“Jesus Getting Into Your Boat”
COMMENTARY ON
JOHN 6:48-66
COMMENTARY ON LUKE 5:1–11
BY BISHOP ROBERT BARRON
“Jesus Getting Into Your Boat”
COMMENTARY ON LUKE 5:1–11
COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6:48-66
BY BISHOP ROBERT BARRON
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. —Luke 5:1–11
What should we make of this odd story about Jesus and Peter in the fifth chapter of Luke’s Gospel?
As the eager crowds press in on him, Jesus spies two boats moored by the shore of the lake. Without asking permission, he gets into the one belonging to Peter and asks the fisherman to put out a short distance from shore. After teaching the crowds a while, he turns to Peter and says, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Though Simon Peter protests a bit—“Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing”—he acquiesces, and they manage to bring in such a great number of fish that their nets are in danger of tearing. This miraculous draught of fishes convicts Peter of his unworthiness, and he falls at the feet of the Lord to protest: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” There are overtones of the call of Isaiah in this passage. The Old Testament prophet saw the glory of the Lord in the temple but then admitted his profound imperfection: “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). The proximity of the divine light does not diminish our sense of sin; it enhances it. Once Isaiah admitted his sin, God cleansed him and then sent him on mission. In the very same way, the penitent Simon was forgiven and commissioned: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
This seemingly simple account is another of those subtle and religiously rich icons that the Evangelists were so deft at writing. It is a picture of discipleship and mission; Simon emerges as the archetype of the Church, which will always be a community of forgiven and empowered sinners. But it is also a depiction of the central dynamic in Christian ethics.
“And Jesus just gets into his boat. He doesn’t seek Peter’s approval, nor does he solicit his permission. He simply commandeers this vessel that is central to the fisherman’s life and commences to give orders. This represents something of enormous moment: the invasion of grace.”
Let us examine the symbolic significance of the boat. For a Galilean fisherman, his boat was everything. It was his livelihood, his work, the means by which he supported his family and put food on the table. Recent archaeological and anthropological research has shown that first-century Galilean fishermen sent their product not only around the towns of Palestine but also to distant cities within the Roman Empire. So Peter’s humble vessel represented his contact with the wider world and functioned, if I may put it this way, as an instrument of his professional creativity. As such, it serves as a symbol of all that Peter can accomplish spiritually and morally through his own power, using his gifts, energy, and creativity.
And Jesus just gets into his boat. He doesn’t seek Peter’s approval, nor does he solicit his permission. He simply commandeers this vessel that is central to the fisherman’s life and commences to give orders. This represents something of enormous moment: the invasion of grace. Though God respects our relative independence and smiles on the work that we can accomplish on our own, he is not the least bit content to leave us in a “natural” state. Instead, he wants to live in us, to become the Lord of our lives, moving into our minds, wills, bodies, imaginations, nerves, and bones.
This commandeering of nature by grace does not involve the compromising of nature but rather its perfection and elevation. Peter, one presumes, had been successful enough as a fisherman, but now, under Jesus’ direction, he goes out into the deep and brings in more than he could ever have imagined possible. When Jesus moves into the house of the soul, the powers of the soul are heightened and properly directed; when Jesus commands the boat of the natural human life, that life is preserved, strengthened, and given a new orientation. This is signaled symbolically by the Lord’s directive to put out into the deep water. On our own, we can know and will within a very narrow range, seeking those goods and truths that appear within the horizon of our natural consciousness, but when grace invades us, we are enticed into far deeper waters.
This commentary is taken from The Word on Fire Bible, which includes commentaries from Bishop Robert Barron and leading Catholics from across the centuries. The Word on Fire Bible makes one of the hardest books to read more beautiful and accessible. Designed as a “cathedral in print,” it is meant to open up Sacred Scripture in a new and deeper way to any reader. If you want more content like this article, experience the Bible like never before, wrapped in 2,000 years of insight, art, and tradition with The Word on Fire Bible!
Want more articles like this?
Get The Word on Fire Bible, featuring hundreds of commentaries from Bishop Barron, the Church Fathers, and many other modern commentators.
Want more articles like this?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Scott Hahn
Dr. Scott Hahn is the Fr. Michael Scanlan Professor of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught for over thirty years. Author or editor of over forty books, Dr. Hahn is also Founder and President of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology (www.stpaulcenter.com).
Word on Fire
Privacy
Contact us at support@wordonfire.org or (866) 928-1237
Word on Fire
Privacy
Contact us at support@wordonfire.org or (866) 928-1237
Learn about the Catholic sensibility of Bishop Barron.
In this issue of Evangelization & Culture, you will see the Catholic faith through the unique lens of Bishop Barron. Explore some of Bishop Barron’s theological writings, as well as the saints, spiritual masters, and mentors who played a key role in his own spiritual and intellectual formation. Dr. Eleonore Stump unpacks the mind of St. Thomas Aquinas. Dr. Matthew Nelson reflects on the pivotal influence of Robert Sokolowski. Dr. Scott Hahn examines the inner logic of Sacred Scripture through Barron’s biblical hermeneutic. Finally, Bishop Barron shares his lecture given at Oxford University on St. John Henry Newman and the New Evangelization.
“I detest ‘dumbed-down Catholicism’ and ‘beige Catholicism.’”
BISHOP ROBERT BARRON