Luke moves us ahead in time, but still in the time frame of our Lord’s Galilean ministry.  The power of God was upon Him, and the throngs were now gathering, not just to have their sick healed, but to hear the word of God.  What a blessed day it is when men in great numbers desire to hear the wonderful words of life!  We pray such a day may be seen in our own time.

So closely did the people press in upon Him, that He found it convenient to enter into one of the ships which was there by the shore.  The fishermen were washing their nets, and so Jesus entered into the one belonging to Simon and had him push the boat out a little distance from the shore.  From thence, He sat down and taught the people.

Eventually, the sermon was over, and Christ turned again to Simon Peter.  This time, He ordered Him to sail out into the deep, and let down his nets for a catch of fish.  Peter’s response is an admirable one.  He tells the Lord that they had labored all night without catching a thing; but he did not say so in an argumentative way, merely as a point of information.  He had no hopes of any kind of catch.  And yet, because of Who gave the order, He would do so.  Here is a great lesson and example for the Christian.  There are times when we do not understand the commands of God’s word, or perhaps why He has set us upon some particular task in His providence.  Our attitude should not be to shrink away from the path of obedience, but rather to do as the Lord requires, whether we understand or not.  It is Christ’s authority which is supreme, and it is not necessary that we understand.

 To walk in obedience will always bring a blessing.  Though he expected nothing, Peter let down the net at Christ’s word, and immediately hauled up a large catch of fish, so large in fact that their net began to break.  The haul was so overwhelming that they had to signal to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  So many fish were brought in that the boats themselves began to sink under the weight.

Peter, very understandably, was overwhelmed by this signal instance of Christ’s power.  He had of course seen Him healing the sick and casting out devils, but now He demonstrated His power over nature, which men must struggle with at such great expense to bring into subjection.  Christ could command the swarms of fish that swam in the depths of the lake as readily as He could dismiss a fever or cast out a demon.  He responded in the only proper way, falling down in an attitude of worship and crying out, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  Peter recognized that He was seeing a glimpse of the glory of the Word made flesh, and that he, a sinful man, had no right in and of himself to the presence of the Son of God.  This is much akin to Isaiah’s response to the vision of the Lord’s glory, when he cried out, “Woe is me!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”  Even though Christ’s presence there on the lake was not as visibly majestic as that which Isaiah saw, the impression was much the same.