Thursday, Luke 5:1-11: Miraculous Catch of Fish by Peter.

After he had finished speaking, Jesus said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

“Put out into deep water…”  There is great meaning to this little line.

First of all, it’s important to note that the Apostles had fished all night long with no success.  They had tried throughout the night to bring in a haul without success. They probably went to all the good spots they knew, casting and retrieving their nets countless times. No matter how much they tried, the result was the same: they caught nothing. By the time Jesus came by the lake the following day, these fishermen must have been exhausted from the night’s work and were not at all ready to fish some more.

The first thing that came to Simon’s mind when Jesus told him to lower the net was how they had unsuccessfully toiled all night. Now, every fisherman of the time knew the best time to fish was at night, it was so much harder during full day light. Peter starts out with a protest against Jesus’ idea, saying Master, we toiled all night, the best time for fishing, and caught nothing.

This is what we often do. We look back on our fruitless ventures and then begin to doubt if God can really cause us to succeed. We must ask ourselves a question: Did we seek God’s approval before we started the venture that failed? If the answer is no, then we cannot charge God for failing to finish what He did not begin. The wiser thing to do is seek His counsel.

Peter then has second thoughts and replies to Jesus, “But if you say so, I will….  I will lower the nets.” The result is that they caught more fish than they thought they could handle.

if we follow God’s instruction, we will be successful in whatever we do. It may not always be instantaneous, but we will certainly succeed. God’s instruction will usually be something we may not want to hear. God’s direction almost always requires us to use our faith and almost always doesn’t make logical sense. Just like Simon, we have to forget about what makes sense to us and trust.

Just think about what would have happened if Simon had laughed and told Jesus, “Sorry, Lord, I’m done fishing for the day.  Maybe tomorrow.”  If Simon had acted this way, he would never have been blessed with this abundant catch.  The same is true with us.  If we fail to listen to the voice of God in our lives and fail to heed His radical commands, we will not be used in the way He desires to use us. Doing the Father’s Will in our lives is the most important thing we can possibly do.  We will be successful according to God’s definition.

What did Jesus tell Simon to do?, To put out into the “deep” water.  What does that mean?

This passage is not only about the physical miracle of catching fish; rather, it’s much more about the mission of evangelizing souls and accomplishing the mission of God.  The symbolism of putting out into the deep water tells us that we must be all in and fully committed if we are to evangelize and spread the Word of God as we are called to do.

Jesus told Peter that life is found in deep water, not shallow water. Often, we do not want to put out into deep water. When we are young, we do not like to lower the net of faith into deep waters. We like to fish from shallow waters. No time for total commitment to God. So much to do, school work and sports. Lord, I do not have time to lower my net deeper. Today I can do a little bit in shallow water. And as a result, we will not find the glory of God in our lives. We will easily be led away from our faith if we are not willing to put out into deep waters. We will end up losing our faith in living God and be carried away by the secular ideas that tell us that we are fine and do not need God. Try to find some time every day to put out into deep waters. Not just perfunctory prayers, but we need deeper reflection on our faith, tune in our wavelength to the Lord’s channel, and listen to him.  

 

At the miraculous catch, Simon proclaims that he is not worthy to be in Jesus’ presence because he is a sinner.  Have we ever had time to find out whether there is any sin in us that makes us unsuccessful, sad and disappointed? Jesus invites Simon and his fishing buddies to join him and cast the nets of salvation over people and pull them into the Reign of Heaven.  The text ends with Peter and his companions’ response:  ‘They left everything and followed him.’ Are we willing to follow him today?