I think much was happening at Lake Gennesaret in the Gospel reading for today. First, Jesus had drawn a large crowd who had come to hear him speak the word of God. That was not unusual. It was also not unusual for the crowds to press in on Jesus. As I was reading between the lines, I imagined Jesus looking around to see where he might go for a safe space. Sometimes Jesus would go up on higher ground, but this time, he was standing by the edge of the water. Lucky for him, he saw two boats there alongside the lake. So, he hopped aboard one of them, to the surprise of the fishermen who had disembarked to wash their nets. Now, things really start to happen.

We still have a crowd watching intently and listening to Jesus. But they were about to get a visual lesson that would have left a big impression on them. Jesus continues to teach the crowd from the boat. We do not know what he was saying but it was not as important as what they were about to see. When he finished, Jesus turned his focus on Simon, the owner of the boat he had just commandeered. No doubt the eyes of the crowd were also on Simon. I would have thought Jesus was going to ask Simon to transport him to the other side of the lake. We can all imagine not only Simon’s confusion and disbelief, but the surprise of the crowd when Jesus told Simon to go back out into the deep water and lower the nets for a catch just after they had returned empty handed. So, what is this all about?

The entire crowd saw and heard this exchange between Simon and Jesus. I think it is much like the conversation we also have with Jesus. First, Simon knows who Jesus is. He calls him Master and he says he will obey his command. That sounds like a lot of us. But underneath the surface, Simon does not believe that what Jesus tells him to do will produce a good outcome. Like Simon, we often go through the motion of doing what Jesus tells us with little confidence or zeal. Jesus teaches an important lesson here. The crowd also would have been astonished when Simon’s nets were filled to the point of tearing. All the fishermen were extremely impressed, that is certain, but they must have also felt some fear. Simon Peter so much so that he fell to the ground at the feet of Jesus in repentance for his lack of belief. Yet, Jesus took away that fear with just his word and all the fishermen there that day immediately followed Jesus’ next directive to follow him and be catchers of men. That was a powerful experience and directive!

What is in this for me? For you? I think Jesus is saying let us not let our fear of failure or our lack of confidence in our own goodness stop us from sharing the good news of Christ with others. We need not be perfect or wise. In fact, no one dares boast of such vanity and foolishness. Today I pray that we hear the words of Jesus say, “Do not be afraid.”  And “from now on” we can all do so much more.