Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Gospel, Luke 5:1-11                       

Luke 5:1-11

I think most Bible-believing people have wondered what it would have been like to stand in close proximity to one of our Lord’s miracles. I certainly have. One of the things that prompts that interest is that the miraculous events of the New Testament record are not the norm today. They were not intended to be.  By the end of the book of Acts and into the epistles, the norm we experience is pretty much in place. Of course, God can interrupt the every-day anytime and any way He desires. And He does now and then. God be praised!

Whatever your thoughts on the place of the miraculous in the modern day, there is one gut reaction to the miraculous work of Jesus in the gospels that has always caught my attention and my heart. It’s in the midst of our gospel reading following Jesus the carpenter turned fisherman, who has brought about a boat-sinking catch of fish. The professionals had not fared so well, but Jesus wanted, as He always does, to bolster their faith (and ours)  in Him and His Word. So at His request, the ragged and exhausted fishing corporation goes into action heeding the word of the Lord.

Now the truly miraculous is followed by astonishment. Rightly so. But it’s an entirely different response that I visit and revisit. Upon beholding the very evident power of his Master, Peter responds to the miracle, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:9, KJV). Now chances are today we won’t experience what Peter and his companions did. Nor will likely see the dead raised or even the lame made to walk. But we will hear this Sunday, that Jesus has forgiven all our sins. We may well see an infant or an adult brought by divine adoption into the actual and forever family of God. And for all manner of amazement, the Lord Jesus Christ will enter us, true body and true blood, in saving and sanctifying power.

Are we astonished? Are our hearts truly “revealed”? Good questions to ponder.