Getting Sarcastic With Jesus

     Should we remember that forgiveness is a privilege and not a right?  That abuse of privilege is a thing to keep in mind?

    In our text for Sunday, Luke 5: 1-11, Jesus comes down the shore of the lake of Gennesaret (aka the Sea of Galilee, aka the Sea of Tiberius).  The crowds are pressing him into the sea, so he asks Peter to take his boat out into the water to create a floating podium from which to address the people.  

    Peter takes Jesus out.  When Jesus concludes his lesson, he does not request to be taken ashore (possibly to avoid engraving autographs?)  No, he tells (not asks) Peter to put out into the deep water and put down the nets.

    And Peter looks up at Jesus...

    The Bible says that Peter and crew were washing their nets.  They were cleaning up after their shift.  Bring the boats in, take care of the gear, prep things for the next day.  Once that is done, maybe then get some breakfast? 

    This is after fishing all night.  And this is not rowing out into the middle of a favorite pond, drinking one's favorite *soda*, and casting a line all night long.  No, this is closer to "Deadliest Catch", Holy Land edition.  The Sea of Galilee is thirteen by eight miles (approximately), known for sudden storms and temperamental weather.  These are guys in boats smaller than your average ocean liner lifeboats casting homespun nets, dragging them in, and repeating...and repeating...and repeating...

    These are not big boats.  We know from John 21, when Peter and other disciples are fishing when Jesus appears to them, that 153 fish will threaten to tear the nets.  So, one or two good casts of the nets would fill the boats and end their shift in what, thirty minutes?  Need daylight to process the catch, so "one and done"?  But they caught nothing that night.  

    We know Peter as the disciple's disciple.  He gets the keys to the kingdom and puts them on the flag of the Vatican.  Tradition has him as the first pope in the Roman Catholic flavor of Christianity.  Of the disciples, he gets the most 'airtime' in the gospels.  But he doesn't know Jesus yet.  

    Worked all night, failed shift, trying to clean up, no breakfast, seeking to accommodate this wandering preacher who apparently doesn't want to get his feet wet, maybe earn a little coin for a wasted night fishing...  Now, I do not know how long Jesus taught for.  My longest college courses were 80 minutes long.  But Jesus has phenomenal, cosmic powers.  So, several hours?  Maybe the sun was high up in the sky when he wound down.

    So maybe Peter and crew have not just missed breakfast but are craving the midday meal?  And Jesus looks to Peter when he is done and does not request to go ashore.  Be nice if Jesus offered to take them out for lunch after this, maybe? No, Jesus wants to go fishing.

    And Peter looks up at Jesus...

    "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.  Yet it you say so, I will let down the nets."

    If one were to prepare to deliver this line on the stage, perhaps one might have the following notes: "Your character has been playing lake-borne chauffeur to this smiling, preachy, talk-talk-talk landlubber who obviously knows nothing about fishing but wants to play at being a fisherman after showing off in front of these gullible crowds who have been following him down the shore out of Capernaum.  Your character has been working hard all night, to consistent and repeated disappointment, is tired and hungry, has not seen a shiny denarius for this ongoing work of playing stage manager for this poseur who does not ask, but invokes privilege and tells you to take the boat out to go play fisherman, at noon, when everybody knows the fish are sleeping."

    How much sarcasm might Peter have built into these words when he responded to Jesus?

    How do I presume that Peter got sarcastic with the Lord in the first place?  Because of what comes after.  They gain so many fish that Peter has to signal his partners to come out in their boat, both boats being filled past capacity "so that they began to sink" (vs. 7).  

    Then verse 8, "But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!""

    Getting sarcastic with Jesus.

Peace,

Pastor Peter