Peter Catches Fish and Sees His Sin

In Luke 5, Luke records a very interesting event.  Luke fleshes out the calling of the first disciples alongside the sea.  Luke's research and reporting are keen and the narrative expresses a certain richness to the event that Matthew, Mark, and John left out.

Image the scene: a group of professional fisherman had been out all night to no avail.  Only empty nets and tired backs after an arduous, fish-less night.  As they are cleaning up their gear, a local Rabbi comes up to them and tells them to go back out, only this time to the deeper waters.  One of them, the outspoken one, politely questions the obvious foolishness of the Rabbi, but to appease the request, they ship off shore and lower the nets.  Within little time, their nets are stretched to breaking under the weight of the fish.  There are so many fish that another boat has to come and help them haul in the catch.  As they reach the undulating shores, the one who spoke up leaps out onto the sand and falls to his knees at the feet of the Rabbi, crying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

Peter, the one who falls at Jesus' feet, was a professional fisherman.  He had spent most of his adult life honing his craft.  He knew the fish and he knew the job.  When Jesus sends out the crew again, Peter must have been simply astonished by the idiocy of this man.  But as the fish fill the nets to breaking, Peter is utterly stunned.

Peter's response, as we would think, should have been to hire Jesus on the spot.  Offer this Rabbi a percentage of the catch and live fat and rich for the remainder of his days.  However, Peter's response is in stark contrast to this.  Peter falls to his knees because before Jesus he truly sees the depth of his own sin; no more veil, no more mask, just a real convicting image of his own sin before the Lord.

It was this magnificent display of divine power that hit Peter directly in his heart.  The only reasonable response was to fall down in humility and reverence.  If only this would be our own response to encountering the Lord Almighty!