The first memory of Gennesaret is appropriately connected with a fishing-scene. It must have been now about the end of November or beginning of December, when the sultry heat of summer had disappeared; when the trees were either bared of leaves or seared with autumnal tints.
Our blessed Lord had recently returned to His native Galilee after a summer absence in Judea, and several eventful months were now to be spent on the shores of the lake before the next passover, in March or April, summoned Him again to the capital. As He was now walking along the sand that fringed the beach, we may suppose it to have been at that morning hour when nature was waking up again to life and energy. The wonted traffic had been resumed in the little seaports of Bethsaida and Capernaum, and the fishermen, who had been out all night, were returning with their catch.
Four of these seafarers, Andrew, Peter, John, and James had reached the shore. They had been unsuccessful in their labors and were in the act of washing their nets before repairing to their hamlets for refreshment and rest. But One had been noting their unrecompensed toil. There was a deep reason for the dispiriting results of their midnight industry which they did not know at the time.
Simon is accosted by a voice whose music he was often in the future to hear. His Lord “as one that serveth” begged from the lowly fisherman the accommodation of his boat, that He might make it a platform from which to address His Galilean audience.
We may imagine the scene. The lake, so often fretted with storms, exposed to sudden gusts sweeping down the ravines, was now hushed into a calm. Tree and rock, fishing-hamlet and villa, were mirrored in its quiet waters. Hushed, too, was the dense multitude that crowded to the shore. The great object of their eager curiosity–Jesus of Nazareth–sat in meek majesty in Peter’s fishing-boat, about to speak the words of life!
With grace poured into His lips, this “Chiefest among ten thousand” proceeds to unfold the great revelation for which, during four thousand years, the world had waited. It was a momentous day in history. It was the inauguration of the first noble band of missionaries.
Not many months before the transaction here recorded, these fishermen from Bethsaida had met Him on the banks of the Jordan, probably after the celebration of the Passover, when, on returning to their native lake, they paused to listen to the Baptist’s stirring words. The Messiah, of whom he bare witness, was then pointed out to them. They hailed Jesus as their Lord and Master, and cast in their lot with Him as disciples. Whether they met during the brief intervening period we cannot tell. But we may surely well believe that ofttimes would these four fishermen beguile their lone midnight hours on the lake by discoursing about Him whom His great forerunner had so recently pointed out to them as “the Lamb of God.”
It must have been, at all events, now with a joyful surprise that His longed-for voice was heard. How would the lost labor of that midnight be forgotten and the thought of fatigue banished when they beheld Him standing on the shore ready to unfold to them and to the multitude the mysteries of His kingdom!
Let us pause at this point in the sacred story, and gather a few practical lessons.
1. Observe here how God honors industry.
These fishermen, though enrolled among the disciples of Jesus, did not on that account forsake their honest callings, as if discipleship and daily work were incongruous. No; with all the hallowed recollections of that day at Bethabara, no sooner did they reach Bethsaida than they were out night after night on the sea, patiently waiting subsequent communications of their Lord’s will. And now, when He meets them again, how are they engaged? Still at their work–their hands ministering to their necessities–knee-deep in the water, in the shadow of their fishing boats, “washing their nets.”
What does all this tell us but that Christ honors and consecrates daily industry. He would here, as elsewhere, proclaim that the world’s dullest tasks and most drudging toil can be hallowed with the newborn spiritual element; and that, while men may be “not slothful in business,” it is a higher thing to also be “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
2. Jesus gradually prepares His people for service.
As in mental training, so in spiritual, there is an education–a gradual progressive discipline. They are brought to their exalted attainments in grace–the consecrated heights of His kingdom–not by some sudden or miraculous elevation, but step by step.
The fishermen of Bethsaida may have received the earliest seed of the kingdom from the teachings of the Baptist. This had been still further nurtured by a solemn personal interview with their Lord. Months had elapsed to allow all these to take root. They had been left to themselves during this intervening period to a secret work of faith and prayer. And now, when love has been deepened, and faith strengthened, He demands loftier services; imposes heavier responsibilities. The nets and boats of Galilee are to be left for the mightiest embassy ever entrusted to human hands.
There are exceptions to this great rule. A persecutor may be struck down, and in a moment transformed into an apostle. A felon may be arrested by grace amid the agonies of crucifixion, and in the twinkling of an eye be translated from a criminal’s death to a believer’s crown. But God’s processes in the spiritual economy are, generally speaking, gradual and progressive. The temple rises stone by stone.
3. In our seasons of trial we should never despair.
Peter had been toiling all night and nothing had been caught. But his Lord gives the word: “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” All night (the best time for catching) they had labored in vain. But, addressing Jesus as “Master” and expressing his concerns, he adds, “Nevertheless, at Thy word I will let down the net.” The result was the enclosure of such “a multitude of fishes that the net brake.”
When was the soul ever disappointed which followed the Lord fully? How often, in our night seasons of despondency and trial, are we prone in our shortsighted folly to exclaim, “All these things are against me”? How often do we feel as if all efforts in Christian attainment were worse than hopeless? The heavens have become as brass, and the earth as iron, our prayers are unavailing, our sun is waning amid clouds. The net of faith is let down amid the promises of God; but unable to appropriate them, we are ready to say in this long night of spiritual toil, “Surely my Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.”
No! Pray on, labor on, trust on! “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Resolve with Peter, “Nevertheless, at Thy word I will let down my net into this unfathomable sea.” Have we not His own recorded promise? “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.”
Let us seek to value more and more that precious Word. The multitudes on Gennesaret’s shore, and the disciple in the boat, who with fond eagerness listened, and with joyful haste obeyed, read to us solemn lessons. Of the one it is said, “They pressed on Him to hear the word of God.” Of the other we read that, triumphing over carnal doubts and reasonings, he exclaimed, “Nevertheless, at Thy word.”
Oh, what a blessed formula for us! This path of mine is dark, mysterious, perplexing. Nevertheless, at Thy word I will go forward. This trial of mine is cutting; it is hard to breathe through a broken heart, “Thy will be done.” But, nevertheless, at Thy word I will say, ” Even so, Father!” This besetting habit or infirmity or sin of mine, is difficult to crucify. Nevertheless, at Thy word, I will lay aside every weight. This idol I will utterly abolish. “Nevertheless, at Thy word, I will count all but loss for the excellency of His knowledge.”
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly! Let it be the man of your counsel, the ultimate court of appeal in every perplexity. If your own proud reason or self-will or corrupted nature should dictate an opposing line of procedure, let this lofty determination settle and silence all doubt: “Nevertheless, at Thy word.”
Sit as a meek disciple under this infallible Teacher. Silence the temptations of the great Adversary as your Lord silenced them before you, by the rebuke, “It is written.” And when the Lord’s Day comes round, go eagerly thirsting for the Word of eternal life, not the words of frail mortals, worms of the dust. Despising all the excellency of man’s wisdom, seek only to have declared unto you the whole counsel of God. Be earnest in prayer that He may send forth His light and His truth to lead you and guide you. Then shall a Savior God be invisibly present by His Spirit, to bless and lighten, to gladden and refresh your souls, and the Beatitude will be made good in your experience: “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.”