Goodness and the Fisherman

 

This little story is about an all too common reaction to God’s goodness and is a slight deviation on the Bridegroom theme. If we’re to know His love, we must first learn to accept His goodness, in spite of ourselves.

Goodness And The Fisherman (Luke 5)

The Creator takes the fisherman out for a delightfully supernatural fishing trip. Just after He’s finished teaching the pressing crowds by standing in Peter’s boat off the shore of Lake Gennesaret, Jesus tells the expert fisherman to row out into deeper waters (Luke 5). Problem is, Peter has just gotten through washing his nets after a whole night of unsuccessful trawling in these same waters and it took several hours to remove all the entangled shells and seaweed they collected, as well as other sundry items that clog the nets. But it had to be done, so that the next time they go a-fishin’ there’ll be a better chance of a catch. A whole night of snagging only sea-clutter and the last thing Simon wants to do with his freshly cleaned nets is get them plugged up again for no reason.

 

But he reveres this Rabbi, who’s already healed his own mother-in-law and because of honor, Peter informs Jesus that even though he and his partners have just spent the night catching absolutely nothing, zip, zilch, nada, not one fish, if you say so, Jesus, I’ll put down the nets. The master seaman wants to honor the Master Teacher, maybe even humor Him, since He’s such a man of high esteem. Even though Simon has done this fishing thing as a livelihood and after all, should know how to read the water and whether the fish are biting or not, and Jesus is just a Carpenter – what does He know about reading signs of the sea that indicate good fishing? – even though Simon’s just finished laboriously cleaning all his nets, he’s willing for the sake of honor to go to the extra trouble of throwing them overboard. Again. Even though it’s done merely out of respect.

 

As the Lord and the fisherman finally arrive in the deeper waters and Simon tosses the nets into the brine, I can imagine Jesus grinning widely. He is immensely pleased with Himself and with what is about to happen. The nets begin to move and Simon’s deeply tanned face registers absolute surprise as the Lord watches with amusement. Turns out a whole school of fish must have gone straight into the nets because, soon they really begin to move and THEN they actually start to pull the boat along in the water!

 

Simon the strong man has to struggle physically to manage the ropes and it dawns on him that he’s in the middle of a very large catch.  Straining to bring in the nets that have begun to tear under the weight of a heavy load, he yelps for James and John, his fishing partners, to bring another boat and they quickly they arrive to help collect one of the greatest draughts anyone’s seen in these parts for a l o n g time. These brawny-muscled men finally succeed in getting the fish into their boats but alas, the hulls are so overloaded they actually begin to sink! Again, I imagine Jesus grinning ear to ear as everyone panics and hurries toward the shoreline, eager to save their lives, their boats and perhaps their largest, single money-making catch of the year.

 

When all is safely ashore, Jesus laughs and claps Simon heartily on the back, thoroughly enjoying the fact that the fisherman and his partners have just made a lot of money, thanks to Him. The Master loves blessing these hardworking men and He senses that financially, the timing of a big haul couldn’t have been better for their families.

 

The miracle of it all has begun to hit Simon squarely between the eyes. He knows this sea and in all his years of riding its waves, in all his father’s fishing stories or his grandfather’s fishing stories, there has never been a catch of this magnitude. He is aware that this Man, the One who also healed his wife’s mother, somehow caused a great school of fish to come out of nowhere. He created the catch. He gave them this large, unexplainable gift.

 

Suddenly, the fisherman feels utterly vile. He senses the greatness of heaven standing before him and recognizes his own arrogance. Ashamed that just a few hours ago he’d sworn in angry exasperation when their nets came up empty again, Simon is overwhelmed with guilt that this Teacher from God could bless him, especially when he is so undeserving, so unworthy. Simon knows himself and has a sudden urge to run away from One who could perform such a mighty miracle. He wants to escape as far away as his legs will take him but instead, he falls to his knees and remarks painfully to Jesus, “Oh, Lord, go away from me: you don’t know how sinful I am! You shouldn’t be around me at all! Leave me, please, I feel so guilty and horrible about myself because you, a holy man, are here! Jesus, Your holiness makes me feel really bad about myself!”

 

Staring at the benevolent kindness and goodness of God, Simon’s heart is only able to see his own failure. He doesn’t see that Jesus is in love with him. The Lord adores this passionate fisherman and He only wants to bless him, to really do something generous for this ruddy, fervent, intense man. The Lord is enamored with the man’s heart of gold. He likes Simon immensely!

 

So what is Jesus’ response to Peter’s self-disgust?  He calmly and mildly turns to Peter and, with a vision of who Peter really is, in his spirit, with a vision of who Peter is becoming, Jesus says with mercy and encouragement, “Don’t be afraid, Peter. From now on, you’ll be catching men!”

 

Jesus sees all of Peter from heaven’s vantage point. Don’t worry, Peter, about your sin. I’ll take care of that. Come with Me. Be with me. Live with Me. Love being around Me. Everything else will take care of itself, and you’ll be able to gradually receive my goodness in all the ways I want to give it to you.  Just follow Me!

 

Jesus knows our spirits. He sees who we are in the spirit realm where we live with Him. He says the same to us: Be with Me, and you’ll know My extreme goodness in your life and it won’t frighten you anymore.  Don’t reject yourself: just keep your eyes on Me. I’ve already provided all things. Live here with Me, and know yourself according to My realities. I really like you and I love you and I’ve done all things for you. Spend time with Me and you’ll get used to My generous heart. Be with Me.



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