Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin:
Genesis 48:16b: “and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
Matthew 17:27: “Notwithstanding, less, we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, and give it unto them for me and thee.”
One can not help but wonder why Jesus had Peter locate a hook and line, go to the sea and start fishing for a coin. We can only assume that Peter promptly obeyed Jesus’s instructions without question. Could not Jesus have produced a coin from under a rock just as easily? Why not have one just appear in Peter’s hand?
There is the story of a rabbi who was once asked by his students what perfect faith was. The rabbi answered by telling a story that when he was a student he was dining with his rabbi. He had no money at all with him. After the meal the rabbi instructed him to reach into his pocket for a coin in which to pay the bill. Without giving one thought to the fact that he had no money at all, he reached into his pocket as his master had instructed and pulled out a coin, enough to pay the bill. The rabbi then explained to his students that this is perfect faith. Perfect faith is to not question God when he asks us to do something that we know is impossible. Perhaps this is why Jesus asked Peter to go fishing for a coin to pay the taxes. Peter did not question Jesus or explain that what Jesus was asking him to do was absurd. He simply obeyed. Jesus was teaching Peter “perfect faith.”
However, in pondering this story, I can not help but think of the story in the Talmud which was very well known among the Jews of Jesus’s day. It would have been known by Peter as well. It is the story of the Pearl of Great Price. It tells of a rich merchant who made his fortune in the sale of pearls. He was told by a seer that because he made his fortune in dealing with something that was unclean (pearls come from oysters which are unclean), God would give his fortune to a righteous man named Joseph. In fear of losing his fortune this merchant searched the world for a pearl of great price and when he found such a pearl, he rejoiced and sold all he owned to possess this pearl. Now his entire fortune could be found in the palm of his hand and no one could take it away from him. The story goes that he put the pearl in his turban and boarded a ship to cross the sea. The ship was caught in a storm and sank. When the man was rescued he found his turban had fallen off and the pearl of great price sank to the bottom of the sea. Later that week before the Sabbath, a righteous man purchased a fish for the Sabbath. When he opened the fish he found the pearl.
Could Peter have been thinking of this story that his mother may have told him as a child growing up in a Jewish home? Fish have played an important role in Jewish tradition and mysticism. Even today Jews eat something called gefilte fish. The word “gefilte” means fullness. Fish have always been symbolic of God’s provision. Fish lay many eggs and symbolize prosperity and multiplication.
In Genesis 48:16 we find that Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, but he laid his right hand upon Ephraim and not Manasseh. Joseph was displeased because Manasseh was the eldest and his father’s right hand should have been upon him which meant the younger would receive the greater blessing. This blessing said that they would grow or increase into a multitude. The word “increase” here is veyidgu which comes from the root word “Dag” which is also the word for fish. Used esoterically it literally means a gateway to showing lovingkindness to others. The money collected for this temple tax was sort of a benevolent fund, used to help the poor, so Jesus would surly not have any objections to paying this tax. Jesus was, of course, a rabbi and Peter would naturally assume that his rabbi was teaching him something in this. By obtaining the tax money from a fish which represents the prosperity of God, he would consider that what God would prosper him with, he would use to help others.
The word “dag” has a numerical value of 7 which represents the Sabbath. For this reason you will find orthodox Jews will eat fish on the Sabbath. Perhaps Peter saw something sacred in obtaining this money from a fish. This coin would have been in someway sacred. It would have had to be a Jewish coin and not a Roman coin. Jesus said Peter would find a “piece of money” in the fish’s mouth. The Greek word is “sater” which means a silver coin. Scholars believe this would have been one shekel in Jewish money and the tax was one half shekel per person, so one shekel would cover both Peter and Jesus. The Roman coin usually had the image of a Roman emperor on it who considered himself a God and thus would violate the second commandment especially if it were brought onto temple grounds. This is why the temple had money changers in the court to change this pagan coin into one approved as clean by the priesthood. Forget the fact they allowed people to bring such idolatrous abominations into the temple court to exchange them. Well Jesus didn’t allow it, but that is another story.
Any one of these are possible explanations as to why Jesus had Peter go fishing to pay the taxes, perhaps they are all reasons. There is one other reason which is my favorite. All observant Jews go to a river to fish before the Day of Atonement because the Talmud teaches that man is like a fish which is prey to hooks and nets by the Yeitzer Hara (evil desires) or what I call the enemy. This reminds them that ultimate freedom from sin comes through repentance. This was also a common teaching during Jesus’s day and perhaps this gave Peter an opportunity to reflect on how easily it is to get hooked by the enemy and the coin in the fish’s mouth represented how the enemy can use money to get you hooked.
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