Peter responds “Master (which means teacher), we fished all night, and caught nothing. But at your word, we will let down the net.”
At the Word of Jesus – the nets were filled.
Filled to the point of breaking.
They saw Jesus for who he is.
Yet, it is the reaction of Peter that drew my attention.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”
Peter’s response – was worship. He saw himself for who he was a sinful man.
When we see Christ for who he truly is – we can’t help but see ourselves for who we truly are.
The second thing we see is that Peter called him Lord. This is huge. Calling Jesus Master at the beginning of the passage was normal for a Jewish man – it is what they called teachers of the law. Yet Lord was a name reserved for God. It showed that he saw him as Lord- placing him in the same place as God. He realized that Jesus had done something he could not do. We can not save ourselves no more than we can make fish appear in a net. Only the Lord can make those things happen.
Finally, there response was to follow him. They were ready now- ready to leave all they had and follow him. They established him as the authority in their lives by calling him Lord, and by forsaking all else- including their nets! Like them, we need to leave our past and our sin, turn and commit to him. He must be more than Master and Teacher- we must call him Lord.
If you are wanting to know more about who Jesus is – I encourage you to check out this post: