A Practical Vision

The fifth chapter of Luke’s Gospel begins with the story of Jesus calling His first disciples. The scene is the Lake of Gennesaret where Jesus encounters some fisherman on the shore cleaning their nets. One of the fishermen is a man named Simon. Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and asks him to pull out a short distance from the shore. Remaining seated in the boat, He then begins teaching the crowd gathered on the water’s edge. When He has finished speaking He says to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon answers, ‘Master we have been hard at it all night long and have caught nothing; but if You say so, I will lower the nets.’ Upon doing this they catch such a great number of fish that their nets are at a breaking point” (Lk.5:4-6). Simon Peter falls on his knees and says to Jesus, “Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man.” To which Jesus replies,…