Amateur Fishing!

This passage provides an intriguing insight into the early influences on the faith of Simon Peter. This wasn’t the first time that he and his fishing partners, James and John, had been with Jesus. On this occasion, Jesus uses what appears to be a merely practical course of action, launching out in a boat to have sufficient space to address the crowds, as an opportunity to demonstrate his authority and power.

Through a deeply unsettling (8-10) series of events he showed Simon, and those with him, that there was no separation between religious life and common workplace practices, that he is Lord of all. Jesus moved seamlessly from speaking “the word of God” (1) to giving instructions to experienced fishermen about how to do their job. He took hold of their everyday experience and transformed it. Fish are more likely to be caught in the dark, and following an unsuccessful night’s fishing it must have seemed ridiculous to follow Jesus’ instructions. However, the phrase that Simon uses, “But because you say so, I will…” (5), is one that rings down through the centuries to encourage and challenge us in our normal workday settings. When Jesus is present, something new and unexpected can be brought out of failure—but for that to happen we need to cooperate with him.

From that moment on, Simon Peter’s life would never be the same. The experienced fisherman learned what it was to come under the all-embracing authority of Jesus and what it meant to be led by someone greater than him. He who went on to lead the early church learned at the outset that biblical leadership always means a process of being led. No area of life falls outside this.

Encourage your church to create space for discussion and prayer about workplace issues. How could you support a work colleague going through a tough time?