What If...?

Matthew 17:22-27

Matthew tells a quirky story about Peter catching a fish and taking a coin from its mouth. This is what Jesus told him to do. The coin was intended for paying the temple tax for both Jesus and Peter. But the story ends before Peter actually pays the tax. In fact, the story ends before Peter even goes fishing. Normally we think of this account as one of Jesus’ miracles. But what if…? What if Jesus was being intentionally ironic? What if Jesus’ instructions to Peter were intended as a joke of sorts. “If you think we should pay the tax, Peter, go take a coin from a fish’s mouth and use that.”

Since Matthew never tells us that Peter caught the fish or paid the tax maybe we should consider the context more carefully. Peter tells the authorities that Jesus pays the tax, but according to Matthew, “(Jesus said,) ’What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?’ When Peter said, ‘From others,’ Jesus said to him, ‘Then the children are free’” (Matthew 17:25-26). If Jesus is the Son of God (and he is!) he has no need to pay the tax. Peter, who has still not managed to put all of the pieces together, does not understand what it means to say that Jesus is the Messiah. So Jesus says, with tongue firmly in cheek, “go catch a fish, Peter.”

Either way, miracle or not, the truth of this passage is that Jesus is the Son of God, and for us as God’s people the temple tax has been replaced by a call for faithful obedience. If we understand we will give our full attention to Jesus. If we don’t, we may find ourselves “gone fishing.”

Prayer: Lord, help us to live to your glory with hearts attuned to you will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord of Leftovers

Luke 24:36-53

"While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence" (Luke 24:41). It is tempting to make some significant assumptions based on these few verses. After all, this is an account of the risen Christ appearing to the disciples. And in the face of their wonder and disbelief Jesus goes so far as to ask for food. Can a resurrected person actually eat? Would he or she need to?

We can leave those very interesting questions for another time. What strikes me today is the relative mundaneness of the event - as mundane as a risen Savior can be. Any number of things might have happened, and a number of important things did, but the resurrected Jesus is Lord of more than just the big stuff, the healing and the storm-calming. Jesus is also the Lord of leftovers, of broiled fish eaten among friends. Whatever that piece of fish may have meant at that moment it was still fish. Someone had caught it, someone had cleaned it, someone had cooked it, all in ordinary, everyday ways. And now Jesus was eating it, and the sacredness of the everyday took on a new clarity. Or maybe we can look at it this way, that the same man who fed a multitude with just a few fish ("big stuff") is not above eating a little fish himself ("small stuff").

Whatever may be going on in your life, whatever issues you may face, they are neither too big nor too small for Jesus' attention. Even the leftovers.

Prayer: Lord of all creation, both great and small, both cosmic and earthbound, your love is offered in our most profound moments of wonder and awe and in our seasons of forgetfulness, of disregard, of self-importance. Help us to recognize your presence. Help us to see the sacred potential in every person and event and that we are constantly on holy ground. In the name of the risen Savior. Amen.