The Fisherman and the Master, part 1

~Luke 5.1-11, my enhanced version

“Simon! Hey, I’m talking to you. Have you heard anything I just said?”

“Huh?” asked the big man. “No, Andrew. I guess not. Sorry.”

“Fine. The most exciting thing to happen around here in a lifetime, maybe in several lifetimes, is going on right now, right here where we are, and you don’t want to talk about it. Ok. You just keep your thoughts to yourself, Big Brother. I’ll talk to the rocks.”

But the younger man was wasting his breath. Simon had already turned his gaze back to cleaning nets there beside the bluegreen water slapping the side of their boat. He was torn with conflict, and a decision had to be made soon. Yes, today. Sure, Andrew was right. It was amazing to have a guy come to town who could do the astonishing things Jesus did. Jaw-dropping amazing! He thought of the water turned to wine, the money changers driven right out of the temple, the stir Jesus had caused in the Samaritan village. Any one of these events would have been enough to keep people talking for years, and they had happened one right after the other. He thought of his own mother-in-law, how sick she had been for days, how dark circles had grown under the eyes of his anxious wife as she cared for her mom. Then Jesus invited himself over. Wouldn’t take no for an answer. Walked right in, took the sick woman by the hand, and within moments it was gone—the fever, the anxiety, the sick smell in the room, the cloud over the house. All vanished with the presence of this man. And to top it off, an hour later dinner was on the table.

Of course Simon wanted to be part of that. And he had been specifically invited. Jesus had looked right at him, eye-to-eye, man-to-man and said, “Come. Follow me.” And he wasn’t saying that to everybody, only a handful so far. Jesus was somehow a chosen man of God himself, and he had chosen Simon to be part of the mission. “Yes, I should leave the constant struggle of these empty nets and follow him,” he thought. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'll surely regret if I let slip by."

Yet, how could he even consider it? Follow me indeed. Easily said, but who’s going to take care of the family? Jesus hadn’t said anything about how following him would keep food on the table. Simon was not a flake. He understood his responsibilities. “I will show you how to fish for people.” What did that mean anyway?

Being with Jesus was a rush, but Simon lived in the real world. And for him and his buddies, the real world was nets, hooks, scales and fish guts. A look at any of their rough hands would reveal it. And when the catch was low, as, unfortunately, it had been lately, that meant more time in the boat, not abandoning ship to run after the local prophet, no matter how amazing the guy was. That, Simon decided, was the only decision a responsible man could make.

Just as he came to this conclusion there was a stir on shore. Around the bend from town came a crowd of people. And, no surprise, Jesus was in the center of the pack. Simon tried to strengthen his resolve. He would not go to them. Even though he and Andrew had been at it all night they still needed to get back on the water for any hope of some income this day. He tried hard to ignore the approaching throng and to focus on getting the debris out of his nets.

Jesus apparently aimed to settle near the shore to teach, but the press of people was too great. Everyone wanted to be close and they just about backed him into the lake. When he saw the brothers’ boat there, he got in, asking Simon to push it out into the water. What choice was there? Even though Simon had determined not to abandon his life, he couldn’t refuse the request.

Jesus taught from the boat all afternoon, his words burning into Simon’s tormented heart. “I am a fisherman,” he reminded himself. When darkness fell and hunger sent the people home, Jesus said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

“Master,” Simon replied wearily, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing.” He waited for Jesus to withdraw the request, but his fellow Galilean only returned his gaze, waiting. Sigh. “But if you say so, I’ll let the nets out again.”

As he and his brother maneuvered the boat back into open water, Simon’s thoughts mocked him. What did he expect to happen? He had decided he could not abandon the work which provided for his family, yet he was still compelled to obey. After a few hundred feet, he and Andrew dutifully let down the clean nets, exactly as they had done hundreds of times before, exactly as they had done the night before and through the cool hours of early morning. A fresh breeze stirred.

Suddenly the boat lurched leeward and began to tremble. What was happening? For a moment Simon imagined some great sea creature attacking from the dark waters. He leapt forward to see. It appeared the nets were full, full of wriggling fish! It took a few seconds to comprehend the sight. Simon was broken from his incredulity when he noticed stressed threads starting to unravel from the weight. Immediately the brothers jumped into action trying to support the nets as best they could and shouting desperately for help.

The boat of James and John pulled up beside and all five men struggled to get the catch on board. Both boats were soon filled to capacity, knee deep with fish, and still there were more. Finally the last net was secured and the heavy vessels labored toward land.

At this first moment of catching his breath the impact of what had just happened hit Simon. Jesus. Jesus was not just prophet and healer. He was something, someone, far more. He was provision. Simon had been calculating for days and finding Jesus coming up short. As further realization of his companion’s identity settled into Simon, he was overcome. He caught a breath-taking glimpse of who Jesus is and at the same moment of the darkness in his own heart by comparison. He fell to his knees. “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”

Jesus knelt with his hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. Then he repeated the mysterious words from before: “From now on you’ll be fishing for people.” The Bible tells us next that “as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”