Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!

 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

- Luke 5:1-11

 Yesterday we read that Jesus left the synagogue at Capernaum and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.  So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  And immediately she arose and served them.  When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.  And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.  Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.   The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee.  It's about 13 miles long and 7 miles wide.  This was a very fertile region, both for fishing and agriculture, and the name Gennesaret meant "garden of the prince."

Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  There are several mentions in the Gospels of Jesus teaching the crowds from a boat; it lets us know the popularity of His ministry and the numbers of people coming to hear Him.  To be seated was the traditional posture for a teacher, for teaching with authority.  See, for example, Jesus' posture in preaching the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1).

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  My study bible cites St. Ambrose, who sees the spiritual meaning of this command as an invitation to give one's life over to the deep mystery of the knowledge of the Son of God.

But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  My study bible points out to us that Jesus draws people to Himself by things that are familiar to them.  He drew the Magi with a star (Matthew 2:2), He would also draw tax collectors via a tax collector (5:29).  Here, He draws the fishermen with fish (see 1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.   Peter's cry is partially from awe -- but it's a response to the evidence of divine power.  This is not rejection; rather, he is suddenly and starkly cast in the light of Christ.   Peter responds as a holy person, who is keenly aware of his own inadequacy or unworthiness (compare to Isaiah 6:5; Revelation 1:17).

And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.  My study bible says that the great catch of fish is an image of the apostles bringing humankind into the knowledge of Christ, and fulfills the prophecy of Jeremiah 16:16.  In the festal hymn of Pentecost of the Eastern Orthodox, the church sings to Christ, "Through the fishermen, You drew the world into Your net."  We note that these men are now "all in": they forsook all and followed Him.   They have family businesses, and at least for Peter we know he has a family.  But the knowledge of Christ compels them to forsake all to follow Him.

How do we come to Christ?  Many say that our faith life is a journey; when Christ says He's the way, the truth, and the life, that word for "way" is the same that's used for "street" or "path."  These men already know Christ; in yesterday's reading we've heard about the healing of Peter's mother-in-law.  So Peter's home is already a place that forms a kind of headquarters for the ministry.  But it is at this point of the experience of the Person of Christ, a kind of illumination of His holy power, that Peter forsakes all and follows Him, as do John and James Zebedee.  It is these three who will form the inner circle of Christ's followers, those of the strongest faith.  He will call them to accompany Him at moments of great power, such as the healing of the daughter of Jairus in a house full of people who ridicule Him and insist that the daughter is dead, or to the Mount of Transfiguration.  It's not the miracle of the catch of fish per se that takes all the attention of these men and shifts them fully toward the Kingdom so that they forsake all and follow Him.  After all, if it was the fish they cared about, they might think that prayers to Christ will simply help their business to prosper!  But they're not material-minded.  Rather, it is the experience of this power that draws them so completely into discipleship at the cost of everything else.  Some of us may feel Christ's power at work in our own lives at particular moments on our own journey.  A hurt from the past may come to us while sitting in a church service, and all of a sudden the power to forgive -- to give the person and the hurt to Christ -- is suddenly something we're able to do.  We may pray in a time of desperate loneliness, and experience a moment of love and security that helps us to put more trust in God.  Perhaps at the threat of danger, we experience what we understand to be help of a spiritual nature that we can only attribute to God or God's messengers.  Sometimes the coincidental nature of an opportunity or a person that comes along after a prayer becomes truly understood as an experience that really wasn't a coincidence at all.  Whatever way we encounter Christ's power along our own paths of faith, we know the experience when we perceive it.  Those who fail to perceive, who don't have "ears to hear or eyes to see" won't find this at all.  But the experience of this power is a tangible, real, and true perception, using a sense that the world may or may not value.  Either way, that moment is a crossroads, a watershed.  It invites us to accept or reject what we have experienced; and we go, either more truly "all in," or the other way.  There may be many, many such moments on our path, but each one becomes a moment of choice along the route, His way.  The light that illumines this pathway may come to us at any time, perhaps in a great string of lights that punctuate the time of our lives and ask us to choose again.