NOTES for Luk 5:1-11
To understand Peter's state of mind, imagine sitting at a computer and trying to load a web page you need, but it will not load. You have already spent the whole night there and tried every possible browser—all to no avail. Suddenly someone comes up behind you and says, “Try opening it through Word.” (We will not discuss your first reaction.) You are so exhausted that you shrug and start Word. And—miraculously—you are already on the site you need. After reading the required information, and realizing that this cannot happen, that it is impossible, you turn around and see—not a programmer, no—but a Carpenter, a carpenter's son. I will not venture to predict what you do next, but Peter was overcome with fear, clearly seeing that the presence of the One who does the impossible was incompatible with his own sinfulness. Jesus reassures him and partly lifts the veil of mystery over his future. A new life begins for Peter; he begins to enter the New Covenant with God (see the TOP STORY).