Psalm 66, 67; 2 Kings 17:1-18; Acts 9:36-43; Luke 5:1-11
“They went after false idols and became false…” That is exactly what happens to us when we substitute anything for God, we become false, not true to who we are. The Israelites lost their savor, they lost their identity in going after other gods. The thing that made them unique was Yahweh’s covenantal love and His law that was not like the law of the other nations around them and in forsaking Him they became false people. They became like all the other people so it was not a real change to be assimilated into Assyria and the other nations around them, they had already assimilated themselves, all that changed was the location. The Lord had given them the land, set them apart, to be a light to the nations, to enjoy His blessing and favor in their obedience to Him and allegiance to Him alone and they capitulated spiritually to these nations long before they capitulated physically. When we chase after something other than the Lord and set it in His place, we become false and we lose our unique identity. Soon we are simply assimilated into the world completely.
Peter sees in Jesus’ teaching and the miracle concerning the fish that He is unique, true. Jesus is the only true human being, whose nature perfectly reflects the intention of God the Father, the Creator, for all humanity. He walked with power and authority because He had no sin. His words had power for they were true and what He commanded in the natural order of things was done according to His will. Peter knew fishing and he knew two things, you didn’t fish during the day and you didn’t fish in the deep water. He found that Jesus knew more about fish than he ever would know and if He knew that much about fish, He was perhaps knowledgeable about a good bit more. Peter’s plea to Jesus sounds very much like Isaiah’s plea in Isaiah 6, leave me Lord, I am a sinful man. In these words Peter confesses there is something different about Jesus, something true and holy. Peter wouldn’t always understand this clearly, but this day he was prepared to move forwards with Jesus, leaving all that was false behind.
Peter believed in the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through him to do those things Jesus had done by the power of the same Spirit. Could he have imagined that day by the lake after a long night of fishing that one day he would pray and the Lord would raise someone from the dead? It was in committing himself to truth, the truth he found in Jesus, that Peter was able to move from his false identity to his true identity and walk and live in power. We are called to do the same, reject all the false idols of the world and follow Jesus and live in power and truth.
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.
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