Mat 17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go you to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first comes up; and when you have opened its mouth, you shall find a piece of money: that take, and give it to them for me and you.

Like so many of Christ's miracles, there is a hidden pattern here. It starts with symbols for the physical , the water and the fish. Out of the physical comes the mental symbolised by the mouth and money. From the mental, we are able to satisfy the demands of society, paying the tax.

Note that fulfilling social obligations is strictly a physical and mental challenge. It is not a spiritual matter. Nor is it an emotion matter of personal relationships. Christ ALWAYS positions society a distracting us from spiritual and emotional matters. The physical and mental demands of society are the work of man but not the purpose of man.

"Offends" is from skandalizô, which means "to cause someone to stumble" and "to give offense." It is from skandalon, which means a "trap" or "snare" for an enemy. This is one of the words that starts with the Greek version of the Old Testament from the Hebrew word for "noose" or "snare."