A) Peter tells them that Jesus does pay the temple tax, which is ironic because there's nowhere else where Jesus has indicated he does. So Peter's forwardness causes him to answer the question, which wouldn't even be accurate. His motive was probably good in the sense that he's defending Jesus, but it was still highly inaccurate. After saying what he said, he figured he better square it away with Jesus, so he talked to him about it.

B) Jesus makes it quite clear to Peter that he is indebted to no one regarding the temple or any kind of owed ticket simply because this temple is his house. He is the king. He is its owner, and he doesn't have to pay taxes to himself. But here comes the fish story, one of the greats of all time. "Go to the lake, throw out the line. You’ll find a coin in a fish. Take it and pay the tax for us."

C) Three inescapable truths emerge out of this. One is the miraculous provision of financial grace in the situation. Number two, that miracle still required Peter to be involved in doing something. And number three, that fish, who had no idea whatsoever that he would become famous among fishes, becomes the eternal fish in the waters. That's pretty cool.