the lake. I wonder whether the fish thought the coin was smaller or whether its eyes were bigger than its throat, but in either case the coin was big enough for the fish’s mouth but too big for it to swallow.

Then, for this scenario to work, the fish wouldn’t spit out the coin, but instead swim over to where Peter was fishing and also try to eat what Peter was using as bait – at the exact time Peter was down fishing following receiving these instructions from Jesus.

There are too many unlikely-to-happen details in this event to really come up with a good statistic of the chances of this happening. This was an impossible-to-predict event.

The other option we have is that on the way up, an angel added a coin to the mouth of the fish that Peter had caught. While not as glamorous, this is actually more plausible than the other options.

However this event unfolded, the inescapable conclusion we come to is that God was the only one who could have orchestrated this event! This means that God paid our temple tax, and He did this through Jesus’ death on the cross for sins that He did not commit. This short fish story contains the entire gospel message, and it shares how much God values each of us!

The parable of the dishonest manager is one that has challenged my thinking on multiple occasions. When reading this parable, I sometimes wonder why Jesus would have used this angle to teach, or perhaps, whether we are missing the rest of the story.

However, after looking closer at this passage, I believe this parable may be less about the details, and more about the key truth Jesus pulls out from it: “Whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with a little is dishonest with a lot.” (v. 10)

Ironically, when we look at the parable through the lens of this one verse, the whole scene becomes clearer. The master accuses the manager of cheating him, and wants a full report of where the money/wealth is. We don’t know if this was a strong speculation or if the master caught the manager cheating, but it was serious enough of an offense that this one incident was to cost the manager his job. Even though it was serious, this is Jesus describing being dishonest with a little.

Then, instead of coming clean and straightening out the single offense, the manager pulls all the rest of those indebted to the master and dishonestly discounts all their bills as well. In this reaction, Jesus is describing being dishonest with a lot.

Jesus key point is that our character and our focus remain the same as the size of our influence/status/wealth changes. Those who are trustworthy are trustworthy with both the small and big things, while those who are dishonest will be dishonest with little or lots.

Also, included in this parable and idea is the following truth: our character grows. The more time we spend being either dishonest or trustworthy, the more ingrained these characteristics will be on our character and the more they will spread throughout all areas of our life. Consistent trustworthiness in one area over time will strengthen how trustworthy we can be the other areas in our life, just as being consistently dishonest in one area of our life will eventually erode all the other “honest” areas of our life. What matters is where we place our focus and how we are choosing to shape our character.

Are you intentionally choosing to grow trustworthiness in your character, or are you allowing dishonesty to spread?

At the close of Jesus sharing about the end time and the state of the world when He returns, He shifts His attention onto those He describes as “faithful and wise servants”. These followers of Jesus get the label of being both faithful towards Him as well as being wise. I’m not sure about you, but both these characteristics are things I would like to be known for in God’s eyes when Jesus returns.

Here’s how Jesus describes this: “Who are faithful and wise servants? Who are the ones the master will put in charge of giving the other servants their food supplies at the proper time? Servants are fortunate if their master comes and finds them doing their job. You may be sure that a servant who is always faithful will be put in charge of everything the master owns. But suppose one of the servants thinks that the master won’t return until late. Suppose that evil servant starts beating the other servants and eats and drinks with people who are drunk. If that happens, the master will surely come on a day and at a time when the servant least expects him. That servant will then be punished and thrown out with the ones who only pretended to serve their master. There they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.” (v. 45-51)

The servants who are faithful and wise are the ones who do what they are supposed to be doing when the master is not around. The time we live in is a perfect time when God/Jesus is not visibly present. The time we live in right now is the best time to demonstrate our faithfulness, wisdom, and loyalty to our Master.

In contrast, the servants Jesus describe as evil are the ones who assume Jesus won’t return soon and they then decide they can act out and harm others without any punishment. For these servants, not only will they be caught off guard, they will be punished for their actions. Jesus describes the evil servants as those who abuse other servants, and those who only pretend to serve their master.

When Jesus returns, there will be a clear separation made between the faithful, wise servants and the evil, abusive, pretend servants. Seeing this distinction challenges me to be extra diligent about doing what God has placed before me, and focusing on helping others with their challenges, rather than helping others with the attitude or expectation that they will help me in return.

The servants who are faithful and wise are the ones who do what they are supposed to do when the master is not around. Today is the best day for us to demonstrate our faithfulness and wisdom because if Jesus returns or our lives end, then we will have been caught doing what pleases God – and we will be counted among the faithful.