The deep catch.

Luke 5:1-10

1On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

The title of this blog comes from this story. I thought it appropriate to make my first post about this story. I must admit that it is very difficult for me to put into words just how profound I feel this story to be. It is like looking at a huge, beautifully-detailed wall mural. How does one begin to describe it? To be honest I am not sure I am up to the task, but I feel compelled to try, so I will give it my best shot.

Sometimes a parable comes in a standard form, and with Jesus, we often see short parables coming forth in this style: "The kingdom of heaven is like... a pearl, a drag net, a hidden treasure, a mustard seed, etc. Thus in using the word "like", Jesus compares a known thing with a thing he would like people to learn about. This is pretty straight forward in method even if the meaning beneath such parables seems cryptic. Other parables start with something along the lines of: "There was once a man who...", from these we understand that the story is a parable, it has a moral, and these too are fairly easy to detect. Sometimes someone will invent a story as if it were factual history with the intention of it being a parable at heart. Other stories, like the one from the gospel of Luke above, seem to be an actual historical event, and yet at the same time, filled with such deep symbolism that the line between reality and parable becomes blurred or disappears altogether. The interactions in the story seem too authentically human to be a parable, and yet the symbolism is so deep that the symbols beg to be interpreted. I get the impression that in general, God intends to lay down history in such a way as to infuse it with symbolic meaning. Thus I see this story as historical, and yet at the same time deeply symbolic. Having got that off my chest, i will lay it out as i perceive it.

Verses 1&2 set the scene, I don't have much to say about those. Except that the people are "pressing" upon him to hear the word of God. Jesus is on the shoreline, on the boundary between land and sea. The people want to learn about God, which is undeniably a deep subject. Depth of thought or feeling are often compared to deep water, as in the saying, "still waters run deep". Thus Jesus sees the boats on the shore and finds them appropriate for the task at hand, he will draw the people towards the deep water(the deep subject of God). Yet, as in another saying, "you have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk", he will not overwhelm them with things they are not ready to hear, he will start with the basics, and this leads us into Verse 3:

"Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat."

This is how Jesus taught the crowds, with parables, with gentleness, easing them into these deep things little by little. How appropriate to push the boat out "a little from the land". The depth of water his boat is sitting in represents the depth of teaching he is offering to the people. This is appropriate for 'the crowds'. Who knows why they are all there? Some from genuine interest, some because of all the buzz, some for other reasons altogether. Next:

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

First the name "Simon", what does this name mean? "one who hears". This "hearing" is not strictly meant in a physical sense, it should be understood as in the saying of Jesus: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." What does this mean? It means,"let the ones comprehending, take to heart what is said." So, what do we have? We have Jesus, after giving his gentle intro about God to the crowds in the shallows, now saying to "Simon"(the one comprehending), "put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." The "one who hears" is now being beckoned out into deeper waters. If you don't know much about lake fishing, which is what this was, and especially with a net, you need to know that fish in general do not congregate out in the deep water. They congregate along the "dropoff"; the boundary between the shallower and deeper waters. If you are fishing with a net, you want to cast it out in this boundary area where the majority of fish will be congregating. So it is not hard to imagine how this command of Jesus must have sounded to Simon:

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

If the "dropoff" is the right place, the "night" is the proper time to catch the fish, Simon has done all that was logically correct to catch fish if there were any to catch, and he had caught nothing despite "doing it all the right way". Why does Simon fish? He does it "for a living", to make a life for himself, to provide for himself and his family. Mankind is in a lost state, in an endless cycle of hurting others and being hurt, they don't know how to "live" well. This is akin to "fishing at night", they can't really see what they are doing to themselves and others, but they are catching some fish, so that is good enough. They know enough not to live in too shallow a fashion, but they also refuse to plunge deep into the reality of life. So, what do they do? They spend their lives in the dark, seeking "a living" on that boundary between the shallow and the deep, after all, that is what everyone else does, and they seem to get by just fine. But "Simon" (the one who hears), realizes that he has caught nothing, he is not happy about this, but at the same time, Jesus (who apparently knows nothing about fishing), is asking him to fish some more, and in a way that makes no sense to Simon. Nevertheless, Simon is "Simon", he is one who hears something more in the words of Jesus, and against his better judgement, he complies:

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

Inexplicably the catch was abundant. What is the net? The net is what you use to catch the fish, it is the "method" by which Simon has previously made a living for himself. It symbolizes all the ways of the world, all that the world thinks it understands, all it values as useful for making a life for oneself.

The "net" of "the one who hears", breaks.

Human beings though, are stubborn folk, Simon does not desist when he sees his net breaking, instead he calls for aid from his partners to bring their nets and their boats, to continue hauling in this amazing catch. We hear nothing from Jesus, no "Stop, that's enough!" or anything of that sort. He just watches. They fish, and fish, and fish, until at last the boat begins to sink:

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

This is the climax of the story, never has more been conveyed by such a small word: "it". "When Simon Peter saw it..." "It", here is not merely the catch of fish, "it" is the situation, and only a "Simon" can gauge this situation. And when a Simon gauges the truth of the situation, he is no longer merely a "Simon", he becomes a "Simon Peter", the one who hears, who obeys, becomes also "Peter/a rock". Through hearing and obeying, he pushes on into "seeing", and not just seeing, but seeing "it". It may be unwise to attempt to describe "it", but maybe comparing "it" to some other things would be OK. Think of those movies scenes were someone sees a ghost, or a monster, or some other unbelievable sight, they exclaim: "Did you see that!", the other person asks, "See what?", the person is so overwhelmed that they cannot explain, but only repeat, "That! That!" The experience of seeing that ghost or monster or whatever, is so overwhelming, that they have lost the ability to describe what they saw. We see in this story also that the writer is reluctant to give details, he does not say, "when Simon Peter saw the catch of fish", or something along those lines, he just leaves it at, "when Simon Peter saw it...". Now, Peter's response after "seeing it", does give a clue as to what is certainly included in what he saw. Seeing the great depth of his own sinfulness is definitely included in what he saw. I would add that he saw how sin makes the world go around and his complicity therein. I would say that in this act of "seeing" the writer implies that this is how "Simon" becomes "Simon Peter". Never before this point in Luke's gospel is Simon called "Simon Peter", it is as though "seeing it" is the catalyst that transforms him from a Simon to a Simon Peter. Seeing the sinful ways of the world and one's own complicit involvement in it, is the foundation upon which faith in God is built. Without this abiding realization, true faith cannot grow.

...And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Why does Jesus tell him not to be afraid? Because he is afraid. He is drowning in the depths of his own sin, adrift in an endless ocean of sin. Yet, how did this realization come about? It would have never happened if he had chosen not to follow Jesus out into the deep water. His obedience brought him to such a helpless state. Entering this helpless state is a foundational requirement for those seeking to delve deeply into God. Simon Peter is terrified and probably wished he had never, "saw it". But it seems precisely due to his ability to "see it", that he qualifies to become a 'catcher of men". Without this insight into his own nature/human nature, how could he pass on the teachings of God with accuracy and humility? He couldn't.

All who follow Jesus out into the deep, and there see themselves and the world as they truly are, should take encouragement from this fact. God draws people out into these raging waters that expose the depths of our own sinfulness. God does this to cleanse us from self-reliance, from all the subtle self-exultation we participate in. It is all these "little droplets" of self-exultation that we participate in daily that make up the ocean of suffering that is this world... for what is an ocean but a multitude of drops?

All in all, this story teases out the very simple yet profound teaching of Jesus: "The one who loses his life will find it."