{"id":3507,"date":"2024-03-22T23:23:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T03:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2024-03-22T23:23:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T03:23:14","slug":"gone-fishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/22\/gone-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Gone Fishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>
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Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>
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What would you do if you were endowed with all the power in the universe?
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In the 2003 feature film Bruce Almighty<\/em>, God temporarily entrusts his powers to a frustrated TV reporter named Bruce Nolan (played by Jim Carrey).
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Like a kid in a candy store, Bruce parts his tomato soup as if it were the Red Sea, exacts revenge on a street gang that had bullied him, pulls the moon closer to the Earth to create a more romantic evening with his girlfriend, and arranges to have the TV cameras rolling when he finds the long-missing body of Jimmy Hoffa.
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Having access to God\u2019s power seems mighty entertaining.
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Jesus\u2019 displays of supernatural power, on the other hand, are considerably more sober.\u00a0 They classically fall into three categories: miracles of healing (restoring sight to the blind, raising the dead, exorcising demons), miracles of provision (feeding the 5,000, turning water into wine), and miracles demonstrating Jesus\u2019 power over creation (stilling a raging storm, walking on water).
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Jesus\u2019 actions are all about serving others, not about showing off or settling scores.\u00a0
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That being said, there are a few miracles that seem to defy classification.\u00a0 Jesus curses a fig tree in a moment of anger (a story we\u2019ll explore next week), and tells Peter to pay the temple tax with a coin he\u2019ll find in the mouth of a fish.\u00a0 These events seem, at first glance, a bit like performing signs and wonders in soup bowls.
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Why in the world does Peter have to go fishing to procure legal tender?\u00a0 Here\u2019s how the The Message<\/em> renders this unusual story in Matthew 17:24-27:\u00a0
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When they arrived at Capernaum, the tax men came to Peter and asked, \u201cDoes your teacher pay taxes?\u201d \u00a0Peter said, \u201cOf course.\u201d But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him. \u201cSimon, what do you think? When a king levies taxes, who pays\u2014his children or his subjects?\u201d<\/em>
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He answered, \u201cHis subjects.\u201d Jesus said, \u201cThen the children get off free, right? But so we don\u2019t upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you\u2019ll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.\u201d<\/em>
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Modern-day tourists who patronize the restaurants in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee will be offered \u201cSt. Peter\u2019s Fish.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s actually a species of tilapia, a fresh-water fish found the world over, which did indeed swim in the Sea of Galilee during the time of Jesus.
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These fish are also known, from time to time, to do something rather extraordinary: They hold shiny objects in their mouths.\u00a0 That might include silver currency.\u00a0
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Thus the notion that Peter could retrieve a four-drachma coin from the first fish he catches is not as far-fetched as it sounds \u2013 and might indicate that, in the end, this is a miracle of timing.
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Why is Peter the only disciple who figures in this conversation?\u00a0 What about the others?\u00a0 According to Exodus 30:13-14, only those 20 years and older were required to pay the annual two-drachma temple tax.\u00a0 This may be evidence that Peter is (as is often assumed) the \u201csenior disciple,\u201d while the others fall somewhere between 15 and 19 years old \u2013 the typical age range for young men who signed on as apprentices to a rabbi. \u00a0\u00a0
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So, where does this one-of-a-kind miracle take us?
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Some scholars propose it\u2019s simple evidence that Jesus rules the cosmos: He knows exactly when and where a fishhook will win the lottery.\u00a0 Others suggest that he\u2019s demonstrating God\u2019s willingness to provide everything we need, including routine financial obligations.
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Yet other readers have optimistically understood Jesus\u2019 comments to indicate that Christians, technically, don\u2019t need to pay taxes \u2013 potentially very good news as we head toward April 15.\u00a0
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But the message that most commentators discover in this text points us in a different direction.\u00a0 Notice Jesus\u2019 words: If we\u2019re in sync with his spirit, we will never \u201cupset others needlessly.\u201d\u00a0
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Our call, in other words, isn\u2019t to quibble about the validity of paying our fair share to help society function. \u00a0Of course we should. \u00a0Jesus is inviting us to go through life with a gracious spirit.
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One of the Bible\u2019s best-kept secrets is its teaching that there are a number of issues \u2013 issues that are not central to Christian theology or ethics \u2013 where I can think one thing, and you can think just the opposite, and we can both be right and blessed by God.\u00a0<\/em>
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We can both be right about whether drums and guitars should be \u201cin\u201d or \u201cout\u201d at worship.\u00a0 We can take genuinely different approaches to \u201cgood parenting,\u201d and both end up raising healthy kids.\u00a0 We can come to different conclusions about the age of the earth, whether gambling is spiritually corrosive, and whether or not someone who loves God should feel free to relax this weekend with a cold beer.\u00a0
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So what do we do when we when have such disagreements?\u00a0 We choose to do what God does:\u00a0 We accept each other<\/em>.
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The word \u201caccept\u201d comes from the Latin words ad capere<\/em>, which means, \u201cto take to oneself.\u201d\u00a0 Strange as it may seem, offering acceptance to another human being is actually a form of receiving.\u00a0
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If I accept you, it doesn\u2019t mean that I agree with all of your opinions about every subject.\u00a0 It does mean that I welcome you into my circle of care and concern.\u00a0 I take you and your interests \u2013 even though you think differently \u2013 to myself.\u00a0
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We can only wish that more people in our culture would consider this approach.
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Christian circles can be tainted by a winner-takes-all mentality.\u00a0 God wants me to come out on top because God has assured me that I am right.\u00a0 And that means it\u2019s time for you to get in line with the truth \u2013 which means coming around to my way of seeing things.
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But Jesus takes a gentler approach.\u00a0
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\u201cPeter, people can get seriously worked up about things.\u00a0 But there\u2019s no reason to upset them needlessly. \u00a0So, let\u2019s pay the tax.\u00a0
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\u201cBut you\u2019ll never guess in a million years how it\u2019s going to happen.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here\u00a0Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What would you do if you were endowed with all the power in the universe?\u00a0In the 2003 feature film Bruce Almighty, God temporarily entrusts his… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-3507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-miracles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3509,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions\/3509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}