Chapter 4 of Luke opens with Jesus being led by the Spirit to the wilderness, after 40 days there, he went to Galilee; from Galilee to Nazareth his hometown where Jesus presented his ministry, his manifesto in front of his community. Jesus told them that the Spirit of the Lord has anointed him and that anointing has one purpose: to proclaim good news to the poor; to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. From Nazareth Jesus went to Capernaum. In Capernaum he begins to do, to practice what he said he was anointed for. In Capernaum he sets free a demon possess man and later heals or makes free from a fever Simon’s mother-in-law. That is how chapter 4 ends.
Chapter 5, the one from we read this morning opens with Jesus proclaiming the Good News -he was anointed for- to a large group of people. Luke says that more and more people gather and push in on him in order to hear his message and his unique interpretation on the word of God; some came to be healed too. I can imagine Jesus running out of space and getting closer and closer to the water’s edge and He saw at the water’s edge two boats left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put him out a little from shore. He sat and taught the people from the boat. Let us not forget that Peter is tired and frustrated because he worked hard all night and did not catch anything.
After Jesus finish proclaiming the Good News, he asked Peter to “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.” The frustrated and tired Peter has already put out a little his boat from shore and now Jesus is asking to put out into deep water and let the nets down. If I had been Peter what I would have wanted was to go home and rest. Besides, his nets were already cleaned.
I can imagen Peter looking at Jesus and thinking, I will do what you are asking just because you healed my mother-in-law yesterday… and he did it. He did what Jesus asked. And because of his obedience, he experienced the miraculous catch of fish. But there is more. Do you remember the crowd pushing Jesus? Now Jesus push Peter a little more and asked to follow him, “from now on you will fish for people” he said. With this invitation, Jesus has invited Peter from being recipient of his miracle to being participant in the spreading of the Good News, in sharing the ways that God pours out Godself for the life of the community and the healing of the world.
What it meant for Peter and the other three and therefore for us, the new disciples of Jesus the invitation to be fishers of people? To answer that question, we must keep in mind the whole context of this invitation. Let us remember that in Nazareth, Jesus told his community what his mission was: to proclaim good news to the poor to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. When Peter, Andrew, John, and James -and all of us- are invited, it represents an invitation to continue with Jesus’s mission.
If we -as Peter- decide to follow Jesus, the first thing we have to do as follower of Jesus is a deliberate decision to learn from Him and commit to His teachings and mission. This is what Jesus told his disciples before ascending to heaven: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Everything Peter, Andrew, John and James learned from Jesus, they passed it to the new generation of follower. This is what John says in his first letter chapter 1, verse 1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. Psalm 145:4 says, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”
The Book of Acts is a testimony of what God did thru all those men and women who commit their lives to Jesus’ teaching and mission. Peter, John and the rest of the disciples continued doing what Jesus did. After learning and passing what they had learned, all the followers of Jesus must to imitate Jesus and embrace His radical, heavenly way of life. Jesus lived the way he did because of the power of the Spirit of God.
The Church of Jesus has been anointed with the Holy Spirit, for the same mission Jesus was anointed for, which was to proclaim good news to the poor. to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. How can we do this? How can we embrace His radical, heavenly way of life? By becoming more like Jesus through obedience and the indwelling Spirit.
Philippians 2:8 and 9 say, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name…” The obedience to God and his mission will lead every follower of Jesus to live with a joyful dependence on His grace and faithfulness. In the Sermon of the Mountain Jesus taught about dependency of God’s grace, he said. “Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than them? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
When Jesus sent his disciples two by two with the Good News of the gospel they had to depend on his grace also. “Go!” -he told them- I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” As followers of Jesus, we must depend on God’s grace, love and care. And last, every follower of Jesus must have an urgent obedience to His mission. As soon as Jesus called Peter, Andrew, John and James, they left their boats and nets and followed Jesus.
The apostle Paul expresses the same urgent obedience to his mission in 1 Corinthians 9:16 says, “For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”!
Sister and brothers still the fields are ready, the harvest is full, how will you respond to Jesus’s call to continue with his mission? May our answer be the same of the prophet Isaiah, “Here am I. Sent me.
