The story behind this image is the miracle of finding the temple tax in the mouth of a fish. Interestingly, the miracle never actually “happens” in the text—Matthew only gives us what Christ spoke—the instructions for how Peter was the obtain the tax. Peter’s obedience and the acquisition of the coin is all implied, and theologically, this story would be great to study for a proper understanding of how active obedience relates to God’s providence.

However, the discourse does not dwell on how the coin is acquired, but rather on whether or not it is fitting for Christ to even pay the tax—the implication is that He does not. For context, the temple tax was a half-shekel each individual would pay to enter. By way of the fish, Christ provides a full shekel to cover both Peter and Christ, even while implying he has no obligation to pay it. The singular whole shekel—the only bit of gold in this art piece, something halo-like—can certainly be interpreted as the two halves of Heaven and Earth coming together through the fully God/fully man of Christ, that entry into the True Temple is covered only by faith in/obedience to Christ.

But to me, there’s something more to this conclusion—“then the sons are free.” Could it be Him expounding on His earlier teaching—His daringly offensive command to “not be anxious”? How can you tell a limited and self-oriented creature who lacks omniscience not to express anxiety over the perceived uncertainty of existence? For those bound in time with an awareness of mortality, anxiety ought to be humankind’s birthright! But the words “do not be anxious” are not Christ’s words for everyone, they are reserved for the “sons;” and not just a son, but a son who knows he is a son, and thereby exempt from the tax. And if God is indeed who Jesus claims—the God who keeps knowledge of every sparrow and creates each color of each lily—then perhaps we may realize how deeply and unfathomably loved we already are and how true it is, what Peter learns from Jesus and the Moneyfish: “then the sons are free.”