When Jesus says ‘Don’t be afraid’

Here is a fishy story; well it’s about a fisherman really, whose name was Simon a.k.a. Peter. He shared in a fishing partnership together with his brother Andrew and their mates James and John. Between them the business owned two boats.

One day they were on the beach cleaning their fishing nets, having had an unsuccessful fishing trip the night before. Nearby, Jesus was teaching on the beach. The crowd pressed in closer and so, in order to give him a platform from which to continue speaking, Jesus asked Simon to take him on board his boat and push away from the shore a little.

Afterwards, Jesus blessed the fishermen by instructing Simon to take the boat out to deeper water and lower the nets for a catch. Simon pointed out that they had been out all night with nothing to show for it. Nevertheless, as an act of respect, he obediently lowered the nets.

The result was a large catch. In fact, so big was the haul of fish that Simon ordered the others to bring their boat so that they could get all of the fish back to shore.

A man’s conviction of his own unworthiness

What had happened caused Simon to wonder in astonishment. He had just witnessed an awesome thing. The implications of the words and power that Jesus had exercised went straight to his very soul. Instinctively, Simon seemed to understand just who and what he himself was when faced with the reality of one from God; the God of purity and power.

He fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Now, Simon wasn’t what some might consider ‘the religious type’, just an ordinary manual worker. Nonetheless, Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

A new employment with Jesus

Simon’s encounter with Jesus changed the direction of his life completely. Within a few years, this unlikely character would be a leading light in the spread of Christianity, teaching and preaching about salvation i.e. sin, forgiveness and the promise of a life with God for ever.

When we are faced with Jesus, we may be fearful of being drawn into his net but he says, ‘Don’t be afraid’.