“When Simon Peter
saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said,
“Go away from me,
Lord; I am a sinful man!”
Luke 5:8
Peter had just witnessed a miracle.
He was an expert fisherman and there
was no doubt in his mind that what had just taken place was neither coincidence
nor a freak accident.
His nets were filled to the breaking
point at a time of day when fish should not be where they were.
Isn’t it curious then, that he didn’t
pepper Jesus with all kinds of questions about how he did it?
He wasn’t looking for an explanation
but instead he asks Jesus to go away.
Why would he say this?
Didn’t he know that Jesus had come to
seek and to save the lost?
Actually, no!
Wasn’t he aware that the Father had
sent the Son to take Peter’s sin on Himself?
Certainly not!
Surely, the Law and the Prophets testimony
concerning the coming Messiah must have been foremost in Peter’s thoughts,
right?
Maybe, just a little.
Maybe you think it was far too early
in Jesus’ ministry for Peter to understand any of this.
I think the reason Peter asked Jesus
to leave him was because he knew he was a sinner and expected that any man so
filled with God’s Spirit would surely judge him for what he was.
So foreign to him was the message of
grace that Christ would bring.
Surely a holy man of God had no use
for Peter.
As a matter of fact it would be best
for Jesus to leave right away before some of Peter rubbed off on him.
How shocked Peter must have been when,
not only did Jesus not leave Peter, He invited Peter to follow Him.
Peter would spend the rest of his
life learning and experiencing this message of grace.
What the Law could not do, grace did.
The grace of God transformed a sinner
into a saint.
And that is what His grace will do in
your life too!
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