Luke’s account of the Miraculous Catch of Fish and the calling of the first Disciples (Luke 5:1-11) permits us to witness the spiritual journey of Peter and his companions as their faith in Christ deepens, and they travel from faith to faith.
Peter’s faith is first demonstrated when, despite exhaustion and disappointment from a fruitless night of fishing, he sets aside his nets and allows the Lord to use his boat to teach the crowds. His faith in Christ is evident again when, despite the advanced hour and the unlikelihood of success, Peter obeys the Lord’s instruction to cast his nets once more. “Master,” he says, “I will do it just because You ask.”
In Greek, the word ‘Master’ (Epistates) refers to someone entrusted with the authority and expertise to oversee a project. Christ, the Overseer and Agent of our salvation, assumes this role because He is the Word of God, the same who oversaw Paradise before the Fall.
Peter's faith plays a pivotal role in the miracle that follows. Suddenly, their nets overflow with fish, so much so that the boats begin to sink under the weight. Peter’s faith in Christ brings him to a profound moment of repentance; he humbly asks Christ to leave his boat, feeling unworthy to be in the presence of such a God. Yet Peter’s faith leads him and his companions to leave everything behind and follow the Lord.
And finally, as a result of the faith of Peter and the other Disciples, none of them felt any more fear, from the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended and the Church was established. They were ready to give even their lives for Christ and His Church, which indeed they did.
Peter overcame his exhaustion and disappointment for the sake of Christ, and in return He filled his boat with fish. Astonished, Peter asked Him to leave his boat because he felt unworthy of Him, and Christ made him the First of His Disciples. Peter, along with his companions, believed in Christ, and He made them ‘fishers of men’. Peter's faith in Christ was progressive and continually growing. He first believed in Christ as Teacher and Master, then as the one sent by God, and finally as the Son of God and Creator of the World.
Christ calls us to place our faith in Him, and in return, He fills our lives with His gifts. He responds to our faith with the intention of nurturing and increasing it. Just as He did with Peter and the other Disciples, He continues to do with each of us, until the end of the world.
If Christ does not grant us all His gifts at once, it is to protect us from the danger that we will deny him because of our immaturity, as the first humans did in Paradise. For the same reason that he did not permit them to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil in Paradise, he now gives each of us only what we can bear, leading us to open our hearts more fully to Him. Only if we remain faithful in both the trials and joys of life, will He ultimately be persuaded to shower us with all His gifts.
However, our faith in Christ should not be motivated by the desire for rewards. We are called to remain faithful unto death, and in the end, He will forever fill the nets of our true selves with His eternal presence.
Archpriest Dr Georgios Lekkas is a clergyman of the Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Belgium.
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