Jesus stayed in the boat. Luke 5:1-11
In 1741 a preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”. Here is an excerpt from that sermon:
“O sinner! The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire; he is of purer Eyes than to bear to have you in his Sight; you are ten thousand Times so abominable in his Eyes as the most hateful venomous Serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn Rebel did his Prince: and yet ‘tis nothing but his Hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment: 'Tis to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to Hell the last night; that you were allowed to awake again in this World, after you closed your Eyes to sleep: and there is no other Reason to be given why you have not dropped into Hell since you arose in the Morning, but that God’s Hand has held you up: There is no other reason to be given why you haven’t gone to Hell since you have sat here in the House of God, provoking his pure Eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship: Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you don’t this very moment drop down into Hell.”
Edwards never finished preaching this sermon. As the parishioners envisioned themselves as loathsome insects precariously hanging by a thread over the fires of hell, they began to shriek and cry out in terror and the weeping and crying became so loud that Edwards was forced to end the sermon prematurely. At the risk of sounding like a charismatic, have you ever had an experience like this? Have you ever been so overwhelmed by your sinfulness that it filled you with terror and caused your soul if not your lips to shriek? Or perhaps you have not so much had AN experience but rather ARE experiencing the crushing weight of guilt and the constant shame of failing to be the person God demands you to be. Perhaps your terror is not expressed by an emotional weeping and crying perhaps your terror manifests itself as lifeless depression or despair. Your individual temperament aside, I guess what I am asking is, have you ever seen yourself as a sinner in the hands of an angry God?
Saint Peter once saw himself as a sinner in the hands of an angry God. In our gospel lesson from Luke 5:1-11 we learn Peter was once so overcome by the terror of his sin that he cried out, “8… Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
Peter first learned about Jesus from his brother Andrew. Andrew had been a discipled of John the Baptist. I say had been because when Andrew saw John point to Jesus and call Him “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”[1] Andrew left John to follow Jesus. It did not take long for Andrew to realize Jesus was not your average Rabbis. The first chance he got Andrew told his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah!”[2] Shortly after Peter was personally introduced to Jesus and, as you can imagine, Jesus made an impression on Peter. But Andrew and Peter were not the only ones to be impressed by Jesus. All their neighbors were talking about Jesus. They asked each other “what is this teaching? With authority and power, he gives orders to evil spirits, and they come out!”[3] (Jesus had recently cast a demon out of a man who had interrupted service in the synagogue.)
Peter got a front row seat to that power and authority his neighbors were talking about. After the incident in the synagogue, Jesus went to Peter’s house for lunch. Tragically Peter’s mother-n-law was suffering from a high fever and was unable to wait on them so, at the request of Peter, Jesus rebuked the fever and healed the woman. But she was not the only recipient of a miracle that day. Peter’s neighbors lined up outside his door and one by one Jesus spent the evening healing them of various kinds of sicknesses and driving out demons.
All this is to say Peter knew who Jesus was. He knew Jesus to be a man of power and authority. This explains why, days later, Peter found Jesus sitting in his boat. Peter was a fisherman, and Luke tells us, though Peter had “5… worked hard all night”, he hadn’t caught anything. I don’t imagine Peter was in a very good mood. He was probably tired, hungry, and dirty. I imagine all Peter wanted to do was go home, get cleaned up, have something to eat, and go to sleep. So when Jesus hopped into Peter’s boat and asked Peter to “3… put out a little from the shore” so that Jesus could better teach the crowds of people who had gathered along the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, I imagine Peter felt like you feel when after a long day at the office I ask you to meet me at church for a quick 2 hour meeting. Like you, Peter graciously accommodated his Rabbis.
As the lesson concluded Peter probably expected they would return to shore, and he would finally be able to call it a day. However, when Jesus finished the lesson, He said to Peter, “4… Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Again, I imagine Peter’s patience had just about run out. It likely was not easy for this professional fisherman to take fishing advice from a carpenter, especially when that advice was just wrong. Every fisherman knew the fishing was better at night than during the day and every fisherman knew the place to catch fish was in the shallows along the shore not out in the deep. But because it was Jesus who asked, Peter replied, “5… because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Peter’s obedience was rewarded beyond his wildest imagination. Luke tells us “6… they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break” and their boats were so full “7… that they began to sink”. Never in his fishing career had Peter ever heard let alone seen such a thing happen. This was not natural. This was supernatural. That’s when Luke tells us, “8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
What was it about this event that elicited such an intense reaction from Peter? Peter had previously seen Jesus do things which were supernatural. Yet the healing of countless people and the casting out of numerous demons had not had such an effect on Peter as this catch of fish. Scripture is silent as to the exact reason, but I suspect it had something to do with the proximity of the miracle. Jesus performed this miracle right in Peter’s face. Peter would have been able to stand at a distance as Jesus performed miracles for his family and friends, much the same way that you can come into God’s house and find a seat that puts you in the proximity but still keeps you a safe distance from Jesus. This miracle, however, was up close and personal. Peter and Jesus were in the same boat, literally. This miracle was happening all around Peter, indeed Peter was standing knee deep in miracle. Peter was up close and personal with Jesus, much the same way you are when you come forward to eat and drink at the table where Jesus offers you His body and His blood.
Whatever it was about this specific encounter it caused Peter to see himself clearly, to see himself as he truly was not as he pretended to be, to see himself in the mirror of God’s holy law, to see himself in comparison to the sinless Son of God, to see how far short he had fallen and the depth to which he deserved to go. Peter saw himself as a sinner in the hands of an angry God, so in terror Peter begged Jesus “go away from me!”.
Peter, perhaps for the first time, saw himself clearly. Do you? Do you see yourself clearly? For a time, you may be able to keep your distance from Jesus; you may be able to be in the proximity of Jesus, you know come to His house once a week sing some hymns say some prayers, maybe even occasionally join a bible study, or engage with the saints socially. For a time, you may be able to keep Jesus at a distance but eventually the time will come when you find yourself standing either before the mirror of His holy Law or before His judgment seat in heaven, and when that time comes you will have no choice but to see yourself clearly, as you truly are not as you pretend to be; you will see how far short you have fallen and the depths to which you deserve to go. Either in this world or the next you will stand face to face with Jesus and when you do, you will have reason to see yourself as a sinner in the hands of an angry God who cries out in terror, “go away from me Jesus!”.
But here’s the thing, you won’t; you won’t cry out in terror. Peter saw himself clearly, but he didn’t clearly see Jesus. To me the most remarkable thing in this entire text is the fact that Jesus didn’t get out of the boat. He could have, walking on water, as you know, was within His capabilities. Jesus could have gotten out of the boat; indeed, you might say He should have gotten out of the boat. But He didn’t. Instead, Jesus said to Peter “10… Don’t be afraid”
“Don’t be afraid”. Jonathan Edwards was right to describe you as “loathsome insects” and “the most hateful venomous serpents”; He was right to force you to see yourself as a sinner who deserves to be burn in hell. But he was wrong to suggest you should be afraid of your God. Your God is not an angry God. Your God is the kind of God who won’t get out of the boat. Whatever vile thoughts you have had, whatever hateful words you have spoken, whatever evil deeds you have done, your savior Jesus won’t get out of the boat. The devil wants you to believe that Jesus is angry with you, that Jesus has written you off as a lost cause and Jesus is eager to see you suffer for your sins. The devil wants you to see Jesus as an angry God so that you stay away from Jesus, as long as possible in this world and, if the devil has his way, for all eternity in the next. But that is not who Jesus is; Jesus is not eager to see you suffer. Jesus is not an angry God, He is a loving God. Which is why He got into your boat in the first place. Jesus wants to have a face to face with you. Jesus wants you to see your sin and cry out, not in terror but in repentance. Jesus got into your boat and remains in your boat all so that He can say to you, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus says this to you week after week. It is my voice that you hear but, make no mistake, it is Jesus who is speaking when you hear me say, “as a called servant of Christ and by His authority I forgive you all your sins.” When you hear me say those words it is really Jesus saying, “don’t be afraid. I am not getting out of your boat.”
“10… Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” That’s what Jesus said to Peter and that is what He says to you and to me. Instead of striking us down Jesus sends us out. You see, there are people out there who are afraid of Jesus. The devil has convinced them that they are too far gone, that they are unforgiveable, that they are unsavable. They say things like “I’m afraid if I’ll get struck by lightning if I ever step foot in a church”. The devil has convinced them they are sinners in the hands of an angry God. But you know, from personal experience, that’s who Jesus is. Jesus is not a God who is eager to punish He is the God who is eager to pardon. Jesus loves the people out there as much as He loves you. So, go tell them Jesus is not an angry God, go tell them Jesus is a loving God; go tell them about the time Jesus went fishing with Peter and though Peter begged Jesus to go away, Jesus stayed in the boat. Amen
[1] John 1:29
[2] John 1:41
[3] Luke 4:36