From June 29, 2015 —
https://kbonikowsky.wordpress.com/…/jesus-disciples-a-teen…/
This morning, I’m reading Matthew 17:24-27, the only gospel that mentions the miracle of the fish to provide the drachma tax. I referred to it in a previous post, too, that I’d never noticed it before. Here’s some of the cool stuff you can glean/infer from knowing this.
In Exodus, Jewish men 20 and older are asked to pay the drachma tax to the temple. Some infer from this that only Jesus and Peter were old enough to pay. My friend, Milayna, educated me about this, and you can read more about it on this link. I can’t prove it, like many things in the Bible, but it sure would help explain the immaturity of the disciples.
Read also about the history of educating them, too. If they were not chosen to learn under rabbis (from age 5 on) then start teaching at 30 (when Jesus started His ministry), this may explain why many of the disciples were lowly, uneducated, young, immature fisherman. They hadn’t been schooled/groomed properly in the Jewish culture.
Knowing Jewish history and culture helps us understand them better. It also shows us the heart of our Omnipotent Creator. He took the lowly and uneducated and schooled them to be the great apostles we admire and depend upon today. If Jesus can take in and mold a lowly fisherman boy that no rabbi would accept, surely He can take in and mold me in just the same way.
He loves me for me and molds me in His way in His time to be like Him. He knows I, in all my failings, have potential! There is hope for all of us! Praise God! What a Savior!
Mustard Seed Kind of Faith 