Scripture

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 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. 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, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’

When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’

When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5.1-11)

Reflection

Simon is so shocked, he asks Jesus to depart from him. He recognises that higher powers are at play here and feels keenly that he is just completely inadequate; “a sinful man”. But aren’t we all in the presence of Jesus?

And Jesus is not worried about that. He knows of what we are made. It is not through our utter perfection that he can reach people, but because we open ourselves to his power in humility, so that he can work through and with us, inadequate and sinful as we are. Recognising our limitations are not a barrier to being his followers and co-workers, but a necessary first step.

What does Jesus mean when he promises that the disciples would, from now on, be catching people instead of fish? We can no more ‘bring people to Jesus’ than the fishermen could catch the fish without his help! But we can tell them about him, and about our own relationship with God made possible through his life, death and resurrection. And then we can safely leave it to Jesus to do the rest.

Revd Ylva