Deeper
Water
When
he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water,
and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we've
worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say
so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught
such a large number of fish that their nets began to break
. Luke 5:4-6
When you get into a boat with Jesus, most anything is possible.
Luke describes the calling of Peter, James and John. Luke's
description differs somewhat from Mark and Matthew's
descriptions, though in other ways they are similar. All take place
along the shores of Galilee where the four are fishing.
In Luke's description, Peter, James and John are washing out their nets
after a night of fishing.
In the lake also known as the sea of Galilee, fishing took place at
night as the fish came into shallower waters to feed after dark. When
the sun came up, they retreated to deeper water.
Jesus is teaching the crowds along the lake shore. We know nothing of
the content of the sermon from Luke's description except there must
have been a fair
crowd gathered. So Jesus gets into one of the two boats at the
shore's edge while the fishermen are washing their nets and stowing
their gear. This way he can be heard by all present.
I wish we have some description of Peter at this point because it is
Peter's boat that Jesus climbs into.
Knowing anything at all about a boat owner, you know that instantly got
Peter's attention.
He asks Peter to push offshore a bit while he teaches from the boat.
I wish we could see Peter while this is going on.
Is he folding and stowing nets while Jesus is teaching?
Is he listening intently?
Is he starting to drowse in the mid morning sun? He has been up fishing
all night and probably was looking forward to going home and getting
something to eat and then some sleep.
When the lesson is over the crowd breaks up and starts to drift away,
Jesus says to Peter, go out to deeper water and let down your nets.
Peter had been 'skunked' in a night of fishing. He had been out all
night and had absolutely nothing to show for it. Jesus knows this. And
he has a solution for it. Go deeper.
This is contra-intuitive.
Peter has fished these waters all his adult life, and he knows the
others who fish there as well.
You can be sure there is very little about fishing that Peter does not
know.
And this went against conventional wisdom. You fished at night in the
shallows, not in the daylight in deep water.
Peter is skeptical but says, "if you say so, I will"
He lets down his nets and it seems immediately his nets are overflowing
with fish.
Not only are they overflowing, but there are too many fish for him to
bring in.
Was Jesus pulling on the nets too?
He calls to James and John who bring their boat and help with the net
which by now is to the point of breaking. They get the catch onboard,
but are almost swamped by the weight of fish.
I am absolutely certain that this catch was far bigger than anything
these men had ever seen in all their careers fishing.
I am certain it is bigger than any catch they have ever heard about.
And I am certain it is way bigger than any catch they could have
imagined possible.
It simply overwhelms their ability to cope with it.
They do not have nets equipped for this many fish and their boats are
too small it seems.
Jesus of course is making a point with them right from the beginning.
The first point is to remove any doubt this was a lucky guess.
William Barclay the Scottish preacher who I much admire had it wrong on
this I think.
He did not believe in miracles and says that Jesus just has a keen eye
and sees fish that the others cannot see.1 I think he very
much misses the point on this.
Jesus summons more fish than can possibly be equated to any lucky guess
or observation of some school of fish the others missed. He sends them
the mother-lode of all fish.
Peter knows this is no lucky guess.
Now think about Peter for a moment.
A boat-load of fish should mean what?
A week's wages? A month's?
It should have meant feeding his family and paying some bills.
But all his good fortune doesn't seem to matter for anything.
All he can do is fall to his knees before Jesus.
He says "depart from me, Lord. I am a sinful man."
When Jesus is in your boat anything can happen.
And in Peter's case it does.
It is also interesting to note how Jesus uses fish and boats to speak
to Peter on different occasions.
On this occasion, he removes any doubt from Peter's mind about who he
is dealing with.
This is someone clearly from God. He hears the words. He sees the
deeds. At this stage perhaps Jesus is a prophet akin to Elijah. Peter
does not know yet, but he knows God is involved and he knows he is in
over his head in a different kind of deep water. And it seems he is
overwhelmed by it all.
Jesus also uses a fish when Peter asks about paying the temple tax.
Jesus tells him to catch a fish and he finds the exact right coin to
pay the tax.
And remember that night on a stormy lake when Jesus came walking across
the water.
It was Peter who dared for a moment to get out of the boat.
And after Jesus' death and resurrection, Peter is again totally undone,
unsure of where to turn.
So he goes fishing. It's what he knows.
He can fish with his eyes closed so he goes to the familiar.
And in the breaking morning light Jesus makes a fire on the shore but
they do not recognize Him.
But once again he asks what they have caught. The answer is not a
blessed thing.
He tells them to let their nets down on the other side of the boat.
They do and are once again overwhelmed by the size of the catch.
This time Peter could care less about fish and dives into the water and
swims to shore.
You hang around Jesus and almost anything is likely to happen.
But notice something else.
There is no way at this stage that Peter would have climbed into Jesus
boat.
No thanks.
Peter would just as soon keep Jesus at a safe distance. Depart from me,
Lord. I am a sinful man.
But Jesus does not wait for Peter to climb into his boat.
He climbs into Peter's boat and pushes him, (metaphorically and
literally), out into deep water.
He does not come by the shore and say, "Fellows when you are done with
that fish business, come over here will you. I want to talk to you."
He invades Peter's boat.
Jesus is not someone who can be kept safely at church while we go about
the things of life we know best.
Jesus will invade your work place.
He knows more about your job than you do.
Jesus will invade your family. He knows them better than you do.
And if you are not careful, you will find yourself in deeper water than
you bargained for.
Now I suppose with much effort a person can keep Jesus safely locked up
in church.
He did not get into every boat that day. Just Peter's.
We know from last week that the people in his hometown wanted him out
of the synagogue.
We also know from other gospels that "He could do no mighty work there
because of their unbelief."
So while it is theoretically possible that you can sanitize the gospel
so it doesn't upset anyone and you can relegate Jesus to churchy
things, I don't recommend it.
The fish are in the deep water.
Why live life in the shallows?
Have you ever read The Hobbit?
It is the first of Tolkein's books that concludes with the Trilogy of
the Rings.
I love how he describes Bilbo Baggins.
Bilbo is a Baggins, one line of hobbits that are sensible and stable
folks.
But on his mother's side are the Tooks, notorious for being prone to
adventures.
Listen to how Bilbo talks about adventures before Gandalf and a certain
golden ring turn his life upside down.
He has just met Gandalf the wizard:
"Good morning!" said Bilbo, and he
meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But
Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out
further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he asked, "Do you wish me a good morning or
mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you
feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a
pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. If you have a pipe
about you , sit down and have a fill of mine! There's no hurry, we have
all the day before us!" Then Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door,
crossed his legs and blew out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that
sailed up into the air without breaking and floated away over The Hill.
"Very pretty!" said Gandalf. "But I have no time to blow
smoke-rings this morning. I am looking for someone to share in an
adventure that I am arranging, and its very difficult to find anyone."
"I should think so--in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and I
have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make
you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them," said our
Mr. Baggins, and stuck one thumb behind his braces, and blew out
another even bigger smoke ring.2
Bilbo does go on an adventure.
Peter ends up in a boat with Jesus, and in deep water on more than one
occasion.
Bilbo is a fictional character, but Peter is real.
But if they were both real and could speak and you were to ask if they
would do the same thing again, well I think you know what you would
hear.
No, Peter would never on his own climb into Jesus boat. He knew better.
But Jesus knew more than Peter and he gets into his boat instead.
You never know what can happen with Jesus in your boat.
Peter, you think you know fish?
Turns out Peter does not know nearly as much about fish or boats as the
thought he did.
And we don't know nearly as much about the things in our life as
we think we do.
Watch out!
Jesus might just climb into your boat.
Pray that He does.
Preached February 4, 2007
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian
Church
Victoria, British Columbia
Notes
1. William Barclay, The
Gospel of Luke, The Daily Study Bible, Westminster Press
2. Tolkein J.R.R, The
Hobbit: or There and Back Again, p. 14-15
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