students of jesus

Remember the story when Jesus and Peter go fishing together? It’s one of those gospel accounts we think we know: we’ve heard it before but the details seems to run like watercolor. The images are so vague we come away with equally vague ideas—Jesus is smarter than Peter; we’re called to become fishers of men; don’t run in the aisles or don’t wear a hat in church.

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. (Luke 5:1-11)

Let’s take ten minutes with this account and see what we can move from watercolor to the sharp clarity of oil. Here are eight details that stand out in sharp relief:

Jesus, the intruder: when he saw the crowd was too big, Jesus first stepped into Peter’s boat and only then asked for help. Peter had returned from a frustrating night of third shift work and simply wanted to clean up and go home. I wonder what would’ve happened if Peter had said, “Get your own boat.”

Peter thought the mission was fishing, and he was done for the day. Jesus had a new mission, one that incorporated Peter's experience. Jesus spoke the language of commerce but, as we all know, he trades in souls. I wonder how many of us realize that our work experience can be applied in the economy of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said, “Try again” at a different time and a different place. Peter, somewhere between amused and irritated, humored the clueless Lord of glory. But he did what Jesus said. Perhaps we should all humor the Lord the glory.

Yep: there was a ton of fish. So many, in fact, Peter needed help. Hmmm, let’s see: Doing God’s work requires community? The bounty of God isn’t just for me alone? God’s work draws in more people? Also: Peter and friends are about to “leave everything” and follow Jesus—in the great catch of fish was provision for those left behind.

Just moments before Jesus invites Peter to become a disciple, Peter realizes the depth of his own sin. His sin did not disqualify Peter from being a disciple; his recognition of sin was the starting point.

"Don't be afraid" How many times does Jesus say this? At least seven times. Angels say it, too. So do the prophets. According to some accounts, add them all up and you hit 365 “fear nots.” Fear not, daily.

Leave everything: no, he didn’t really say this. A close study of the original languages reveal that what Jesus said was “develop an attitude of inner detachment from your possessions and cultivate a spirit of sacrifice.” No--of course that's nonsense: those guys left everything.

Finally, Jesus was after more than a boat. This passage starts with a description of Jesus preaching to a crowd, so we think it’s about the preaching or the crowds. Then Jesus asks a random fisherman for the use his boat as a preaching platform. Then we hear nothing of the sermon or the crowd, but we discover the Lord’s true objective: the fisherman. I guess Peter wasn’t the only one who had a good catch that day.

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