WITH JUST A SINGLE WORD
God can restore whatever has seemed dead in our lives with just a single word. Are you having financial problems, unable to pay your bills? So it was with the Lord’s disciples—and He fixed their situation supernaturally.
When tax time came around, Christ and His disciples had no money to pay the needed amount. So how did the Lord fix the situation? He sent Peter out to catch a fish. Jesus told him he would find a coin in the mouth of the first fish he caught, and that coin would cover their tax bill.
I can only imagine what Peter must have thought. “Tax money in a fish’s mouth? This I’ve got to see. I’ve been a fisherman all my life and I’ve seen a lot of things inside fish—worms, hooks, seaweed. But I’ve never seen a coin inside of one.” Yet, when Peter reeled in the first flopping fish, he opened its mouth to find a gleaming coin. The amount was enough to pay their taxes, just as Jesus had said (see Matthew 17:27).
Why did the Spirit move upon the gospel writers to record this story? And why did Jesus choose to fix their situation through a miracle? Why didn’t He just take up an offering, or send the disciples out to work for a day to bring in wages for the tax?
I believe Jesus moved supernaturally here because He wanted to prove to His children that He will do the impossible for us. He can fix any financial problem, any family crisis, any overwhelming need.
He wanted us to know He is the same God who fed Elijah with bread delivered by a raven; who kept a widow’s barrel of meal from dwindling during a drought and saved that same widow from her creditors by filling huge pots of cooking oil from a little pint jar of oil; who fed a crowd of 5,000—and later another crowd of 4,000—with a few fishes and loaves of bread. He knows that at certain times in our lives only a miracle will do. And He wants to assure us He can do the impossible for us, in any situation.
When tax time came around, Christ and His disciples had no money to pay the needed amount. So how did the Lord fix the situation? He sent Peter out to catch a fish. Jesus told him he would find a coin in the mouth of the first fish he caught, and that coin would cover their tax bill.
I can only imagine what Peter must have thought. “Tax money in a fish’s mouth? This I’ve got to see. I’ve been a fisherman all my life and I’ve seen a lot of things inside fish—worms, hooks, seaweed. But I’ve never seen a coin inside of one.” Yet, when Peter reeled in the first flopping fish, he opened its mouth to find a gleaming coin. The amount was enough to pay their taxes, just as Jesus had said (see Matthew 17:27).
Why did the Spirit move upon the gospel writers to record this story? And why did Jesus choose to fix their situation through a miracle? Why didn’t He just take up an offering, or send the disciples out to work for a day to bring in wages for the tax?
I believe Jesus moved supernaturally here because He wanted to prove to His children that He will do the impossible for us. He can fix any financial problem, any family crisis, any overwhelming need.
He wanted us to know He is the same God who fed Elijah with bread delivered by a raven; who kept a widow’s barrel of meal from dwindling during a drought and saved that same widow from her creditors by filling huge pots of cooking oil from a little pint jar of oil; who fed a crowd of 5,000—and later another crowd of 4,000—with a few fishes and loaves of bread. He knows that at certain times in our lives only a miracle will do. And He wants to assure us He can do the impossible for us, in any situation.