Paying taxes with a coin found in a fish's mouth
What’s the strangest parable in the Bible?
How about the story of what Jesus did when taxes were due? Peter came to Jesus and said, “What are we going to do, we don’t have any money to pay the taxes!”
Jesus told him to go to a lake, throw out a fishing line and catch a fish. He said, “The first fish you catch will have a coin in its mouth. Use that coin to pay our taxes.”
How strange is that? How did the coin get in the fish’s mouth? The coin probably fell out of someone’s pocket while they were fishing and the fish gobbled it up but couldn’t swallow it very well. It stayed right there, stuck in the fish’s mouth.
No one could see the fish or the coin in the water, but Jesus knew it was there.
You know what that shows about Jesus? Jesus had authority. He commanded that particular fish to go find that hook and be caught. Jesus controls the whole world like that. Did you know that? That’s what the Bible says. Jesus created the whole world, and you know what He used to create the world? Nothing! He just said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. He said, “Let there be a sun, moon and stars.” And it happened.
Jesus can do anything. He has authority. But Jesus was also under authority.
What does authority mean? It means you’re responsible to other people for things that you do.
When taxes were due, Jesus still paid them. He had all authority and was under authority, at the same time.
What does that mean for us? He’s a wonderful Savior. Remember when Jesus healed the crippled man? Jesus told the man that his sins were forgiven. How could he say that? He could say that because He has authority, but He was also going to die for the man’s sins. When Jesus died for our sins, He was under authority of the law.
Prayer:
Lord thank you that our Savior Jesus had all the authority of the universe and was under authority at the same time. Thank you for giving us a great and powerful Savior who was also meek and lowly at the same time.
About the Redeemer Community Church PCA children's devotions:
Sometimes it can be hard to break down Biblical truths for our kids into easy-to-understand and easy-to-remember bite-sized pieces. Pastor Chuck does this weekly in his Children's Sermon, and we're sharing key points from those sermons here each week. Feel free to use with your littles as conversation starters throughout the week, reminders of what we learned in church on Sundays, and just general opportunities to share our love of God's word and His love for us.