Dear Luke,
What marvelous words! I love the stories of Jesus’ healings—they do
something inside me, lifting up my heart, confirming within me that he is more
than just a brilliant man who has a great way with words. His healings and others miracles give
evidence to a side of him that is more powerful than any ordinary man. I hear these stories and find confirmation of
his divinity. I hope that someday the
same is true for you.
It would be easy to follow a healer
like Jesus if he didn’t have teachings such as the ones you mentioned. His words had such an inflammatory effect on
some—while they were certainly not unprecedented in the Jewish tradition, I’m
not sure any of us react well to being directly confronted and accused of being
unfaithful to our religious tradition. I
probably wouldn’t deal well with it, either.
It doesn’t excuse the mob’s reaction, but as we have pointed out, the
words of Jesus challenge us to the core, and if we are to follow him, it is not
a decision to be made lightly, for it is not easy to follow the man. The elements and circumstances of the
decision to follow Jesus are what we find next in the story.
As you mentioned, once word spread
across the community, crowds flocked to Jesus, drawn by his power and his
wisdom. They wanted to be healed just as
much as they wanted to see the man heal others.
I don’t know if I could ever tire of watching Jesus command a sick woman
to rise up and be well! These crowds
began to be so numerous that he could scarcely find the air to speak, and so he
had to find creative ways to create some distance between himself and the
crowd. For example, on the shore of the
Lake of Gennesaret, people pushed so close in order to hear him speak that he
was forced to improvise. Fisherman had
come in from their task and left their boats at the shore while they washed
their nets, so he boarded one of these boats and asked the owner, a man named
Simon, to put it out a little from shore, so that the crowd might not trample
him in their excitement to hear him! He
sat down on the edge of the boat and taught the crowd while he was a little way
from the shore. I can picture the
individuals at the front of the crowd, pushing deeper into the water, the
gentle waves lapping at their knees as their hearts strain forward to hear the
teachings of this man. One can almost
sense their eagerness as they inch forward, some more daring than others,
getting as close to the man as possible.
I wonder if a few didn’t even dare to swim out and hang on the side of
the boat.
When his teaching had concluded and
the crowd had begun to dissipate, he turned to Simon and, with a curious
twinkle in his eye, asked him to put the boat out farther, into the deeper
water, that the nets might be let down once more for a catch. He said it as though it was a simple request,
but it was met with weariness and resistance.
Simon tried to be polite, for he had hung on every word with the same
passion as the crowd, but his exhaustion won out in his reply.
Master,
all night long we have labored in these waters.
Our nets returned empty to the boats each time, though we tried
everything. I will do this because you
command it this one time because you ask.
His wooden motions revealed his
physical exhaustion, but there was something in his face, some sense of wonder
at what the man was asking him to do. He
was skeptical that this teacher knew something about fishing that Simon did
not, but he also knew that the teachings he had heard today revealed that this
man was more than just your typical rabbi.
Still, it was a shock when the bets
went down and were suddenly filled with so many fish that they began to
break. The boat began to rock back and
forth as Peter raced from one end to the other, trying to comprehend what he
was witnessing. His eyes raced from the
overflowing nets to the jubilant face of Jesus, who was clearly filled with joy
at the scene unfolding before him. As he
listened to Simon signaling his partners to come help, Jesus’ shoulders began
to shake with laughter at the look of urgency on Simon’s face. Simon was so caught up in the task of fishing
that he failed to notice Jesus again until both boats were so filled with fish
that they threatened to sink. As the
water lapped perilously close to the ship’s railings, Simon saw Jesus and the
abundance within him and fell down before him, his face filled not with
thoughts of fish but with deeper things, with a recognition that the teacher in
his boat was more than a brilliant man who understood the prophets and the art
of fishing. This man held within him
every treasure that Simon desired in life and some that he hadn’t begun yet to
understand, and Simone saw himself, covered in fish and human exhaustion, and
all he knew to do was to fall at Jesus’ knees.
The words he spoke were scarcely audible, but Jesus heard every one of
them, spoken from the depths of Simon’s heart.
I
am a sinful man, Lord, and I beg you to go away from me.
At that moment the fish barely
mattered, as James and John, the sons of Zebedee, paused, too, to watch the
scene unfold, to see clearly that the rest of their lives would never be the
same because this man had boarded their partner Simon’s boat. Somehow, over the commotion of the fish
clamoring for release, they heard the reply of Jesus as if it was spoken
directly to each of them.
Do
not fear; you will no longer be fishermen, but rather you will spend your days
catching people.
The fish were hauled in and the
boats were brought to shore, but everything was done differently, as though
they knew it was the last time they would ever do so as their life’s work, as
though they knew that these fish didn’t matter the way they once had. What was a record catch for the three of them
was now a footnote in the pages of the histories of their lives, and the nets
were torn would not be mended by their calloused hands. When they finally reached the shore and the
witnesses that had gathered at the sound of Simon crying for help, it was all
left behind as Simon, James and John left everything to follow Jesus.
Luke, I pray that this story of
call might not intimidate you, but would rather amaze and astound you at the
heartfelt reaction of three men to Jesus.
I know that many struggle with this story—they want to follow Jesus, but
fear leaving everything behind. I do not
promise that following Jesus will be easy, and I assure you that there are
things that you will have to leave behind that, right now, seem like things you
could never imagine setting down. But
when you are confronted with the majesty of Jesus, no sacrifice seems too small. We all struggle with what to set down and
what Jesus calls us to hold on to, and I dare not say that I have figured it
all out, but I will pledge that we get help along the way, that we don’t have
to figure it out for ourselves. Jesus
calls us to a heartfelt, total conversion when he calls us, and we are to leave
behind the sin and trappings of our old life, and I promise that it is not
easy, but I assure you that it will not be as intimidating when you are called
as it seems now, weighing the pros and cons of discipleship from an emotionally
removed perspective. When Jesus calls,
just as Simon, James and John recognized, you see that everything you gain in
Jesus far outweighs what you will ever leave behind.
Sincerely,
Theophilus
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