In The Boat

Luke 5:1-3  Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.


This gospel is one of those picture stories that I love. It is descriptive to the point that I can see the scene in my minds eye. I spent many years walking the beaches of Cape Cod MA where I grew up. I watched people in boats often seeking shellfish, but sometimes with nets. Although the scene was clearly different than a Cape Cod beach in modern times the image is a fresh one to me. What must the dynamic nature of Jesus have been that tired fishermen, who are busy doing the last of their tasks for the day, put aside what they were doing to push off shore and let him teach from the boat. Was it his words that he had already been speaking from shore? Was it his voice or appearance? I sometimes imagine myself sitting there in the boat listening to the master and taking in his message. I envy Mary who sat at Jesus feet while Martha labored. What must it have been like to be there in his presence? I think that as why I have suc a love for the whole bible. I can find myself in the stories and ponder what I would do, what I would think, how I would feel in those recorded moments in the lives of God's people. We don't have any real content of his teaching on this occasion, although some have put this account together in their minds with the parable of the sower, but he must have been so inspirational to get Peter up and back to work. I guess he is inspirational, he does get me up and back to work as well.