Daily Devotional • September 28
A Reading from Luke 5:1-11
1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Meditation
In Luke 4, Jesus preached in the synagogue from Isaiah’s scroll (4:16-30), and Jesus now turns a boat on the lake into a makeshift pulpit. After teaching, Jesus performs a miraculous demonstration. He asks Peter to cast his nets into the deep. Peter knows the request is illogical, humanly speaking: all night they’ve been casting without an ounce of success. Still, Peter knows that if the Lord asks it, there’s something at work beyond what Peter can grasp.
What Peter experiences through Jesus’ demonstration is that to be in the presence of Jesus is to be in the presence of a disruptive blessing. That which was hopeless and fruitless in Peter’s hands is transfigured—once Jesus gets involved—into an abundant overflow. Nets burst from the catch. Extras hands must help with the massive haul. A shocking abundance has arrived.
This is no health-and-wealth prosperity gospel. Jesus is not a genie but a gracious disruptor. Jesus’ miraculous demonstration happens when he invades Peter’s domain and calls the shots. Jesus enters Peter’s boat, turns it into a pulpit, and then has the audacity to tell a professional fisherman how to do his job. Peter obeys, and Jesus’ miraculous demonstration drives him to confession and discipleship (5:8).
Jesus calls disciples by means of declaration and demonstration, which graciously disrupts our status quo. What does this mean for us? This means we fend off Christ and his blessing if we refuse to let him interfere with that which we consider our domain: our money, our home, our lives. Jesus—thanks be to God—will not be relegated to our Sunday worship. Jesus is at work around us, calling to us in our boats, bringing his reign up close and personal. So much of our living is empty — casting our nets in the same place in the same way with no return but frustration and a sense of numbness. The presence of the Savior makes humanity fruitful again through his words and deeds.
Claude Atcho is the pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is the author of Reading Black Books: How African American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Episcopal Diocese of West Texas
Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan
