This unique miracle took place at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, and it is only mentioned in the Gospel of Saint Luke (Luke 5: 1-11). This miracle is full of magnificent meanings, let’s see some of them:

+ The event begins with a scene of the Lord Jesus surrounded by a great crowed to hear the word of God. He was standing at the shore of the Sea of Galilee ministering the word of God to them, and then He entered Peter’s boat and sat there and continued to teach the multitudes from there. Here, one wonders what the Lord Jesus would offer to the multitudes! Certainly He would offer a precious gift not a trivial one; He offered them their real needs. The primary need of man in this world is the life-giving word of God and this is what the Lord provides to us through the church; the unwavering ship that sails steadily in peace in the oceans of this world, and Christ speaks through her

+ God does not leave himself indebted to anyone, but rather He rewards those who offer Him anything with indescribable blessings.  Here, we see Peter who offered his boat to the Lord Jesus to use in teaching the multitudes; he also sacrificed some of his time of rest since fishermen work at night and rest during the day.  Nonetheless, the Lord Jesus repaid Peter’s sacrifice multiple folds through a miraculous blessing in front of which he stood incapable of expressing his gratitude and felt that he is not worthy to receive it. Likewise, God treats whoever sacrifices something, albeit small, for His sake. He outpours unto him spiritual and worldly blessings.

+ It is evident that the words that Peter heard in the teachings of the Lord Jesus have left a deep impression on him and made him feel their power in his heart. Even when the Lord asked him to do what was seemingly illogical, he obeyed, saying:  “At Your word I will let down the net.”  The appropriate time for fishing has passed, they had no strength to continue fishing during the day after a tiring night, and the nets can’t be used during the day because the fish swims in the deep waters far from the surface. Nevertheless, Peter obeyed in faith, and the results were amazing, the nets were tearing from the abundance of fish and two boats became so full of fish, they almost sank. These are the fruits of faith and obeying the commandment in total submission to God.

+ When a man, who is honest to himself, sees the miraculous work of God in his life, he becomes embarrassed from the God’s love. This invokes in him a strong feeling of being unworthy, so his heart moves towards repentance.  This is what happened with peter when he saw the power of the miracle, “he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ ” This is particularly significant in our lives when God blesses our work, puts success in our path, or clearly takes a strong position in our favor in any situation, we ought to fall down at his feet and thank Him because He is glorified in our lives though we are unworthy. His love engulfs us despite the weakness of our love to Him. This moves the feelings of repentance within us because we are in so much debt to God, and we should be faithful to him as He is to us.

+ The story comes to a rather unusual ending.  This abundant catch is supposed to be a wealth that landed on Simon Peter and his partners the fishermen. Perhaps he had never dreamed of such enormous catch, this was “Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to him. Naturally, he should have thanked the Lord and then should have begun to think about what he will do with the revenue from this fish! Will he rebuild his fishing boats?  Will he buy new boats and nets?  Or will he hire more fishermen to work for him to increase his production while he rests?  However, it was astounding that Peter and those who were with him did none of that. Instead, they seized the most significant “Life-Changing opportunity” in their lives as they left everything and followed Christ, without even profiting from selling the fish.

Why did they act in this amazing way?  Does God give us worldly gifts so we neglect them or abandon them without benefiting from them?

It seems to me that the answer to this question is interrelated to what these disciples heard in the teaching of the Lord Jesus immediately before the miracle took place…“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Christ proved that He is faithful in His promise “all these things shall be added to you” when He performed this miracle. He reassured them, in advance, that it is easy for Him to give them all worldly things with complete love. He asks us to give attention primarily to the salvation of our souls, to focus on the kingdom of God, to work with him and be fishers of men and to gain people in the net of the kingdom. As to our worldly needs, He is able to provide them with incredible generosity. When the disciples saw the love of Christ and His faithfulness in His promises, they left everything and immediately followed Him without hesitation, and never did they regret this decision.