Wednesday 20 January 2021

Psalm 61

Background

This part of the story feels odd in some ways. Why is it told in the middle of an account of Jesus preaching and the first followers of Jesus leaving their familiar homes and jobs? The story itself could well be one of those anecdotes that, while rooted in events, also serve as an illustration or an image for something else. It isn’t unusual to use anecdotes to help understanding.

 The heart of this passage is the question of what makes people impulsively go and do something so different. This story of the immense catch of fish is given to help us understand why those fishermen followed Jesus in the manner they did.

 As fishermen that night they had failed. When Jesus directed them, against their experience, to cast their nets again, there was a catch of fish so huge it needed extra people to bring it to shore. They learned that without Jesus they could expect failure; but with Jesus they could find success. It was an experience that generated trust. When Jesus then says "Follow me" the trust generated through the wonder of the catch of fish is turned into faith. It allows them to leave everything that's familiar and go with Jesus, but this time to catch people not fish.

 Because Jesus was not a stranger, and because the disciples had come to trust Jesus, the journey from trust in the familiar, to faith in facing the unknown became possible. They were able to leave their  jobs and even their homes and take the risk of following Jesus.
 

To Ponder:

• Who are the people you are prepared to trust?
•  What makes somebody trustworthy? How do we lose trust in people?
•  What extra do we need, if anything, to go from trusting someone because we have the right experience of them, to having faith to enter with them into a new situation?