March 21

I am a sinful man
Luke 5:1-11

Three times - a symbol of completeness - Jesus will call Peter to be his disciple.  This is the third time, and in this little story there is much to see in Peter, and in our Lord.
The boat
The boats used for fishing on a lake of this size are necessarily of shallow draft.  They would therefore be quite useful for a speaker who wished to speak from a few yards offshore, and so Christ used them. 

  • There are some who think that God must reject human means.  It is not so.  Christ uses the boat for a pulpit.  The nets are the tool of the miracle.  The right use of human means is to place them at the service of the Lord.
  • But human means alone, without the Lord Jesus, are of no use in the kingdom.  His presence, his command, turn our small means into his great works.
The Awesome God
Do you remember Isaiah's vision of the Lord?  His first reaction is to be stricken in his conscience.  He is a man of unclean lips, and he fears death at the hands of the Awesome God.  It is not the only instance in the Old Testament, by any means.  The Jews had a clear sense that the presence of God, the Holy One, was fatal to sinners.
Peter shows that same sense - and begs for his life.  That is why he asks Jesus, his Lord, to go away.  Have you ever done the same thing?  Perhaps there is something in your prayers that you will not mention, because you don't want the Awesome God.
Christ raises the sinner
Peter falls to his knees, but Christ brings him back up.  Peter is a sinner, but Christ will use him.  Why?
  • Peter was a fisherman;  Jesus, a carpenter.  Yet at his command Peter let down the nets.  Obedience is the habit of the true disciple.
  • Obedience is carried through as Peter and the others leave everything and follow Jesus.
There it is.  The Awesome God has come in the flesh.  He has called you and all you have .  If you will be obedient, he will raise you up too - even at the Last Day.