NOTES for Luk 5:1-11

To understand Peter's state of mind, imagine that you are sitting at a computer trying to load the web page you need, but it will not load. You have already spent the whole night at it and tried every possible browser—all to no avail. Suddenly someone comes up behind you and says, “Why don't you try opening it through Word?” (We will not discuss your first reaction.) You are so exhausted that, with a dismissive wave, you launch Word. And—wonder of wonders!—you are already on the website you need. Having retrieved the information you wanted, and realizing that this does not happen and cannot happen, you turn around and see—not a programmer, no, but a Carpenter, the son of a carpenter. I will not attempt to predict what you would do next, but Peter was overcome with terror, seeing clearly that the presence of the One who does the impossible was incompatible with his own sinfulness. Jesus reassures him and lifts the veil of mystery slightly from his future. A new life begins for Peter; he begins to enter into the New Covenant with God.