5 One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. ² He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

⁵ “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” ⁶ And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! ⁷ A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

⁸ When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” ⁹ For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. ¹⁰ His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” ¹¹ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

John 5:1-11

Dear God, okay, this is a fun story with a lot of layers. Here’s what I’m noticing when putting it in context with chapter 4:

• Jesus has been watching Peter for at least a day or two. Maybe more. Maybe he was staying at Peters. but I need to go to John’s Gospel to see how he describes Peter meeting Jesus and how that overlaps with this. Peter’s brother Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and went to find Peter after he met Jesus: ⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. ⁴¹ Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). ⁴² Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”). ⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” With this, I presume that John was baptizing in the Jordan near the Sea of Galilea because it doesn’t seem like it was a big decision to go on to Capernaum. Maybe Peter invited them there to stay. And then when Jesus was teaching one day he saw Peter’s boat and the pushed off.
• This story isn’t about the content of Jesus’s teaching, but about Peter’s (and James’s and John’s) decision to follow Jesus. But I have to wonder what Jesus was saying and how Peter was hearing it. Was he giving his Sermon on the Mount stump speech? Was he talking about how the poor in spirit and mourning would be blessed? Was he talking about forgiving enemies, suffering through persecution, raising the bar on the standards of sin, teaching them to pray, etc.? What did Peter hear before the next part?
• Jesus uses the miraculous catching of fish to not only impress and recruit Peter, but James and John also.
• Peter had already seen the healing power. He had heard the lessons. But it doesn’t seem he was very impressed until this moment. He might have justified the healings. Maybe he had seen that before. But he had never seen the obvious power to manipulate nature and bend it to your will. I guess you could say the healings were that too, but these might still be rationalized.
• Peter’s response to Jesus is to say he himself is not worthy of Jesus’s presence. Maybe he had just heard about all the ways Jesus said you can sin by lusting and hating and wanted Jesus to know up front that he was guilty. Guilty in your eyes. Guilty in Jesus’s eyes.
• Jesus invited him, James, and John to follow him. Jesus ignored his admonition to leave him because he was too sinful. Instead, he invited him to follow. Jesus knew they would work out the sin part as they walked together.
• Peter, James, and John decided to follow. They could have easily stayed in their squalor. And their paths would not be easy. It might have been easier to stay and fish. But they were part of changing the world and we are still talking about these simple fishermen from Galilea 2,000 years later.

Father, thank you for inviting me to be on this journey with you. Help me to know how to walk it. Love through me. Lead through me. Lead me through others you appoint to teach and show me the way. Your way. Help me to not veer from the path. Help me to show others the narrow way.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen