It was another sunny morning on the Sea of Galilee. The breeze gently rippled the water and rustled through Shimon's hair. The gentle rock of the boat, back and forth, nearly sent Shimon into a slumber. For he and his friends, had been fishing throughout the night. He had hoped to have some time to think, to process all the events that had transpired over the last week. So much had changed. First the arrest in the garden, Yehuda betraying them all and turning their master over to the priests. Everything seemed lost when Shimon saw his lord getting nailed to that terrible cross. Then three days of hiding. Waiting for the Jewish leaders to come for him and the other disciples next. Shimon was loath to remember that first night around the fire. When that servant girl wouldn't stop questioning him.
I had to deny knowing him... If I hadn't, I'd have been up there on that cross too, Shimon thought to himself. He had long since justified his actions, but still had an inkling of regret deep in his heart.
After those three days, the world seemed to turn around. The women came running up claiming that the lord had risen. Then he was there! Standing before them all. He even had Tau'ma feel the wounds he had suffered at the Roman's hand.
Or was it at my hand? Shimon thought in contemplation. He set his head back to let his mind drift away from the troubling thoughts. He closed his eyes and went into a light sleep.
The familiar rocking of the boat sent his mind back to when it all started three years ago.
It was a morning much like the one Shimon was currently enjoying. he and his brother Andreas were casting their nets, as they had every day for the last 18 years. Shimon had once dreamt of being a priest, but he was not considered smart enough to join the elite group. So he was resigned to the life of a fisherman. Though he wasn't very good at it. Neither he nor his brother had caught anything at all, and they had been fishing all night. Shimon stood up and wiped the sweat from his head.
Adonai, please teach my brother and me to fish, or else our lives will be meaningless! He prayed in his heart. That's when he saw him. A short man, wearing a common beggar's garb. A large crowd was following behind him. He pointed to Shimon and spoke, "You there! Having trouble? try throwing your nets over the right side of your boat." he said.
"Eh?" Shimon asked surprised by the suddenness of the command. "Lord, we've been fishing all night, and haven't caught a single..."
The man continued to stare expectantly at Shimon. "Fine," Shimon said humoring the man, "Andreas, let's do as he says. After all, he looks like a holy man."
The nets came back up full of fish. So many they caught, that Shimon had to call another boat, the one Yakov and Yochanan the sons of Zebedee were manning, to help pull them up, so they wouldn't capsize. The net nearly burst. Shimon looked to his brother in astonishment, then to the man. He fell to his knees and begged, "go from me, lord! I'm a sinful man, and do not deserve such blessings as the one you have given me this day!"
The strange man gave a big smile and replied, "Come with me! And I'll show you how to fish for people!" then let out a great laugh. Shimon could see in his eyes a sadness though. Like he was carrying a heavy burden.
Suddenly, Yakov nudged Shimon taking him from his dream, "Wake up, brother! A man is shouting for you."
Shimon stood up as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. He was blinded by the bright sun, and could not make out who the figure was standing on the shore about a hundred yards away. "Shimon, have you caught anything?" the stranger called out.
"No, good sir, we haven't anything. We've been fishing all night!"
"Throw your nets over the right side of your boat!" The man commanded.
Natan'el, who was among them, said, "Surely, this man is joking. This lake is void of any fish!"
Shimon turned, "Just humor the man."
Then just as it was before, the net could barely be pulled onto the boat, for it was full of fish. The men all stood amazed by this wondrous event. That's when Yochanan leaned over to Shimon and whispered, "It is him!"
Shimon swiveled on his heel and again stared at the man. Now clearly, he could see his face. The short man now stood tall, as if he had been baring a great burden before and had only now shed the weight. His clothes were white and made of fine linen. Blood stained his side and the cuffs of his sleeves. "Yeshu..." Shimon said under his breath, "Rabbi!" he then shouted as he dove in the water.
Shimon swam all the way to shore, where his friend and teacher had prepared as small fire. They embraced, Yeshu didn't seem to mind Shimon's wet clothes. "I swam as quickly as I could when I saw it was you, Rabbi!" Shimon remarked as the other disciples came and bowed before their master.
The man looked deeply into Shimon's eyes, and shimon felt the sting of pain as he remembered his denial of Yeshu that night. But the master smiled and said "Bring the fish you caught! I'll cook you some breakfast, Peter."
And Shimon realized he no longer saw the sadness that he had seen in Yeshu's eyes before.
Author's Notes: I wanted to tell the two 'fishing with Jesus' stories found in the Bible in a back to back way to emphasis the change that following Christ brought onto Simon Peter. It's one of my favorite moments in all the Gospels when Peter jumps from the boat and swims to Jesus, when before he was afraid and asked him to leave. So I took some liberty in combining the two stories from Luke 5 and John 21. I wanted Simon to be the main character in this one, simply because he seems to undergo the most change between the two. I also decided to use the Hebraic names for all the disciples and Jesus because that's how they knew each other. They wouldn't have called them John, Simon, or James. They would've used the Hebrew names (or Grecian names in Andrew's case). Also, I tried to include other linguistic and cultural appropriate things, such as Simon using Adonai instead of Yahweh when speaking or praying, and calling Jesus Rabbi instead of by Yeshu. Another slight change I made was putting Jesus on the shore during the first encounter. In the biblical story found in Luke, Jesus is actually in the boat with Simon. However, I wanted the second encounter to reflect the first one more closely, so Jesus was on the shore calling both times.
Speaking of Jesus, I gave him a bit more of a friendly demeanor as he is far too often, in my opinion, portrayed as too solemn and gloomy. I wanted to show the loving and friendly side of him as well. I ended it right up before they had breakfast, though, if I had the word capacity, I would've loved to continue the story into the end of John 21.
Bibliography: Bible, New International Version (1978), Luke 5 and John 21.
Images: The top is an image of the disciples first meeting Jesus on the boat. The bottom is the second 'fishing trip' when Jesus cooks the disciples breakfast. Both photos were posted on Flickr by user Waiting for the Word; Source (Top):
Flickr, (Bottom):
Flickr
