The Miracle of the Paying of Taxes

As someone who loves to fish, the miracle in Matthew 17:24-27 has always peaked my interest.  Here, Peter is asked by “they that received tribute money” if Christ pays tribute.  Peter quickly responds that he does. However, when Peter saw Jesus, the scriptures state that Jesus “prevented him” meaning that Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What thinkest though, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers?”  The next verse states, “Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.” What Jesus is saying to Peter is that Jesus is not required to pay the temple tribute because he has already fulfilled that portion of the Law of Moses.  Jesus was correcting Peter.  Something that my professor pointed out is that Peter is corrected by the Lord much more often than anyone else in the Bible.  It seems as though the Lord is always correcting what Peter says or understands.  However, the Lord doesn’t do it to be mean or degrade Peter – in fact, there’s an important lesson for all of us.  The Lord corrects Peter so frequently because Peter is so good at receiving corrective feedback.  Never do we read that Peter murmured after such corrections, but rather that he applied the feedback and improved.  All too often, when someone gives us corrective feedback, it is our natural tendency to think, “They’re wrong and I’m right.”  That is a very dangerous thought.  If we reject and oppose corrective feedback from others, we will never improve.  We will remain in what we think is “right” and never be able to achieve what the Lord knows is right.  It is hard to recognize and admit that you’re wrong but doing so will propel you in your progression to perfection.

            After Jesus teaches Peter that He is not required to pay the tax, Jesus instructs Peter to “go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: take that and give unto them for me and thee.”  I’ve always thought this miracle is cool because I love to fish, but after our class discussion I can see much deeper meaning in it.  Jesus provided a miracle so that they wouldn’t offend the tax collectors, but also to teach a lesson about his infinite and eternal sacrifice.  Because Peter was unemployed, he wouldn’t have been able to pay the tax by himself.  Therefore, Jesus payed a price that he didn’t owe, and also pays off a debt that we can’t pay.  As with the tax, Jesus atoned for sins he didn’t commit, and payed off our debts with his blood.  We could not have done it for ourselves – He was the only one able to do it.  I was astonished by the lesson about the Savior’s Atonement through a simple miracle about fishing and paying taxes.  Truly, everything in the Savior’s life pointed towards his great and last sacrifice.