Jesus Faith Fish
Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author
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Peter came to Jesus
about the tax money they were to pay. Jesus told Peter, "Cast your hook into
the waters and the first fish you catch open its mouth and take out the coin
therein." Matthew 17 24. And
when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to
Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25. He
saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying,
What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or
tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26. Peter
saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27. Notwithstanding,
lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up
the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt
find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. The first part of faith
here was to believe that the fish would have the coin, right? I occasionally
fish, and many times I catch nothing at all. So, to me, the first part is that
there would be a fish there, and that he would catch it, and then that there
would be a coin in its mouth. So there were 3 areas that Peter had to have
faith for: ·
the fish was there ·
he would catch it ·
it would have the coin. At any point Peter could
have lost faith. First, there could have been no fish for him to catch, or that
he would catch no fish. As with so much of the
Bible we read and never see all of the meaning or grasp all it is trying to
teach us. Luke 5 4. Now when
he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let
down your nets for a draught. 5. And
Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have
taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6. And when
they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net
brake. 7. And they
beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should
come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they
began to sink. 8. When
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I
am a sinful man, O Lord. 9. For he
was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which
they had taken: You
see, in the above, Peter had trouble believing Jesus and only let down one net,
not the nets as Jesus had asked. And as it has been pointed out by others it
was most likely an old net. So after this when he was told to go and catch the
taxes via a fish, he had faith based on what he had seen. Here we go again with
Jesus faith vs our faith. Matthew 14 14. And
Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion
toward them, and he healed their sick. 15. And
when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place,
and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the
villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16. But
Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17. And
they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18. He
said, Bring them hither to me. 19. And he
comanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and
the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the
loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20. And
they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that
remained twelve baskets full. 21. And
they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Matthew 15 32. Then
Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the
multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to
eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 33. And
his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the
wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 34. And
Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few
little fishes. 35. And he
comanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36. And he
took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave
to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 37. And
they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was
left seven baskets full. 38. And
they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. Two
times here Jesus fed thousands on what would not even feed Him and His apostles
at the time. He blessed it, believed, and it fed them all and left enough over
to bless the one who brought the food to Him. So we
see Jesus tell Peter let down his nets, Peter lets down an old net and almost
loses the greatest catch of his life as far as fish go. Then Jesus tells Peter
to go and catch the tax money needed. With the crowds He blessed the food and
passed out the small amounts they had to feed thousands and take up more back
than they started with. So
what do you see here? Jesus
was mocking Peter about the taxes. Peter had faith to walk on water for a short
time so he had the faith to resolve this as well. The
next time you have a need remember the following. 1
Corinthians 1 24. But
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and
the wisdom of God. Mark 11 22. And
Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23. For
verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but
shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall
have whatsoever he saith. 24. Therefore
I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them. 25. And
when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father
also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26. But if
ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your
trespasses. Why a mountain and a
sea? A mountain is the largest thing on the earth and to cast it into the sea
means the deepest areas of the earth where it would never be seen again. So no
matter how large your problems seem they are small in comparison to a mountain. Always look to see what
you might be missing as far as the word and faith is concerned.
God Bless You as you hear His words and follow His leading.
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