The Calling of St. Peter, Philippe de Champaigne undated, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”   Luke 5:8.

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There is a bit of a tradition in England that men who deal with fish are renowned for their foul language. Its source, it is said, comes from the Billingsgate Fish Market which used to be in the Pool of London, which is to say the part of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. The market has since been moved downriver, but the rather splendid building remains. It has fish finials on the roof!

Old Billingsgate Fish Market, London.

I say this not to insult the good workers of the fish market, but rather to suggest a clearer picture than painted in today’s gospel. A holy man, Jesus, happened upon a bunch of fishermen who were cleaning their nets. There was such a crowd following Jesus that he asked, no doubt politely, if he could borrow one of their fishing boats, pull out a little from the shore so that he could address the people in a way they could see and hear him. No doubt with a nonchalant shrug, Peter agreed, and presumably continued his net cleaning. Afterwards this holy man suggested to Simon, Peter’s birth name (Jesus was to give him his new name later), that he pull out into deep water and let down his nets down once more. He was then told that the fishermen had been laboring all night long and had caught nothing. Now consider: Simon Peter was exhausted, no doubt dog-tired, angry, disappointed and had nothing to show for all his work. Here was this holy man telling him to pull out once more. Today’s gospel has the fisherman’s response as “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” Bear that response in mind and consider this. In early 19th century England there was a good country doctor, Dr. Thomas Bowdler, who lived near Bath in the West Country. He decided he would publish the works of Shakespeare with all the dirty bits removed, which, as he said, would allow “a father to read aloud to his family without fear of offending their susceptibilities or corrupting their minds.” Hence the verb “to bowdlerize” entered the language. I say this to suggest that today’s gospel has been subjected to just such an exercise. Put yourself into the wet, cold slippers of this exhausted fisherman cleaning his nets with which he had caught nothing all night long. Now tell me, in all honesty, what would YOU have said to the holy man (who probably knew nothing about fishing) if he told you to go out and cast your nets again? I can’t prove it, but I smell bowdlerization at work here. It certainly makes Peter’s exclamation to the Lord when he returned, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” much more understandable (look at the painting above). But clearly Peter, for all his gruffness, saw in Jesus something very special to go ahead and do what Jesus suggested. He must have sensed here the presence of the real thing, as it were. And afterwards he dropped everything to follow this wonderful man! And so, in many ways, have we. Here is someone who has changed peoples’ whole lives, possibly beginning with St. Peter himself. We Christians in our heart of hearts know how we should respond to life’s dramas and problems. We might, or might not do what we know we should do, and thereafter we might scourge ourselves with remorse. Guilt is not unknown in Christian circles. All this because we try to model ourselves on the way Jesus would deal with every situation, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not.

Now look at today’s first reading, from Isaiah: Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” I fear many of us could identify with that man. In his case, the reading continues, “…one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” This person was cleansed by God, and in a way it parallels Peter’s experience at Lake Gennesaret (another name for Lake Tiberias or, more commonly, the Sea of Galilee). Jesus’ response to Peter’s almost certain declaration as to what Jesus could do with his suggestion and where and how he could do it, aligns with Isaiah’s plea for forgiveness as a person of unclean lips. In asking Jesus to leave him because of his almost certain bad behavior, Simon Peter was greeted instead with Jesus’ total acceptance of him, his utter forgiveness, and bestowing on him his new vocation, to be a fisher of all who would listen to him and follow the Lord, as indeed he did now do.

Today’s second reading talks of an even more dramatic conversion to serve the Lord. Paul, who, as Saul, had set out to destroy the infant Christian communities in Jerusalem and Damascus (and almost succeeded) was approached by Jesus in an even more dramatic way, leading to a complete about turn and preach the Good News instead of destroying it. Does this mean that Jesus seeks us out in the same way, to overwhelm us with an incredible experience? Well, perhaps, but it is more likely with a still small voice, just as the prophet Elijah heard but in dramatic circumstances. Perhaps the lesson is that we should always be aware of the possibility of the Lord speaking through major life dramas, or in the still small voice of those more frequent moments when we can reflect on how good a servant of the Lord we have been, and promise better in the future, or give thanks for the guidance and the satisfaction of doing one’s best. No matter which one it is, as we can see from today’s lesson, we are always accepted and loved.

Fishing in Lake Gennesaret 2019, Shay Levy, PX Pixels.

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Christ in the synagogue of Nazareth, Anonymous c.1350, Visoki Decani Monastery, Kosovo.

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[Jesus said] “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”   Luke 1:21

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Firstly today’s gospel is in two parts, the first verses are from the very beginning of Luke’s gospel, and the second part taken from chapter 4. Luke begins by assuring his reader, Theophilus, that everything that follows are the testimonies of eyewitnesses, checked by Luke himself, assuring him of the source of the teaching he had already received. One small point here. The Acts of the Apostles begins in a similar way, also addressed to Theophilus, and so this gospel and the Acts came from the same hand. Additionally, Luke begins his gospel with the birth not of Jesus but with the earlier drama of the birth of John the Baptist. Acts ends with St. Paul arriving in Rome where he lived in a place “he rented for himself” and preached boldly and freely about the Kingdom of God (Acts 28:30-31). That makes Luke the second longest book of the New Testament. Mark is the shortest, beginning with Jesus’ baptism and ending with the empty tomb (in the opinion of most scholars). And John, which begins before all things (“In the beginning was the Word”), and with the same author writing the Book of Revelation, ends with the ending of all things, is the longest in time. And Matthew fits in after Mark and before Luke, with the birth of Jesus and ending with the Risen Lord commanding his followers to go preach to the world. There also seems to be a temporal sequence here too, with Mark the earliest and John the last, again the the opinion of most scholars.

Now, when Jesus arrived back in his home town of Nazareth, he was fresh from the revelation that he was the Son of God, declared so by a voice from heaven no less at his baptism, and his lengthy meditation on what had happened for 40 days in the wilderness. So it can be assumed he had come to some understanding of what had happened at his baptism, which is probably why he said what he said in the Synagogue on one of the earliest Sabbaths after his return. There he announced that he was the incarnation of the prophecies of Isaiah with the boldness, not to say innocence, of youth. Well, it is hardly surprising that this was greeted with incredulity, even violence as they tried to throw him over a cliff! He was the son of Joseph, not the Son of God! Such arrogance! Such sinful pride! Such blasphemy! Clearly Jesus learned the hard way how to reveal truths, but clearly the hand of God protected him at this time, saving his entire ministry, as he “walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way” (Luke 4:30). But he had spoken the truth…

Jesus’ boldness had come straight from Scripture, as we can see from today’s first reading. Here Ezra the priest read from the book of the law of God to the universal approval of the people who “bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground”, (possibly the origin of the Muslim tradition of honoring God). There was nothing but approval and honor in what Ezra, Nehemiah and the Levites, the assistants in the Temple, all received from the people. Clearly Jesus was expecting a similar reception, but… It was a pretty brutal beginning which was to be echoed at the end of his ministry with total rejection, opprobrium and violent death. However, it was the vocation God had given him, and it was his duty to fulfill it completely to the best of his ability. But faced with God’s universal gift of freedom, which we all enjoy to this day, even the Lord could not makepeople believe in him.

And then there is Paul’s teaching in today’s second reading, where he compares the Christian community to the human body. When all parts are in harmony, then there is peace and happiness (clearly not to be found in today’s gospel). He likens each individual Christian as responsible for keeping the Christian body alive and well. Each person has a role to play, some great, some not so great, but all in a way dependent on each other to make the whole thing work properly. Disputes, such as found in today’s gospel, are dangerous to the whole body and should be addressed to prevent chaos. And Paul points out that we should not complain if we do not have a very prominent role to play. I like to think of an example here. Suppose you bash your little toe against the doorway getting up in the morning…. But it’s only a little toe…. Er- yes! But… We all have an important part to play and should be happy playing it. And I think this image came straight from his experience when, as Saul, he was trying, successfully, to destroy the first Christian communities of converted Jews beginning in Jerusalem. Traveling to do the same in Damascus, a flash of light threw him from his horse and a voice said “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me” (Acts 9:4). It was Jesus’ voice, and he identified all Christians as his body. Attack one and you attack all and you attack Jesus! Saul/Paul must have contemplated that experience deeply, and arrived at the conviction that we are all part of the Body of Christ, each with an important part to play from the Pope on down. And we should be at our best when everything is working properly, when we feel well and healthy and able to do that which God calls us to do. That will depend on God’s gifts to us – our talents. They are the engine which drives us through life, doing what God wants us to do. So harmony seems to be the key here, a very happy and content life, fulfilling God’s will by serving God, then our neighbor and then ourself. That’s the Christian life plan, that is the source of happiness for us and the pathway to eternal peace.

The Body of Christ, Pastor Jason Flores 2025, Gospel Light Bible Baptist Church, Auckland, New Zealand.

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