Although I was brought up in the church and knew in my head what the church stood for there was a time in my life when people who knew me would have said that I had converted to paganism. Plainly said, I was angry and rebellious and certainly didn’t feel “good enough” for the church. To make matters worse I had burned some bridges that made coming back to the church even more humbling. I felt like the disciple Peter who had denied knowing Jesus in Pilate’s court Yard. I felt like the Peter who asked to get out of the boat to walk on water but only made it a couple of steps before sinking and crying out for help. I’d be the guy to hack off an ear and then be rebuked by the Son of God for not loving the person first. Like Peter, I too can see Jesus sometimes telling me, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me”, while I thought I was doing something right. And like Peter I too sometimes feel like the shining example of weak faith and misguided intentions.
It took some time before I was able to understand the beauty of a rarely read and rarely understood incident between Jesus and Peter recorded in chapter 17 of the gospel of Matthew.
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax ?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Peter?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
(Taken from the New International Version. The bold print is my emphasis).
First of all this is not about proving Jesus wasn’t guilty of tax evasion, nor is it about having God pay our taxes for us, (although that might be nice). This is not even about the power of God to stuff your “taxes due” in the mouth of a delicious Pickerel (The Canadian version). And finally this is not about behaving so as not to offend others, although that too is a good thing to practice.
This story is about assurance. If anyone ever had reason to doubt their place with God, Peter did. If anyone ever had reason to think, “I crossed the line, I can’t go back”, Peter did. Jesus’ words of assurance and encouragement are these…..You and I are sons of the King. He is reminding Peter that, despite all his short-comings he is still the son of the owner. He has a position of privilege. He is the heir to all that the King (our Father in Heaven), owns. He will not be written out of the will and the two of them will remain brothers. Jesus even welcomes Peter back after Peter denied him in the courtyard outside Pilate’s court.
That is the message that drew me back into a relationship with Jesus. Through the prophet Isaiah, God says of Jesus, 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. (Isaiah 42:3). I know that in my life I have experienced times of being a smoldering wick rather than the bright flame of Christian love. I know that I have done things and said things that were, plainly said, “stupid”. I have offended others, and hurt people I care about but in all this God never disinherited me. He is always looking to remind me that I have a position of privilege with him and he never fails to provide me with opportunity to live effectively out of that position with Him. If you sense He is tuning the “strings” of your heart to resonate with His song, listen to Him. It is a love song dedicated to you.
Kasey VanderVeen, Pastor
Good News Fellowship
Winnipeg MB