Getting into one of the boats, which was [Peter’s], he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. Luke 5:3
The crowd was pressing in, and Jesus was in danger of being pushed into the water. So He called Peter, who rowed him out from the shore, and Jesus spoke from the boat.
After Jesus was done, He said to Peter, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (5:4). Peter gave an honest response: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets” (5:5). Peter obeyed the Word of God, and here is what happened:
He saw Jesus’ glory. Peter had worked the entire night on his own and caught nothing. Now, with Jesus in the boat, he can’t pull in all the fish. Peter “and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken” (5:9). Astonished! Who is this?
He confessed his need to Jesus. Peter would likely have described himself as a good person, a hard worker, devoted to his family, and a believer in Jesus. But when Peter saw Jesus’ glory, he saw himself in a new light: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (5:8).
He found hope in Jesus. The reason Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid” (5:10) is that Peter’s first response to Jesus was fear. He cannot see himself as a disciple. “Me? Your disciple? You don’t know me.” But Jesus called Peter, not because of who he was, but because of what Jesus could make of him: “from now on you will be catching men” (5:10).
He became a follower of Jesus. “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (5:11). Peter never got over his sense of awe at the holiness of Jesus. But as he followed, he discovered grace, what Jesus can do in the life of a flawed disciple.
What one thing in God’s Word could you go and obey right now?
