Daily Reading 15

"Master, we worked all night and caught nothing." -Luke 5:5

"They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." -Luke 5:6


At this point in his walking around and preaching, Jesus had been attracting some consistent followers. Peter was one of them. He had heard Jesus preach, let Jesus use his boat, and Jesus had even healed his mother-in-law. Then after Jesus had finished preaching from the boat to people, Jesus tells Peter and his fishing buddies to go back out into deeper water to catch some fish. At this, Peter responded warily that they had been out all night and didn't catch a thing. They were worn out and wanted to go home and sleep. More work was not on the top of their priority list.

Even though he didn't want to, Peter and the other fishermen go out and do what Jesus says. they may have been muttering under their breath, but they did it. I wonder if Jesus had one of those just trust me looks on his face. Mr. Lucado thinks that maybe, "Jesus had a smile on his face thinking about how Peter was about to be half yanked into the water." When they men pull up the nets, they are overwhelmed by their catch! And Peter, a man who doubts himself a lot, finally sees who this Jesus really is. HE recognizes that Jesus is God as a human. Not just a teacher or talker. Not just a healer or miracle worker. He is God, himself.

When Peter realizes this, he immediately pushes Jesus away saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." -Luke 5:8 Jesus does the exact opposite. He won't leave Peter. He stays with him, actually asks him to come with him and do some more fishing. Except this time, he wants Peter's help to "fish" for people. He wants Peter to let others know about who Jesus is and what he is all about.

I bet that all of us have felt like Peter. Tired. Needing rest. Doubting. Amazed. Self-conscious. Ashamed. Jesus encouraged him and accepted him. He invited him to be a part of what he was doing, even though Peter was not who he thought that he needed to be. He gives us the same chance.