Thursday Reading: Matthew 17:24-27
Key Verse: Matthew 17:27
27 But lest we should offend them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. And when you have opened its mouth, you shall find a coin; take that, and give it to them for Me and you.
Devotion:
Not all of the miracles that Jesus did were what you may call ‘in your face’ miracles, some were quite private and directed at certain people. Just because many people did not witness this miracle does not mean that it was any less meaningful than any of the other miracles. This miracle can show us so many things – just as others can show us more. The first thing that it shows us is that Jesus was and is God. We think of the odds of something like winning the lottery as astronomical, but yet so many people still have a god. The odds of throwing out your fishing line and catching a fish are bad enough for me, but to then catch a certain fish who just happens to be carrying round a coin in its mouth that just happens to be the amount due for two people to enter the temple... well, let’s just say that something like that could not be planned even if you had a pet fish!
Jesus made a very simple and yet poignant point. The people who were collecting the temple tax from people that were not so much strangers as not being part of their own families. They would not turn round and ask their own children to pay the tax to enter the temple, but they would ask others to pay... and they were not even the owners of the temple but simply the people assigned to collect the money. Now Jesus on the other hand is God and hence is whom the temple had actually been built for – and yet He was being asked to pay to enter it! Jesus did not demand that Simon Peter pay the tax because He regarded Simon Peter as His son. Christ was not about to upset the apple cart by making a scene but rather used a simple demonstration of His power to Simon Peter to allow him to remember just who is in charge of this world!
Are you looking toward the people who demand to be looked at or looking toward the One who deserves your attention. Look to God and Live!
Points to Ponder:
Who are you being distracted by?
How much attention do you give to God?