The next verse in Luke 5 is laced with a deep meaning many never understand. Verse 5 is Peter responding to Jesus’ command to go out in the water, and cast out his nets:
“But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down my net.”
Peter addressing Jesus as Master here is usually seen as a sign of respect. There are, however, far different ways to translate the original word that was used in this passage. The word can be more accurately translated “boss” or “chief”. What this means is Simon Peter was addressing Jesus with respect, but talking down to Him at the same time. His statement is really a lot like, “Listen here, chief. I’m the fisherman who has spent my life fishing, but I’ll go out because a rabbi told me to.”
Peter was tired. He had been fishing all night because that’s when the fish come out. Peter knew this. The fish hide under rocks during the day, but Jesus was telling him to go out anyway. Peter wasn’t listening to him hoping for some miracle. He thought it was a complete waste of time. Peter was the master fisherman, and Jesus was just a rabbi. Peter simply didn’t want to be accused of disobeying the rabbi who had healed his mother-in-law. He obeyed, but begrudgingly. He had no idea Jesus was about to turn things around on him, and show him there is no one with the same expert fishing knowledge Jesus has. Jesus proves this to be true in verses 6-7:
“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.”
Peter may not have thought Jesus knew anything about fishing, put Jesus proved him wrong. He helped Peter catch the most abundant number of fish he ever had in his life. This amounted to winning the lottery, and would have changed the lives of Peter and his partners (who happened to be James and John) for the better. It was an amazing thing, and it only happened because Peter listened to Jesus.
This reflects, or can reflect, so many of our lives. Using our own human logic we can look at a situation, and decide what we think is the right thing to do. God, however, can tell us to do something totally different. When we’re tired He can tell us to keep going, or to go out once more. He may tell us to right when everything in us wants to go left. He may tell us to go when it would be easier to stay, or to stay when we want to run. He may tell us to do things that go against everything we’ve learned our entire lives.
It is normal to wonder why, but not acceptable to disobey. We can be intelligent, but God is the true expert on everything. When He tells us to do something we will always be better off if we listen. It doesn’t matter how crazy it sounds, how tired we are, or how much it clashes with what we think is true. God always knows best. What he has in store for us is always better then what we can consider or imagine for ourselves. Peter could have missed this miracle because he thought he knew better than Jesus. Don’t let yourself miss out on what Jesus has in store for you because you think you know better. You never do. Jesus always knows better.
No comments:
Post a Comment