By these few words, Peter became quite clear that the Lord need not pay the tribute. He came to realize fully that the Son is free. Then the Lord said, in effect, “Nevertheless, lest we offend them, we should pay.” When we say “Yes,” Jesus may say “No.” When we say “No,” He may say “Yes.” In my experience very often when I said “Yes,” the Lord Jesus would say “No.” And then when I followed Him to say “No,” He would then say “Yes.” It seems that He is a real “trouble-maker.” It is not such a simple lesson to learn to do whatever the Lord says, regardless of what He has said in the past.
Peter learned his lesson in a hard way. The Lord said that He would pay the tribute to keep from offending the others, but He would not give money to Peter for him to pay it. No, Peter needed to go fishing to find some money in the mouth of a fish, money that would be sufficient for both the Lord and himself. If I were Peter, in a sense, I would not know what to do. The Lord gave him a difficult task. “Go fishing, and find the money in the mouth of the first fish that comes up.” I do not know how long Peter had to wait for that fish, but I am sure that by that experience he learned a lesson. He may have said, “O Lord, from now on I will never forget the vision. I will never forget what I heard from the heavens at the transfiguration. The next time someone asks me a question, I will answer according to what I have seen.” This was a good lesson for Peter. Eventually, the fish came, and the money was there. Then he paid the half-shekel for the Lord and for himself, and the problem was solved.
It was by such a simple matter that the Lord caused Peter to know that today it is not Moses who gives the commandment, but Jesus. When the Lord says to pay, we pay; when He says not to pay, we do not pay. Now Peter paid the half-shekel not according to what Moses said, but according to what Christ said. Now to pay the poll tax is not a matter of keeping the law of Moses, but a matter of keeping the word of Christ. In that sense, there is no need to obey the law of Moses any longer—that is over. Today, Christ is the present and living Law-giver. We should forget about Moses and apply Christ in every situation. When He says to pay, we pay. When He says not to pay, we do not pay. It is not a matter of listening to Moses, but a matter of listening to Christ. It is not a matter of paying or not paying, but a matter of what Christ says.
Because Christ today is within us, it is not a matter of doing or not doing. It is altogether a matter of listening to the living, present word of Christ. It is not a matter of cutting your hair short, for example, or of wearing it long. It is absolutely a matter of listening to the living word of Christ. This is today’s New Testament service.
In this test, the Lord Jesus made it clear to Peter that He is today’s Moses, He is the present Law-giver. The old Moses is over; the old Moses was finished at the Mount of Transfiguration. Christ is the new Moses, the unique Moses. We should listen to Him. This Moses is in contradiction to us; that is, when we say “Yes,” He will say “No.” Furthermore, He has a stronger argument to prove that He is right. Then after we are convinced that we should follow Him, He may say something different. Either way, the case is in His hand, because today He is the living Law-giver; therefore, whatever He says is right. We should not say anything, but let Him do all the speaking. When He says “Yes,” we say “Amen.” When He says “No,” we also say “Amen.”
The problem with Moses is that when he gives the commandment, he simply gives the commandment. He does not supply the strength to fulfill that commandment. Moses told the people to pay the half-shekel, but he did not offer the strength to do it. Moses said, “Pay!” but he offered no payment. However, when Christ asks us to pay, He supplies the payment. When the Lord gives the commandment, He affords the strength to fulfill it. He is the present, living Law-giver with the strength to keep the law. The Moses of the old dispensation is over; Christ is the Moses of the new dispensation, the new Moses.
Furthermore, Christ is not only the present Moses, but He is also today’s Prophet, the Prophet who is living in our daily life. He prophesied that a fish would come and that a piece of money would be found in the fish’s mouth, money sufficient to pay the half-shekel for Him and for Peter. This was not a great thing. It was not like the so-called prophecies of today that say, “Thus saith the Lord: There will be a big earthquake, and Los Angeles will fall into the ocean.” What does a so-called prophecy such as this have to do with our daily life? The prophecy of Jesus was not so great. It was such a small thing, but it had a real meaning for Peter’s daily life.
This Jesus is the real Prophet, the living Prophet, the Prophet in our daily life. He does not give a lot of teaching and doctrine, but He gives simply a little prediction with a living instruction. If we will take His word and go along with His instruction, we will receive the help. We do not need the big terms and the big teachings. We need something living and practical. We do not need a great prophecy that has no meaning, but we need a few little words that teach us some lesson and supply some need. That is good enough. By this we can realize that Jesus is the living, present Elijah. We do not need the Moses and Elijah of the old dispensation any longer. Christ is everything we need.
If you will not misunderstand me, I will say also that because we have Christ, we do not need the Bible in the same way that we need Christ. To uplift the Bible to the level of Christ Himself could even be an insult to Him. If I wrote you a letter a month ago, yet today while I am here in your presence you will not talk to me but merely quote my letter, that would be an insult to me. In a sense, the Bible is the letter of Christ to us, and we need to read it. However, when Christ Himself comes, we should go to Him. I believe you can understand what I mean. If there is a group of people on this earth who love the Bible, surely I must be one of them. Nevertheless, I would tell you that the Bible cannot be on the same level as Christ. The written Word of God cannot compete with the living Word of God. A picture or a photo cannot compete with the real person. I love the Holy Bible, but I would not uplift it to the same level as the Lord Jesus. There is a difference. I love the Bible, but I love the presence of the Lord more. It must be Jesus only. He is the One who says “Yes” or “No” to me, and He is the One who predicts things in my daily life. He is my law and He is my prophecy. He is my living Bible. This is today’s New Testament service.
In God’s economy, there is only one person, one man, one center. This is Christ, not Moses or Elijah. Christ is the One who gives the commandments, and He is also the One who prophesies. It is by His prophecy that we may know how to keep His Word. Hallelujah! Christ is all in all. He is all we need. It is not Christ and something else. It is Christ alone. There is no more Moses or Elijah, but Jesus only. He is today’s Moses and today’s Elijah. He is not only the living Law-giver, but also the living Prophet. He is today’s everything! He is the One who is qualified to give the commandments, and He is also the One who predicts and affords the strength to fulfill what He commands. He gave the commandment to pay the half-shekel, and He predicted the way to get the money to pay it. This is Christ today in the New Testament service.