The Miracle of the Sea

In the Gospel of Luke (Luke 5:1-11), Jesus said to Simon on the Sea of Gennesaret (a freshwater lake in Israel also known as the Sea of Galilee): “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Later, Luke writes: “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” But Simon’s response to Jesus after his request, before setting the nets, was: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” The ancient Jewish historian Josephus states that there were over 230 fishing boats working the Sea of Gennesaret during that period. Was Simon’s trouble a product of overfishing? One could interpret so, or maybe it was a narrative tool to accentuate the miracle and confirm the faith of the disciples. In any case, the story is very much evergreen, for today, many fishers ...