Don’t Be Afraid To Let Jesus Take Charge 不要害怕由耶穌主導

Fifth Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: Don’t Be Afraid To Let Jesus Take Charge 不要害怕由耶穌主導

When we meditate on this story with a miraculous catch, a similar story immediately comes to mind. So, there are actually two miraculous catches in the gospels, viz. this one at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (Luke 5:1-11) and another one after his resurrection (John 21:1-14). In both cases, Simon Peter takes up a prominent role. In the miraculous catch after Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him more than the others did. We take this as the occasion in which Jesus forgave Peter three times because he had denied Him three times at the courtyard of the High Priest to save his own skin. At the same time, Jesus commissioned Peter three times to take care of the Church.

In the Passion narratives, we see that Peter had been a coward. He did not have the courage to defend and declare his faith in Jesus. Probably his time had not come yet! In fact, Jesus had known beforehand what would happen to Peter. In Luke’s narrative of the Last Supper, Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32) Indeed, Satan took the upper hand when Simon took things into his own hand instead of relying on the power of God. For example, in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was Peter who took a sword to cut off the right ear of a High Priest servant when the Jewish authority arranged to arrest Jesus (John 18:10). After the arrest Peter followed the band of soldiers into the courtyard of the High Priest. Probably he wanted to show his loyalty to the Master or to honour his pledge in the Last Supper. Such an action proved to be too impulsive and imprudent and consequently he denied Jesus three times … At that point in his life Simon Peter was truly a sinful man because he took things into his own hand, giving Satan an opportunity to sift him like wheat!

But such was not the case at the first miraculous catch. Firstly, no matter how reluctant he might be because they were washing the nets and Jesus was causing him unnecessary troubles, Peter still allowed Jesus to make use of his boat to preach. At least he was generous. How can a generous man be sinful? Secondly, unlike modern day fishery, it was stupid in New Testament time to try to catch fish in broad daylight. “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” (Luke 5:5) Was Peter complaining? Probably he was but his complaint was polite. Of showing politeness is no guarantee of being a good man. Did Peter want to humiliate Jesus in public by obeying his instruction? Perhaps but it was not very likely because we cannot tell how many people were able to hear what Jesus told him. As it turned out, even if Peter really wanted to humiliate Jesus, the result was the opposite. This miracle shows that Jesus means what He says. Therefore this Galilean rabbi was worth believing. Peter had helped promoting Jesus’ reputation. In the whole incident, he did not take things into his own hand. He allowed Jesus and God to take the driving seat of this particular moment of his life. So, why did he say that he was a sinful man?

I also don’t think Simon Peter was sinful. He was definitely not a rich man because he was only a fisherman, not a merchant nor a tax collector. It was impossible for this class of people to be rich in his time. That his mother-in-law lived with him shows that he was truly a caring husband. So, he wouldn’t commit adultery. Why? It is because adultery is a game for the very rich. Loving more than one woman is very expensive. They have to be maintained in two physically separated worlds. They should never know the existence of the other party. No. Few people can afford adultery unless you are a billionaire!
Peter had a steady job as a fisherman, enough to maintain a family. He didn’t need to resort to stealing because he didn’t have to. His incomes were rather steady. He had a shelter over his head and a bed to lie on in the evening. Therefore, Peter didn’t have to steal. It’s unlikely that he would tell lies to cheat the tax-collectors who had the long arm of Roman justice to help them collect tax! Peter definitely was not a Zealot who dared to resort to terrorism in order to drive the Romans away. If he had been, his impulsiveness might have him arrested and crucified before Jesus! Thus, even though Simon might not be particularly pious, at least he kept the commandments and was NOT a public sinner. Eventually, he became an apostle, the Prince of the Apostles and our first Pope. The Church canonized him a saint. Why then did he tell Jesus, “Depart from me, Lord, for I’m a sinful man?” (Luke 5:8) What made him think that he was a sinner?

First of all, what was the reaction of the fishermen to this miracle? It was one of astonishment (5:9). But why did Jesus continue to say, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (5:10)? Was the word “afraid” an accurate description of the feelings of the fishermen? What probably would the fishermen be afraid of?
I think the fishermen were afraid that if Jesus continued to stay with them, sooner or later, all their boats would be sunk and they would lose all their means of earning their living. This Galilean rabbi was such a powerful and persuasive person. He must be a very holy man. You don’t feel worthy to stand in his presence. Perhaps Peter was calculating in his head the potential costs of boats sunk in the future. When he allowed Jesus to steer his life for a short while, not only did Jesus cause him troubles but he also cost him his earning tools. He did not want to lose control of his life. So Peter says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I’m a sinful man.” Actually, it was a polite way to send this “holy rabbi” away. Peter wanted to take back the control of his own life. However, in rejecting Jesus’ continuation to steer his life, Peter became a sinful man like what happened during Jesus’ Passion!

Brethren! It is difficult for us Catholics to acknowledge that we are sinful men. Remember the rich young man mentioned in the gospel of Mark? When Jesus said to him, “You know the commandments: ‘you shall not kill; you shall not …’” (Mark 10:19) I guess most of us would answer as the rich young man did, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” (10:20). Frankly speaking, who among us have been convicted of murder, arson, driving recklessly so that somebody got killed? If we had, we would not be sitting here, but serving sentences in prisons. Which one of us needs to steal? Even if we don’t have enough cash, we can still use our credit cards, right? As for adultery, none of us are billionaires. We are not qualified to commit adultery. So, I am confident to draw the conclusion that we are NOT sinful men though sometimes we don’t want to offend people and so we don’t tell the whole truth!
In short we are not sinful if we measure ourselves by the Ten Commandments and by the precepts of the Church only. However, if we hold fast to our own way of life, not allowing Jesus to steer our directions in life, we are truly sinful men, like Peter and Judas at the moments of Jesus’ Passion. We are sinful when we forget that our Lord is merciful. We are sinful when we reject His continual encouragement, telling us, “Don’t be Afraid to follow me”!
God bless!
2016 Reflection
Picture Credit: fr.wikipedia.org