When men had toiled all night nothing came of it, but when men at the direction of God simply let down their nets grace was in such abundance it was nearly sinking the boats with the fruit of faith and grace! But that’s not all! See most are happy to stop at full boats.
The really significant thing is still yet to happen. Look at verse 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"
Two things are revealed here for us. Only after faith produced action and action produced fruit did it even begin to dawn on Peter just who Jesus was and what kind of man Peter himself was.
We think we know ourselves. We think we know the Lord. But the knowledge someone possesses may be purely academic at best unless they have gained it as a result of walking in faith and therefore it has become personal.
Peter spoke two profound things in this moment. He spoke of his sudden knowledge of his own sinfulness and he spoke of his sudden revelation that Jesus was more than a master teacher, He is Lord! There is a definite increase in acknowledgement on Peter’s part as to who Jesus is to him.
For Peter at the first to call Jesus Master was to see him as a superintendent or overseer. That is what the word actually means.
But the word interpreted as Lord here is seeing Jesus as owner and possessor! How do we know this is an accurate understanding of the revelation Peter received?
VS11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
The situation has moved from an inconvenient act of faith based on respecting a teacher who would in that culture have a right to ask this of them and expect to receive it. Thus being thought of as an overseer or superintendent would be appropriate. But it changed on that boat after they obeyed in faith. Jesus was revealed to Peter as much more than He had been at the start.
The result of this revelation led to them following the, "Lord," Jesus, revealed by their willingness to leave their livelihood to follow Him and be His disciples.
They left those anointed nets and those anointed boats that were full of fish. The thing they had toiled all night for because ti was their livelihood they had received by obedienced to Jesus. But when they reached shore the object of their toiling meant nothing compared to the Lord Jesus Christ. They forsook all to follow Him!
The reason people struggle with forsaking all is that they have not received the revelation that comes only through faith. They are still struggling with getting who Jesus is and what importance He should have in their lives be settled by faith.
Faith will always be more than just a statement we make. It is an action we take because of something we believe. When we act on faith Jesus is revealed to us and we are made able to see the truth about ourselves. It is in these types of encounters with Christ that we are changed from glory to glory.
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
