Pete, Feet and Fish to Eat

This semester I am attending/shadowing a manuscript bible study at Georgetown that goes through the gospel of Luke.

In manuscript bible study we print off the passage, allowing people to mark up all over it--and sometimes remove the verse numbers and paragraphing of the text. We also us an inductive manner of study--we look to the text (and only the text +commentary, Bible dictionary) to "speak" to us rather than approaching the Bible already knowing what we're looking for (Bible passages on friendship? careers?).

This particular passage was from Luke 5:1-11. It was the story of Simon Peter coming to follow Jesus. In the scene, Jesus is teaching a crowd off the shore of a lake. After the teaching, he instructs Simon Peter to put out to deeper water to fish. Peter protests, saying he's been fishing all night and haven't caught anything--regardless he trusts Jesus enough to try. His nets come up overflowing.

Overwhelmed by the awe-someness of Jesus' prediction and power, Simon Peter falls to his knees and tells Jesus to "go away from him," reminicent of the times in our lives when next to God's perfect, holy nature....we find ourselves completely unworthy. We are put face to face with our inability to measure up to God's standards.

As Simon is lamenting over his sinfulness, Jesus tells him-- "do not be afraid." He then tells Simon Peter from now on he won't just be catching tons of tons of fish...but men.

The next line says they left everything and followed him.

WOW--seeing the amazing power of God (overflowing nets of fish).....Simon is first floored (go away from me Jesus!) then wants to drop his nets and follow.


When I was in high school I worked 3-4 years in the White's Chapel nursery teaching Sunday school to 2 year olds. Reading this passage this week distinctly brought to mind one children's book we had in the class--"Pete, Feet and Fish to Eat." It was essentially the story of Simon Peter's time with Jesus.

This book was actually quite inappropirate for the 2-year old set. Most kids couldn't sit through even a third of it and preferred the books about animals or those with only about 10 pages. I, however, absolutely loved this book. I cried everytime I got to the section that mirrors this passage from Luke.

In the children's story, Simon Peter is telling the story of the overflowing nets--and how seeing Christ's power left him bewildered with his sin and unworthiness. Simon Peter decribes lamenting his sin, being flat on his face before Christ........and then Jesus reenters the picture.

The line that always has me chocking up--"but he didn't care." Jesus didn't care that Simon Peter wasn't perfect and was a sinful man. Jesus wanted to use Simon Peter to tell other people about Jesus and to build his church.


It's amazing how grace can--and needs--to hit us over and over again in life. I think that's what that children's story was to me over and over again--I still cry everytime I read that line. "But he didn't care." Jesus doesn't care how awful I think I am or how completely beyond all hope I am--he stands above me, trying to welcome me in regardless, constantly even.

This message of love, acceptance and radical grace is something I want to share. Next weekend at our new student retreat as I lead a scripture study on this same passage from Luke, I plan to close reading "Pete Feet and Fish to Eat"--or at least a portion of it....hopefully 19-year olds have a longer attention span than toddlers.