在2024年，一名少年奇剛（Keegan）開心地釣到了一條約60公分長的澳洲鱸魚。然而，當他妹妹指出這條魚身上的標籤時，他更是欣喜若狂！原來這條魚價值一百萬澳元，是澳洲一項釣魚比賽的首獎。這項年度賽事自2015年舉辦以來，奇剛是第一個贏得這份最高獎金的優勝者。

雖然要釣到那條魚的機率很低，可是隨便釣上來一條魚，魚嘴裡有枚硬幣的機率更低。但馬太福音記載，耶穌指示他的門徒彼得說：「你且往海邊去釣魚，把先釣上來的魚拿起來，開了牠的口，必得一塊錢。」（17章27節）

聖經中這不尋常的釣魚事件，其背景是關於耶穌是否應繳納丁稅的爭論（24節）。耶穌是上帝的兒子，而那些人堅持要耶穌納稅來維持上帝的殿宇，這本身就很矛盾，耶穌完全明白，所以祂指出君王的兒女不必向君王納稅（25-26節）。

然而，耶穌沒必要冒犯這些人，讓人以為祂故意逃稅，從而分散人們對祂教導的注意力（27節）。所以耶穌吩咐彼得去釣一條魚，而那魚嘴裡會有一個銀幣，正好夠支付祂與彼得的稅金！或許這是對彼得和我們的一個提醒：上帝是供應者，祂總是與跟隨祂的兒女們同在。

In 2024, teenager Keegan happily reeled in a two-foot barramundi. But his happiness became elation when his little sister pointed out a tag on the fish. His catch was worth one million dollars as part of an Australian fishing competition. The annual event had been held since 2015; Keegan was the first to win the coveted top cash prize. 

However slim the odds of catching that fish, the odds were far lower that a fish caught at random would have a coin in its mouth. But in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus instructed His disciple Peter to “go to the lake and . . . take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin” (17:27).

The context of this unlikely catch was a question of whether Jesus paid the temple tax (v. 24). The irony of insisting that Jesus—God’s Son—pay a tax to support God’s temple, wasn’t lost on Him. He pointed out that the king’s children don’t pay taxes to the king (vv. 25-26).

But there was no need to “cause offense” and distract others from His teaching by being perceived as a tax evader (v. 27). So Jesus instructed Peter to catch that fish, which had the exact amount to pay both His and Peter’s tax! Perhaps in part it was a reminder to Peter—and to us—that God is a provider who is always with His children as they follow Him.