When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Luke5:4
Jesus was teaching at the see of Galilee. The crowd were overwhelming Him and so He asked Simon Peter to let Him use his boat as a pulpit. Peter would have heard what Jesus was teaching and so when Jesus asks him to put out to deeper water and throw his net over the side, the fisherman takes the carpenter's advice with only a small amount of protest:
"Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
The Greek word Peter uses for "Master" could mean "Chief" or "Superintendent." It appears seven times in the New Testament, four times in the mouth of Peter, spoken by the disciples during the storm on the sea, by John and by the ten lepers.
Peter is not being sarcastic - something about Jesus has won his respect and so he's willing to let a carpenter direct the fishing.
But respect explodes into something much much greater when the net fills up. It fills so full that they need another boat help and it is also swamped.
In Peter's heart something profound has happened. This is more than good oratory coming from an impressive person. Peter knows down to the tips of his wet toes that he is in the presence of GOD!!! And the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach tells Peter that his track record and the holy presence of Jesus are not compatible.
In the presence of Deity, all Peter's pride, authority, bravado and self-assuredness fades away like the mist before the morning sun. (Old Testament scholars call this being "in awe of the Numinous" - "Numinous" being the word they use to describe God as being hugely greater and majestic than us.)
The best place for penitence to start is to open our eyes and see God clearly. The Good News is that Jesus answers Peter's painful self-discovery with these beautiful words: "Don't be afraid; from now on you will be a fisher of men"
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
