Simon Peter didn’t know the itinerant preacher who asked to borrow his boat for a temporary stage. But after the teaching session, the man instructed Simon to cruise out to a deeper part of the lake and catch some fish. Skunked the night before, Simon cast his nets on the word of the man in the boat.
Immediately the nets swarmed with leaping, flashing fish. So many the boat began to swamp. Simon called another boat and filled to the gunnels, both boats struggled to shore. These professional fishermen enjoyed the greatest catch of their lives.
I wonder if Jesus called fish from all over the lake to fill those nets, or did he simply create the load of fish in the moment? However it happened, Simon Peter recognized the miracle and understood Jesus to be more than a mere teacher. Falling to his knees he begged, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Jesus didn’t leave Peter, but instead called him to follow. A large catch of fish revealed the true nature of the man in the boat. What reveals the true nature of Jesus today? A stunning sunset? The gift of family and friends? An abundance of material goods? Like all those fish, every good thing comes from his hand.
An abundant catch of fish and an abundant life. Both spring for the hands of the man in the boat.
Luke 5:1-11
Photo by Burkhard Kaufhold