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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

November 22, 2023

Invitatory

Lord, open our lips.

And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Matthew 17:24-27

When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?” He said, “Yes, he does.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, “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. However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.”

Meditation – Peter Vanderveen

Some stories just can’t be taken seriously – even if they’re part of Scripture. This is one of them.

It seems plausible at first; Matthew’s gospel includes the accounts of many occasions when Jesus is challenged by various public or religious authorities. And this is right in line with them. But suddenly, at the very end, it veers off into the comical. Had Matthew wanted this text to be instructional, he could have ended the story with Jesus’ comment about not being obligated to pay the temple tax. Jesus certainly seems to imply that he has this exceptional status. And we could then read this as a story that confirms the uniqueness of Jesus’ identity and calling.

But the concluding verse is simply laugh-out-loud ridiculous. And almost as funny are the many attempts that Biblical commentators have made to find some serious directives to us in Jesus’ charge to Peter. Is this fishing escapade a miracle? Is it meant to show us something? Are we supposed to be in awe that Jesus would know that the first fish snagged would somehow have a coin in its mouth? (How often does that happen? Fishermen are known for telling tall tales but finding swallowed loot in their catch beggars the imagination.) And most importantly, why do we assume that every story in the Bible must have a weighty moral? Maybe it’s this very assumption that creates the boredom with which we approach the Scripture. Constant lecturing is deadening. Sometimes there’s nothing more important than what’s absurd and silly. This story gives us a moment worthy of Penn and Teller. At least with magicians we know that we’re being fooled.

As Christians we make the claim that the Bible is God’s self-revelation. That’s all well and good. But it’s also, and in no less a way, God’s debunking of all the gods we imagine for ourselves. Much of the work of Jesus is just this. Sometimes he does this in earnest. Often, Jesus resorts simply to poking fun, playfully letting us know how farcical our gods are and how foolish we look chasing after them.

It has never occurred to me while fishing that I might find enough cash in my catch to afford me lunch. People would laugh if I were to suggest that this might happen. It also never occurs to me if I flip open my Bible to a random page and read the sentence where my finger lands that this will be God’s special revelation to me, particular to whatever I might be facing. This is just as ridiculous, though many persist with this kind of superstition. What the gospels show us is that any association of God with magic disappeared in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He never tried to pull a coin out of a fish. This isn’t the way of God. And maybe we need to see the humor in this desire in order to dispose of it.

Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,