The Story of a Fish with Money in its Mouth (Matt. 17:24-27)

Have you ever gone fishing? Do you like to fish? Do you remember when you caught your first fish? Most people get excited when they reel in a fish, but back in Jesus’ day many people had to fish in order to eat, and others made a living by catching and selling fish. Many of the disciples gave up fishing as a business in order to follow Jesus because he said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” In today’s Bible Story, Peter caught a fish with money in its mouth. Have you ever heard any fisherman stories like that before? Not me, but it truly did happen and here’s the story. Tax collectors came to Peter and asked him if his master paid taxes. Now Jesus and his disciples were not required to pay the tax, but Jesus told Peter to pay it anyway so they would not offend the tax collectors. Not only did Jesus tell Peter to pay the tax, he also told him where to get the money. He told Peter to go fishing. That’s right, and he told him the first fish he caught would have money in its mouth, just the right amount needed to pay the tax. Peter went to the sea and threw out his line just as Jesus said, and he opened the mouth of the first fish he caught and sure enough, there was money in the mouth of the fish. How could that happen? Maybe the fish tried to swallow a shinny coin, and it got caught in its mouth or throat. All Peter had to do was throw his line in at the right place in the sea, and hope the fish with money in its mouth would bite the hook first, and it did! Of course, it was a miracle because only Jesus knew about the fish with money in its mouth, and only Jesus could help Peter catch it. What lesson do we learn from this Bible Story? We learn that Jesus knows all about us, and whenever we need a miracle, he can make it happen.