In any case, by the Lord's talk with him, Peter was convinced and his mouth was shut. I do believe that Peter finally learned that he should never open his quick mouth and say yes or no, but let Jesus do the speaking. The lesson is not so easy. You must pay something for this lesson.
Then the Lord said to Peter, "Have you been convinced not to say yes or no? Then you go fishing. Go to the sea; there is no transportation, and I do not know how far you have to go. Just go fishing, and cast a hook into the water. Eventually you will catch a fish: open its mouth and find a coin which will be good not only for Me, but also for you, not only for the Head, but also for the Body." If I were Peter, I would be greatly distressed. I would say, "Lord, you want me to go fishing, all by myself? Aren't you going to send John or James with me?" But the Lord would answer, "No, I will not send them with you, because you do not need them. Even if I sent them, you would never listen to them. You always make the decisions yourself, so go fishing by yourself. Learn the lesson that you need your brothers. Go to the sea, cast the hook into the water, and wait until the first fish comes."
Peter went then to the sea and did as the Lord commanded. I simply cannot believe that he caught the fish immediately. I do believe the Lord made him wait awhile for the first fish to come, giving him plenty of time to consider what had just transpired. I can imagine him there with a line in the water, waiting and waiting, considering and considering. All the time the lesson was being driven into him deeper and deeper. Peter had a hard lesson to learn.
At last Peter caught the fish just as the Lord had said. We must now see that the Lord is not only today's Moses, but also today's Elijah. He is not only the One Who gives the laws, but also the One who prophesies, who predicts. When He told Peter to go fishing, take the first fish and find in it a coin, this was a great prophecy. The illustration was rather small, but the implication is profound. Christ today is both Moses and Elijah: He gives the laws and He prophesies. When He predicts anything, it will certainly be fulfilled. There is no more Moses and no more Elijah; there is only Jesus—hear ye Him. Since we have Jesus, we need Moses no longer; since we have Jesus, we need Elijah no longer. He is the present Moses, and He is the present Elijah. Whatever He commands, that is the law; whatever He predicts, that is the prophecy.
Furthermore, with whatever the Lord commands He also prophesies the way whereby we may fulfill what He has commanded. This is indeed marvelous. Moses could only command; Moses could never afford anything in the way of supply for the people to fulfill his commandments. But the Lord is both the Commander and also the Fulfiller. Do you see this? The Lord not only gives us the commandments, but also affords us the supply to fulfill His commandments. What we need to do is just to go along with Him. When He says no, we must simply go along with Him and say no. When He says yes, we must go along with Him and say yes. When He says, "Go fishing," then we must go fishing; when He says, "Cast the hook into the water," just cast it into the water. When He says, "Wait until the fish comes," then just wait there until it comes. When He says, "Open the mouth of the fish," be simple, just open the mouth of the fish. When He says to take the coin from the fish's mouth, do it. Go along with His word, not merely with the word of the Bible, but the word of the living Jesus.