I have no experience as a fisherman. A sad reality for those of you who enjoy the sport, I’m sure. I did fish off a bridge once or twice, but the results were, well… small. I caught a mullet once… a bottom feeder, boney, not something we could take home for supper. My experience couldn’t hold a light to that of Simon Peter’s. While I would have welcomed the advice of the guy on the shore shouting drop your net on the other side of the boat, or cast your line in the other direction, or try a different lure, I think Simon Peter would have not have been so charitable, especially after an exhausting night of catching nothing. Yet having nothing to lose, he drops his net on the other side.
I love this story. As a community of faith who chooses to take the Bible seriously, not literally, we begin to see the gospel’s intent with this story. There are parallels that harken back to the night before Jesus’ arrest. There are allusions to what it means to live the Christian life. And there are blindingly beautiful indications of God’s abundance and sustaining love.