Why a fish?

Or, Peter's story.

Apr 17, 2025

By Pastora Cate Covert

The day was hot. The temple men whispered to each other as Peter retreated into his house, where his rabbi was staying with him. They had set the trap; now, all they had to do was wait and watch.

The elder told the younger, “They don’t work, and Shimon has been away with this Yeshua. They won’t be able to pay the required tax. Then our masters will have grounds to punish them.”

Thankful for the relative coolness of his home, Peter moved quickly to Yeshua’s side, but Yeshua spoke first and asked:

“Peter, what do you think about this? Does a king of the nations take taxes from his sons? Or from strangers?”

The question surprised him. Peter sputtered, “The strangers, Master.”

Yeshua nodded and replied, “Then the sons are free...”

His words hung in the air for a moment, then he continued: “But so we don’t offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. Open its mouth, and you will find a piece of money—enough to pay the tax for you and me. Take it and pay the collectors.”

Astonished, Peter whispered. “Master, are you...?”

Yeshua looked at him sharply and held his gaze. No further words were necessary. Peter hurried out of the house and obeyed, unaware that a small group of curious folks followed.

He exhaled his Master’s instructions with each breath as he jogged to his boat: “Use a hook. First fish. Open its mouth. Find the coin. Give it to the temple men.” To his soul, he whispered: So we don’t offend them? Since when does Master worry about the feelings of those religious leaders?

Andrew ran up behind him; “Brother! When did you get back? And where are you going?”

“Fishing!” That was all he could say before Andrew passed him, running full speed to the seashore.

Wait until he hears what I’m to do!

Then: Why should we not offend them? Peter shook his head and kept jogging.

Andrew was in the boat and had started gathering the nets when Peter reached the shore.

Peter shouted, “No, brother. He said to use a hook.”

Andrew dropped the nets and climbed down from the boat, drawing closer to ply Peter with questions; “Why a hook? Won’t that take longer?”

Peter sighed. Andrew’s practical question revealed his lack of concern for the bigger picture. Didn’t he understand the impossibility of the task?

Then he chided himself. Of course not! He doesn’t know what Master sent me here to do!

Peter envied his brother’s easy faith in this Teacher, whom he had introduced on the day of the first miracle he had ever witnessed. He barked sharply, “When Master gives instructions, we’d better do it just as He says, or there will be trouble!”

Then, ashamed of his tone, Peter slapped his brother’s back and said, “I’m supposed to catch a fish – the first fish! And in it will be a coin to pay the temple men for Master and me. So, this ‘fisher of men’ will try to catch the Master’s magic fish.”

Andrew, unperturbed by the surprising revelation, scolded: “Peter! It’s not magic! The fish is just a fish. Our Teacher will supply the miracle by the grace of our Elohim!”

Peter groaned; “You’re not the one who hasn’t paid his temple tax yet! We have no money, and I have no time to go to sea to catch fish for the market.” He turned to concentrate on his task.

Laughing, Andrew noticed that the group of people, some temple men among them, were almost to the shore. He waved his arms to control the traffic. “Everybody, stay back, please! Let the man fish in peace!” Puzzled, the folks obeyed and watched.

Two minutes later, Peter threw his hook and line into the water; almost as soon as his hook sank beneath the surface, he felt a strong tug on the line. Setting the hook, he muttered, “After all you’ve seen, why do you doubt? What if you pull up a junk fish with no coin in its mouth?”

Then, louder than he intended, “WHY A FISH, ANYWAY?!”

Andrew chuckled at his outburst and replied: “Why call four fishermen to be fishers of men? Why anything? Because the Teacher said so. That’s good enough, Peter!”

Peter, irritated, concentrated on landing his fish. As he lifted it onto the shore, dangling and dripping, it seemed an average fish, nothing special; he grabbed it, and using the fish’s gills as a handle, Peter’s right hand removed the hook from its lip and opened its mouth.

He inhaled sharply, then whistled. There was the coin, just as Master had said. It was precisely enough to satisfy the temple men.

Peter handed the fish to Andrew, rinsed off the coin in the water, and grunted: “That’s it, brother. Time to finish this.”

Peter stood and turned to the people. Spying the tax collectors, he said: “Hey, Temple Man, I have your taxes!” He held up the coin so all could see.

Now, the curious crowd grew excited, and some started shouting. The temple men came forward, looking bewildered.

The senior of the two held out a shaky hand, and Peter deposited the coin, saying, “This makes us even, right?”

The temple man grasped the coin, nodded, grabbed his partner’s arm, and quickly turned to return and report the matter—they had failed to trap him, but their masters could hardly blame them!

Peter and Andrew stood on the shore, watching as the crowd headed back toward home.

Peter said, “Brother, I wonder why Master didn’t come along to see if we did it right? Everyone could have watched Him do the miracle instead of me.”

Andrew, grinning, said, “Don’t you get it? This little fishing trip proves to all those religious leaders that the Master has the authority to send us in His place, and it will get done! But it’s still His miracle, brother! You didn’t put the coin there, right?!”

“Yes, yes, right.” Peter paused to consider. Then, “But why do this? And why do it like this?”

With a shrug and an affectionate smile, Andrew stretched an arm across his brother’s shoulder and answered, “You’ll have to ask Him.”

Together, Peter, Andrew, and the fish followed the stragglers of the crowd back to the city.

Beloved,

I came across this story again in my evening bible reading a couple of weeks ago. It always seemed oddly miraculous, but I had no other mental place to file it. It didn’t fit the apparent pattern of Yeshua’s miracles: no wedding party was saved from disaster, nobody was healed or raised from the dead, and no demons were cast out.

Here’s the story, as found in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Matthew 17:24-27 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” (25) He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” (26) Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. (27) Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

While preparing for sleep that night, I asked the Lord, “Why a fish?”

I knew I could mull this over and come up with some decent reasons, but I wanted the Lord to show me something that never would have occurred.

Feeling sure that onlookers would have rushed to copy what Peter did, one of the first things that occurred to me was to ask:

How does someone believe enough to look in a fish's mouth that Yeshua didn’t direct them to catch and search, yet he would refuse to surrender to Elohim?

Having read in the Gospels how Yeshua frequently rebuked his disciples for having little faith or for doubting, I wondered:

How could His disciples doubt that Yeshua could feed the [1]4,000 people after they had participated in the distribution of five loaves and two fish to [2]5,000 people?

Keep in mind: Yeshua's stories and words carried messages for the general population of Israel, the religious leaders, the individuals involved, and even those of us who came to be born far into the future. His message would speak to Hebrews and non-Hebrews alike, and it would be perfect and redemptive for all who allowed it to touch them.

The message contained in this historical record of Peter’s fish is no different.

As we know, Peter, formerly Simon (Shimon), was a fisherman.

In his first encounter with Yeshua, [3]Peter was asked to do something that contradicted his logical mind and practical experience. Though doubtful, he obeyed when Yeshua told him to cast his net out on the other side of his boat. The net became so full of fish that Peter’s boat and that of his friends almost sank.

That day, Peter discerned Yeshua's Divine nature, confessed his own sinfulness, and began to learn how obedience to his Master in seemingly small actions could yield large miracles.

Fast forward to the day the Temple men set a trap for Yeshua.

Peter, a man who fished all of his life, was directed to do what he had always done to meet the small needs of the moment. He didn’t understand why his Master insisted on this apparent shortcut (fishing with a hook), and he still had to work to get it, but Elohim supplied the coin necessary to pay the temple tax.

But Yeshua’s command perplexed Peter. Rather than offend (cause conflict with) the temple men, Yeshua prophesied to Peter and performed a miracle through him so they could fulfill the righteous requirement of all men of Israel to pay the tax to the ones who took care of the Temple.

Why?

To understand this, we must differentiate between the Scribes, Pharisees, and Teachers of the Law versus the administrators and ministers of the Temple.

Elohim, our God, wasn’t offended by the Temple or the requirements for its upkeep and administration. These He prescribed for the Children of Israel in the [4]Law, which Moshe (Moses) delivered to the people of Israel. It was the false Torah of the Pharisees that had begun to take hold in the land—that was an egregious offense to the Creator of the Universe, Elohim, our God.

Yes, as insidious as it sounds, the Pharisees and other religious leaders had (and still have) a [i][5] secret “Torah” they follow(ed), and it was not the Torah of Elohim as transmitted through Moses to the Children of Israel! This false Torah and oppressive religious system had roots in paganism and the worship of self and foreign gods.

Yeshua strongly opposed these religious leaders because they subjected the people of God to a heavier burden than their Roman overseers did!

These religious vipers and white-washed tombs (as Yeshua called them) kept the people captive, like sheep for slaughter, preying on them with no regard for their simple souls – lost sheep of Israel whom Elohim created in His image.

We need some background to properly understand this grave sin of the religious leaders.

After Elohim commanded Moses to lead the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, He provided oversight and instruction for His people through His perfect Law (the Ten Commandments).

Elohim set aside one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the Levites, to be perpetual servants in the Lord’s Tabernacle (and later, the Temple).

Furthermore, Elohim commanded the people to institute a lottery so that the descendants of Aaron had to draw lots to see who would serve as high priests for a year. The Spirit of God ruled over this event so that He could demonstrate to all the people of Israel the ones whom He had chosen to minister to the Lord Most High.

Though this practice still occurred in Yeshua’s time on earth, there was a terrible gap in the people's understanding. The religious men in long, flowing robes of black or white taught “rabbinic Judaism” (the traditions of men) and obscured the truth of God's simple instructions. They subverted His Law to suit their fleshly appetites, adding many rules, examining pedigrees, elevating the rich, profiting off the poor, and thumbing their religious noses at Elohim, [6]Whom they had come to believe must be subject to them after the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai.

Yeshua detested their practices. Theirs was the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and worse, it was the separation of religious leaders from the so-called laity. Theirs was a poison that would infect and subjugate all of Israel’s sons and daughters all over the world, well into the present day, and Yeshua adamantly rebuked the scribes and Pharisees on many occasions. He called them sons of their father, the devil. He could not have been clearer in making a distinction, and they hated him for it.

Nowhere else is the distinction between obeying the Law of Moses (really, of Elohim) versus obeying the false “Jews” and their apostate manufactured religion made more stark; Yeshua honored the Law of His Abba while He walked the earth as the Son of Adam and the Son of God! He clearly stated that He did not come to do away with the Law of God but to fulfill it!

After a plain reading of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, Yeshua’s mission was so evident that we don’t need to belabor it further in this context.

So, what about Peter and Andrew (along with James and John) – the “fishers of men” who left their boats and nets and followed Yeshua at His command?

Some have asked, wasn’t this a contradiction?

Not at all.

By calling the two sets of brothers that day, Yeshua indicated a change in their vocation—their regular job would be eclipsed by their new calling from Elohim, with an emphasis on spreading the Gospel. Yeshua didn’t say they would never fish again. Indeed, Peter and the other new itinerant students of the Messiah surely went fishing whenever they had the opportunity so they could help provide food for everyone.

Back to Peter:

Yeshua didn’t want him to go fishing with a net in the boat. That would not drive home the message to Peter, whom He knew would need this event added to his fund of experiences when it was time for him to step into his role as a leader in the nascent Church.

Consider Peter’s point of view:

What are the chances of catching a fish with a pole and line? Not bad. People do it every day all over the world.

What about taking only one fish – the first one Peter would catch – and opening its mouth to find a shekel coin to pay the temple tax? Now, the odds were not so good. Now, it was not going to come down to luck.

Yeshua didn’t say to catch fish and keep looking in their mouths until you find a coin! That might have increased the human odds of finding a curious fish that sucked up everything it saw and tried to eat it.

No, He said the FIRST fish. It didn’t have to be the only fish; if Peter wanted to catch more, he could have, but after what followed, I imagine it slipped his mind!

Now the word was out, the trap was foiled, the tax was paid, premature conflict with temple authorities was averted, and the word spread about this Jesus who could command His servants to go and do, and it would be done according to His word.

Not one stroke of Elohim’s brush is ever wasted. The Great Economist (as some have called Him) provided maximum benefit and coverage of this event for all who would hear of it, even today.

Astounding. I had to imagine the scene repeatedly to fix it in my mind. Thus, I guess Peter, too, had ruminated on this day for a long time.

Finally, I wondered about the possible personal application of this story, so I asked myself:

How many people, after seeing Peter get the money for the temple tax out of the mouth of the fish, rushed immediately to go fishing, picked up the first fish, and pried its mouth open to find... nothing?

Of those who tried it:

Who shook their fist and declared the whole thing a hoax?

Who used the occasion to blame God for their predicament?

Who succumbed to despair because it was their last hope, but they had hoped amiss and not on Elohim?

Who pressed in to find out what the problem was and, having nothing left to lose, decided to pursue Elohim with all their hearts, no matter what?

If that sounds silly, ask yourself who in our modern day has ever:

Touched their TV screen as a “point of contact” because the televangelist said to do it to get God’s blessing? Or,

Cut up a stack of paper into the size of dollar bills, placed it in a lunch-sized paper sack, prayed over it, and woke up expecting to find money in place of paper? Or,

Took that “blessed” or “anointed” scapular, an ampoule of oil, a piece of “prayer shawl,” or any other item they received in the mail, and touched/used it on their body because the letter said if they obeyed, they would get their miracle?

I’ll go first. (Raising my hand.)

I did all of that as a young, desperately poor Christian mother. Many in my generation did.

But here’s the problem:

There was no evidence to draw on, no miracle to point to, no command of the Lord! We complied just because the guy in the suit on stage with the microphone said to do it. We could not see the American-style Phariseeism that had crept into the “corporation churches,” programmed us through the “airwaves,” and put us in a chokehold.

This is where the proverbial rubber meets the less-traveled road; Christ-followers must turn to our Abba and ask His Holy Spirit to teach us.

We must be curious and dedicated to finding the answers we seek. He is a good Father and will not give us a stone instead of bread or a serpent in place of a fish. He will reward those who seek Him diligently—this is His promise.

I want to say that I quickly wised up and never again held foolish beliefs—no more superstitions, no more magical thinking, and no more blind trust for those sparkly, rich people who visited well-manicured churches, dispensed their snake oil, and raked in our hard-earned and hard-to-part-with dollars. But it was a process; it took me decades to grow up in faith.

It all began when I decided I needed to discover what the Word of Elohim, our Abba/Father in Heaven, really taught about life, the universe, and everything in it.

I embarked on a course of study guided by Ruach Ha Kodesh, Holy Spirit, and I praise Elohim because that education continues to this day.

I have encountered dangers, resistance, and loneliness in the process. But I have become rich because of it, and I know that His Word and His Spirit will continue to teach me until He decides it is time for me to graduate and come Home.

As an aside, and in closing, I have been an avid fisherwoman since age three. Though my health has not allowed me to participate in this pastime/sport for several years, I have always felt a certain kinship with Peter because of his work as a fisherman. Maybe it’s that kinship that led me along that trail of thought that inspired me to ask the question: