Simon Peter and his partners have been out on the lake all night and caught nothing, and are washing their nets on the shore when Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and asks him to push out a little from the land so he can teach the crowds from the water. When he finishes speaking, he tells Peter to put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.
Peter objects, then obeys anyway, and the result is more fish than the boats can hold.
Peter Told Jesus the Plan Had Already Failed Once
“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” Peter does not pretend confidence in the instruction. He states the relevant fact plainly, that the professionals have already tried this exact activity recently and had nothing to show for it, before agreeing to try again anyway.
The Catch Was Large Enough to Become a Problem
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break… they filled both boats so full that they began to sink.” The miracle is not a modest improvement on the night’s failure. It is abundant enough to physically threaten the boats and nets meant to hold it, requiring a second boat to be signalled over just to manage the catch.
Peter’s Response to the Miracle Was Not Excitement
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!'” Faced with a provision this large, Peter’s first reaction is not gratitude for the catch but an overwhelming awareness of his own unworthiness in front of whoever had just caused it.
They Walked Away From the Biggest Catch of Their Careers
“So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” The text is specific that they left everything, which includes the very catch that had just filled both boats to sinking. The largest financial windfall of their fishing careers is abandoned on the beach in favour of a call that had nothing to do with fish.
“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
Luke 5:10-11
They had never caught this much in one night in their lives. They left all of it sitting on the sand to follow a call that promised nothing about fish at all.
