CATCHING A FISH WITH A COIN IN ITS MOUTH

1. Why did Jesus perform miracles? 

a) If Jesus really were divine, he should have been able to perform miracles. Jesus did just that. He healed the sick, walked on water and even raised the dead. These miracles helped to support his claim that he was the true God come to earth to save mankind.

b) The miracles of Jesus are described in the New Testament and are listed more or less below.

2. Miracles of Jesus: Catching a fish with a coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:24-27)

a) During a time when Jesus and Peter were in the town of Capernaum, which is in the region of Galilee in the northern part of the Biblical land of Israel, tax collectors approached Peter and asked for taxes for the Temple.

b) Jesus told Peter to catch a fish and that the first fish he would catch would have enough money in its mouth to pay the taxes for Peter and Jesus. The first fish that he caught had a four-drachma coin in its mouth, enough to pay the taxes.

c) As explained in the Gospel of Matthew: 

Matthew 17:24-27 New International Version (NIV) 

²⁴ After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple 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, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” 

²⁶ “From others,” Peter answered. 

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. ²⁷ “But so that we may not cause offense, 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.”