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When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Luke 5:8
Consider carefully this very moving action of Simon Peter. Jesus
had just begun His public ministry, healing Simon’s mother-in-law
as one of His first miracles. After that, Simon witnessed Jesus
heal many other sick people and cast out many demons. And then,
shortly after these initial miracles, Jesus got into the boat of
Simon, directed him to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets
for a catch.” As soon as Simon obeyed, he caught so many fish that
they needed a second boat to come and help them. The response of
Simon to this additional miracle is recorded above.
Three things take place in this passage. First, “Simon Peter saw
this…” And though he saw this, literally with his eyes, we should
see his “seeing” as something even deeper. Simon Peter saw not just
the best day of fishing he had ever had. He saw God’s grace at work
through Jesus and was deeply moved interiorly by what he saw. Jesus
used that which was one of the most central parts of Simon Peter’s
life (fishing) to manifest His divine power. In a sense, Jesus
brought this lesson home to Simon, using fishing as the source of
His lesson.
Secondly, Simon’s response was perfect. By encountering this divine
miracle, Simon immediately was aware of his sin. Though we do not
know what Simon’s sin was, it is clear that this encounter with our
Lord led him to immediately call to mind whatever he was guilty of.
Perhaps he had struggled with some ongoing habitual sin for years,
or perhaps he had done something of a grave nature that still
haunted him. But all we know is that Simon’s encounter with this
very powerful and personal miracle moved him to an awareness of his
sin.
Thirdly, Simon falls at the knees of Jesus and tells the Lord to
depart from him. And though Jesus’ mercy is so great that Jesus
would never depart from him, Simon is not only aware of the fact
that he is unworthy to be in Jesus’ presence, but he also manifests
this conviction through his humble action of
repentance.
What does Jesus do? He said, “Do not be afraid…” And when these new
disciples arrived at shore, “they left everything and followed
him.”
Each one of us must encounter our Lord in this same way. We must
see Jesus. We must be deeply attentive to Him. We must recognize
His presence, hear His voice and see His action in our life. If
this is done well and through faith, then our personal encounter
with our Lord will shine light on the sin we need to repent of.
This is not so that we remain in guilt and shame; rather, it is so
that we can also humble ourselves before Jesus and acknowledge we
are not worthy of Him. When this humble admission is done well, we
can be assured that Jesus will also say to us, “Do not be afraid.”
His consoling words to us must then be responded to with the same
choice made by Simon and the others. We must be ready and willing
to leave everything behind so as to follow Him.
Reflect, today, upon this image of Simon Peter on his knees before
Jesus. See his humility and honesty. See his sincerity and interior
awareness. And see his understanding of the divine power of Jesus
before him. Pray that you, too, will see our Lord, experience your
sin, humble yourself before Him and hear Him call you to radically
and completely follow after Him wherever He leads.
My consoling Lord, You manifested Your almighty power to Simon
Peter through his ordinary daily activity. You allowed him to see
Your divine power at work. Help me to see You at work in my life
also, dear Lord. And as I see You, help me to humble myself before
You, acknowledging my unworthiness. As I do, I pray that I also
hear You say to me “Do not be afraid,” so that I can get up and
follow You wherever You lead. Jesus, I trust in You.
Image: Konrad Witz, Public domain, via Wikimedia
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