12/10/2023
Peter, Andrew, James and John were career fishermen. Fishing put food on their tables. One evening, they went out to fish as their custom was. They fished all night but caught no fish.
In the morning, they were angry and in a very bad mood. While they were repairing and washing their nets after a horrible night in the office, Jesus was about to start preaching by the sea shore very close to them. Peter & Co didn't come to listen to any preaching. In fact, preaching was the last thing they wanted to hear. They were angry they fished all night and didn't catch any fish.
As if Jesus wanted to annoy them further, he requested to use one of the boats belonging to Peter as altar. Despite his anger and foul mood, Peter agreed. While Jesus was preaching, Peter was washing his nets, boiling inside.
After Jesus finished preaching with Peter's boat as platform, he asked Peter to throw his washed nets back into the water and start fishing. At this point, Peter objected: Sir, we did not catch fish when we were supposed to catch. What makes you think we will catch fish when we're not supposed to catch fish? You're a carpenter. What do you know about fishing? Peter was about to collect his boat from Jesus when he remembered . . . .
Jesus had healed Peter's mother-in-law few days before. With this in mind, Peter grudgingly agreed to fish when he was not supposed to fish! He knew there was something about Jesus and his words.
As Peter threw the nets into the water, he felt the sudden, heavy and downward pull of the nets. What?! "Is this what I'm thinking?", Peter asked himself. Alas! It's fish. Plenty fish. Peter and Andrew tried to drag the nets into Peter's boat but it was too heavy for them. Peter called out to James and John for help. With the help of the 3 men, Peter managed to drag the full nets into the boat.
Once the fish landed on the boat, Peter discovered a bigger problem: the boat was sinking due to the heavy weight of the fish. But somehow, they survived and everywhere was full of wiggling and spattering fish. It was noisy. Jesus was standing by the sea shore, smiling.
To Peter & Co, that was a miracle. They knew Jesus did it. But Jesus was up to something bigger and more important than fish. He asked Peter, Andrew, James and John to join him to go change the world. Without hesitation, Peter & Partners left the boat and the thousands of fish scattered in the boats and everywhere on the sea shore and followed Jesus.
Question:
What could have made career fishermen abandon the largest catch of fish in their fishing career to follow a Rabbi from Nazareth?
