I’ve always read the Gospels, in a way that led me to believe that guys like Peter just followed Jesus, without any emotion. I guess I missed a pretty crucial element, until yesterday. I was reading in Luke yesterday morning and I ran across something I haven’t seen yet (don’t you love when that happens?).
If you read Luke 5, you’ll see a familiar story about Peter and his friends coming in after a long night’s worth of fishing, and to no avail. Jesus walks on the scene, and starts giving instructions. I want to pause here for a commentary. These guys must have thought Jesus was the most annoying dude in the world! Have you ever been hard at work on something that you’ve been doing all your life, only to have a stranger (or anyone else) walk up to you to ‘fill you in’ on how the system works? I’m not sure what I would’ve done in Peter’s situation, but it probably wouldn’t have been worth repeating.
However, what’s most interesting about this story isn’t the fisherman’s failure or even Jesus’ introduction to the scene. It’s all about Peter’s reaction to Jesus.
“Master, we worked hard all night acaught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”
Peter refers to Jesus as “Master.” Interesting. The story goes on to show that Jesus’ plan worked, and they couldn’t even handle the fish they brought in. Again, it’s not this miraculous occasion that I want to draw attention to.
“But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’
Not only did Peter bow down at that very moment, but he actually asked Jesus to leave him, because he was a sinful and broken man. I don’t know if I’m not hanging out with the right kind of people, or if I just don’t get out all that much, but you don’t see this kind of humility today! I understand, Jesus isn’t walking around today, doing miracles before our very eyes, but what happened to our amazement in Him?
Jesus responds.
“Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”
I usually like to draw some conclusions about text to wrap it all up. I want to let you do that today. What is your response to Jesus today? Is Jesus asking you to follow Him? What is your response?
It’s time to get on our knees before Him!