Scripture Reading(s)
Luke 5:1-11
5:1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,
5:2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
5:3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
5:5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”
5:6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.
5:7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
5:9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken;
5:10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who are partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
5:11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Reflections
Jesus Christ is always in pursuit of bringing His children close to Him and into His mission in winning lost souls to salvation. Jesus sees hearts of those who have a desire to follow after Him and whether we know it or not, He makes it a point to take that desire and bring it to life.
Jesus was just beginning His ministry and because He knew that His time on earth was limited, the goal was to raise up others to learn and follow after Him so that they could continue to carry on His work. Here we see Christ’s encounter with Simon Peter, a disciple who was known to always have his foot in this mouth and was an act before you think type. Peter’s reaction to a lot of what Christ said throughout the course of Jesus’ ministry, was to try and think impulsively through a situation instead of acting on faith.
This interaction between Christ and Peter shows a beautiful display of how God’s Grace surpasses our weak hearts and faithless attitude. There are moments when we are faced with what is an impossible situation and logic will dictate that there is nothing that can humanly be done about the situation so the response is to either give up or become anxious. That is the awesome beauty of God’s Grace, because it is in those moments in which God reveals that only He can overcome the impossible and proves that our faith should not be dependent on human thinking but rather on God’s faithfulness.
What is also amazing about this passage is that in pursuing Simon Peter in having him become one of His disciples, Jesus not only puts a His Glory on display through a miraculous act but this miracle also shows that He is an all powerful God and that we can trust Him and depend on Him. Simon Peter’s response is both one that is appropriate and filled with genuine humility. Jesus who knows that humanity has weak hearts, still pursues Peter and takes him in as His disciple and child of God.
Jesus Christ is pursuing you daily. Despite Simon Peter’s weakness, he still became a follower of Christ and eventually was known to be one of the most influential and bold tools of spreading the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. You may have your weak moments and you faith may be lacking but do not let hinder you from following after Christ and pursuing a life that serves and honors Him. He desires to use each and every one of us, surrender your heart to Him with an attitude of being ready to be used as His tool and vessel. God’s Glory shone bright through the use of His disciples and it still does today through the use of others and can be brightly displayed through you and me.