Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Called to be sent
Luke 5:1-11
 

Philip Manuel and Laila Anie Philip
Carmel MTC, Boston

10. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

In this passage we read about the “great catch” but was it the fish that was caught or was it the disciples who were hooked on to Jesus. The great catch of fish was a turning point in their life as they left everything and answered Jesus' call to follow Him.
The passage begins by stating that Jesus was being jostled by the crowd. He wanted to teach them so He gets in Peter’s boat and teaches the crowd. When He had finished with the crowd, He turned His attention to Peter. Jesus asks Peter to let down their nets but Peter is hesitant. They had just returned from a night of fishing and caught nothing. Finally, in despair, they had given up, washed their nets and most probably put it out to dry. Now, Jesus, a novice fisherman, is asking them to let down their nets again. Peter, addressing Jesus as “Master” presents his arguments against doing so. Peter, being an expert fisherman knows that night time is the best for fishing. Envisioning failure and a chance to tell Jesus “I told you so”, Peter acquiesces to Jesus' command and the most remarkable thing happens. Not only do they catch fish, they catch so much that they had to call in their partners and even then both the boats seemed to be on the verge of sinking.
Peter’s transformation is significant. He goes from addressing Jesus as ‘Master’ to addressing Jesus as "Lord". He is here acknowledging that Jesus is the “Lord of the Land and the sea”. This divine revelation creates in Peter a sense of inadequacy to stand in the presence of so Holy a person as Jesus. He asks Jesus to depart from him but he himself does not depart as he was in awe of Jesus. His resistance and doubts may have been the contributing factor to make Peter to believe that he was a sinner. But now he saw Jesus as Sovereign Lord and himself as a sinner. The Lord’s answer to Peter is “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
One of the important lessons to be learnt from this incident is that we can only truly and faithfully follow Jesus if we acknowledge our own inadequacies and weakness. Secondly like the disciples we need to have complete faith in Jesus. The disciples left their livelihood and occupation to take up a totally new and unfamiliar occupation. They were “called to be sent” to become fishers of men. Thirdly we need to understand that Jesus knows all our thoughts and feeling and He is ready to empathize with us just as He knew Peter’s thoughts. Instead of berating them for their evil thoughts, He provides them with a miraculous catch which they will never be able to achieve again in the future. He satisfies their longing for a good catch by this miracle.
Let us be grateful that our God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient and let us be aware that we also are" called to be sent".

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, We acknowledge that we sometimes have our doubts and fears. Help us to overcome all our fears and put our complete trust in You and serve You faithfully. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"Every Marthomite is a missionary". Abraham Mar Thoma
  

Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
  Constant, patient and welcoming love of God   St. Luke 15: 11-32  V.21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ The parable of the ‘Prodigal son’ is one of the most frequently quoted parables that Jesus told His disciples. The parable contains the rich mine of human virtues and emotions. This parable is lived and re-lived in progressing civilizations from time immemorial and continuing. It brings out in vivid detail the pathetic depth of human sinfulness and the glorious heights of God’s forgiveness.      As a story of human nature, fathers are generally merciful to their children in any circumstance. They are very protective and are eager to provide for and secure the lives of their offspring. Jesus is telling this parable to underscore the superlative love of God to His children. The nature of such love is reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 7:11. Humankind who are evil by nature, give good gifts t
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
PRIESTHOOD: THE ANOINTED MINISTRY Exodus 40:12-16 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting... wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest (Exodus 40: 12-13). Priesthood among the people of God was a divine command and initiation. God wanted some people to be separated for the special ministry among his people. God appointed Aaron and his descendants to take up this kind of ministry among the people of God. Priests are always separated and appointed as channels that connect God with his people. All throughout the history of Israel, priests played an important role in connecting people with God and to lead and guide them in the statutes of God. But there are incidents in the Bible where the priests failed in their duties and that led the people to go away from God. So the priests have a special and significant ministry to perform in this world among his people. Two important things
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Revelation for Liberation Acts 27:18-26 Sherine Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 20  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. “After winter comes the summer.  After night comes the dawn.  And after every storm, there comes clear open skies” so said a Scottish clergyman from the 1600s. It’s been said, that hope can sometimes be the most dangerous weapon.  However, it’s sometimes the hardest weapon to carry when you’re living with the loss of a loved one, something that almost feels like a terrible nightmare that’ll never go away.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry when day in and day out no one seems to hear or see those tears that are shed or silent cries that are made during a heartfelt prayer. It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you see your loved one lying on that hospital bed.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you search and seek out answers to tell a child as to why they’ve been a
Read more