18 March 2007
Why do I like to read the Bible? What's in it that I can use? Is it some book that's full of nothing but ancient history (not that that's bad)? How can it be 'living and active' while being older than anyone I know?
Two reasons come to mind. One is that, quite simply, it contains the words of true life inside. The other involves my imagination.
Before you go "Huh?," allow me to explain what I mean by that. Some scenes allow my imagination to run free with information that is alluded to. In this case, there is the ability to jump into a world like ours but so unlike ours, discovering timeless truth, then bringing it to modern day and making some use out of what I've learned.
It's kind of like jumping into a time machine, setting the dials to whatever year the story takes place in, and pressing the go button.
Sometimes a whole story transfixes my mind. Sometimes it's a simple verse. Sometimes just a word or phrase.
I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. There's a story found in Matthew's account of Jesus' life that is not discussed too often but has incredible significance in how we are to live our lives. It's also a fantastic example of faith in action, though it's not readily seen.
So let's step into the time machine and take a trip to the land of Israel around 0 BC.
Jesus and his band of twelve were in the town of Capernaum, about sixty or so miles north of Jerusalem. While there, a group of individuals came up to Peter and asked if Jesus paid the temple tax. This tax was a yearly requirement for anyone over the age of twenty and was used to help keep the temple in good condition. (At least it's a comfort to know that we're not the only ones who have had to pay taxes.) Peter replied that Jesus did pay the tax, though it seems that he didn't really know what he was talking about.
When he gets back to the house where they're staying, Jesus doesn't let Peter start the conversation. Instead, he asks him a rather interesting question: "Peter, what do you think? Do kings collect taxes from their sons, or from everyone else in their kingdom?"
Peter naturally chooses the correct answer: kings tax everyone in the kingdom except their sons.
Jesus hears this and says, "You're right. That means the sons don't have to pay taxes." Since God is king and creator of the universe, Jesus, as his son, is technically exempt from paying by this single virtue.
But then Christ says something that causes me to think, reflect, and imagine:
"But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours." --Matthew 17:26-27 (NIV)
He's saying, "I don't have to do this, but I'm going to do it anyway." Think about that for a second: Jesus would rather do what isn't truly required than allow others to think less of him.
"Oh, and by the way, I'm not going to physically pay the tax. Peter, you are. Here's how: Grab a two-drachma coin from Judas Iscariot, who's in charge of the money bag. Then take that to the collectors and pay the tax for me."
But that's not what he said.
There would be some teaching that accompanied the paying of the tax. It involved a rather interesting series of instructions for Peter.
What he actually said was, "Peter, you're going fishing."
Fishing? For men?
No, for fish. Head over to the lake and throw out your line. When you catch your first fish, open its mouth and you'll find a four-drachma coin inside.
Fishing? A coin? In the first fish's mouth?
Then take that coin and go pay for my tax. . .
Okay-----
. . . and yours.
What? My tax? They were only asking for your tax! They didn't ask me to pay! What's going on here?
Peter now had a choice to make. He could consider the whole series of instructions to be unimportant since they made no sense to his human mind. Besides, Jesus didn't really have to pay the taxes based on being God's son. Or he could throw off all rational behavior, grab his line, and head for the lake (in this case, the Sea of Galilee) to catch the one fish that had a four-drachma coin in its mouth.
This is where Matthew's account of the story ends; nothing more is mentioned about it in the Bible. At this point, we can just imagine what happened. I'm sure there would be some similar elements to most people's thinking, even though we don't know what Peter ultimately did. We could guess with high probability that he did some fishing that day, caught a fish with a coin in its mouth, and paid the temple tax for two—for the king's son and himself. Yet I wonder . . .
- What was Peter thinking about as he walked out to the lake?
- What was he thinking about when he cast out the line?
- What were his thoughts when he held the fish in his hands for the first time?
- Did he hesitate in opening the fish's mouth, fearing that Jesus was wrong and there was no coin there?
- What if the coin was some other coin worth less (or more) than the four drachmas Jesus said?
- What was Peter thinking about as he returned to the tax collectors and paid the taxes?
Take some time to think about the answers to these questions.
Right now.
You don't have to jump in the time machine and return to 2007 just yet.
Stories like this one are, to me, definitive proof that the Bible is a 'living' book and can change the world by transforming the lives of those who read it.
The story of Peter and the fish is an incredible display of faith, power, majesty, and even commissioning, if you'd like to think about it that way.
I'm sure God did some refreshing in Peter's life that day. And I pray that he would do the same in yours. As he does, may you in turn refresh others.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
--Jesus, John 14:1 (NIV)
"God Himself paints Himself in the depths of our souls."
--Brother Lawrence
