Far away from the grandeur of Rome, the region of Galilee is still sustained by the fishermen, farmers, and craftsmen who typified life there in the days of Jesus. Life in Galilee is centered on its large lake, the Sea of Galilee. Fed by springs and runoff from the mountains to its north and east, the sea provides freshwater fishing and leisure to the inhabitants who live around it.
I like to introduce pilgrims to the Sea of Galilee by bringing them up to Mount Arbel, a high cliff that dominates its surroundings. The lookout atop the mountain provides a spectacular panorama in which most of the blue-green water of the sea can be seen. The gorge that divides the surrounding cliffs forms the beautiful Valley of the Doves, a natural access route that Jesus would have traveled from his home in Nazareth to the sea. Just below the sheer face of the mountain are the ruins of ancient Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene. Further northward along the shore is Capernaum and the other villages that formed the heart of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee.
The sea was known in the Old Testament as the Sea of Chinnereth because of its harp-like shape. The Gospels also refer to it as the Lake of Gennesaret and the Sea of Tiberias. The sea is about thirteen miles long from north to south and about eight miles across at its widest point. Pilgrims often comment on how the area around the sea is undeveloped, supposing it to be similar to the way it looked in the days of Jesus. In reality, however, the shores of the sea were much more developed in the first century than today. The slopes and heights around the sea today are dotted with ruins, the remnants of booming activity during the Roman era. Their mute testimony gives evidence of a prosperous population in the towns and villages to which Jesus came to proclaim the arrival of God’s kingdom.
I love traveling to Galilee in the spring and fall, when the sky is clear and the temperature is moderate. The region is lush with vegetation and rolling hills. The birds of the air and the flowers of the field formed the daily setting in which Jesus taught the good news. Here I can easily imagine Jesus walking along the shoreline, traveling from town to town, and gathering new disciples along the way.
The Sea of Galilee was thick with fishing boats as Jesus walked along its shore. The fish were caught as fishermen cast nets into the water from the boats. The nets were weighted with lead around their edges, and as they sank, they surrounded the fish, which were then hauled into the boats. While Peter was throwing his net into the sea, Jesus called to him in words that would change his life forever.
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:18–20)
This account of Peter’s vocation emphasizes that he will both follow Jesus and share in his mission. The metaphor of fishing for people is found nowhere else in the ancient world. Jesus must have created it for this occasion. It reflects the seaside location of the calling and the way Jesus tailored his message to his audience. If Jesus had called farmers, perhaps he would have told them they would be planting the seed of the gospel. If his first disciples had been fellow carpenters, he may have described their mission as building the community of faith. Jesus seemed to be using some playful humor to issue this memorable call. He used images of Peter’s career to declare his new vocation.
Fishing for men and women was not something Peter was equipped to do. Jesus would make Peter a fisher of people as he learned to follow in Jesus’ way and as his life was transformed in the process. Then after the Gospels describe his apprenticeship with Jesus, the rest of the New Testament describes how Peter spread the net of the gospel broadly, drawing many into the kingdom of God.
After issuing the call to Peter and his brother Andrew, Jesus continued walking along the shore and called two other brothers, James and John, who had just finished fishing. They were still in the boat with their father, Zebedee, cleaning and untangling their nets, retying the knots, and replacing fraying rope. I have often seen present-day fishermen casting their nets from their boats and mending their nets after an early morning of fishing. The region still thrives on its fishing industry, as it did in those days.
As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. (Matthew 4:21–22)
The term disciple means “one who follows.” The disciple walks in the way of Jesus while he leads. The road and the direction are decided by Jesus. At times the way may be broad and pleasant; at other times, narrow and dangerous. Disciples must place great trust in the Master to abandon themselves to his guidance.
The Gospels stress that Jesus takes the initiative in discipleship. He invites men and women to “come and follow.” In John’s Gospel, Jesus emphasizes that discipleship is a divine choice: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). Discipleship is not something that anyone can earn or that anyone deserves. It is God’s gift. And by responding in faith, a person can accept God’s call only in humility and gratitude.
Neither Peter nor any other disciple in the Gospels had in themselves the abilities to follow Jesus and serve the kingdom of God. Even though Peter would become a great leader in the church, he learned that whatever leadership qualities he possessed were acquired through his faithful response to Jesus. Through mistakes and failures, he grew to realize that whatever success he offered to the church was due to God’s grace.
In the Gospels every encounter with Jesus that led to discipleship involved leaving behind something significant. Peter and Andrew left their nets. James and John left their boat and their father’s business. When Jesus encountered the woman of Samaria and enabled her to envision a new future, she left her water jar and went to the Samaritans of her city, proclaimed the good news, and brought many to Jesus through her testimony. When Jesus was going through Jericho and saw the chief tax collector looking down on him from a sycamore tree, he insisted on staying at his house. And when Zacchaeus opened the door to Jesus, he repented of his dishonesty, gave generously to the poor, and his life began to change.
The fact that new disciples immediately left behind much of their lives to follow Jesus indicates that he must have inspired within them a great confidence. For some of them, what they left behind was a secure living and a predictable life. Others left behind their brokenness, their sin, and their fears. After a person becomes a disciple, life is never the same again. The disciple leaves behind anything that impedes the following. Sometimes being a disciple involves emptying life of what feels secure, for the purpose of filling life with abundance.
If Jesus wanted to choose the ideal person to lead his church into the future, where would he look for such a person? We might suppose he could find such a person in Jerusalem, among the priests of the temple or perhaps among the educated and talented nobles of the city. Yet the person Jesus called for the task was not found among the religious leaders or the noble families of the capitol city. Simon Peter was a rugged fisherman, a simple man from the working class of small-town Galilee.
Jesus called ordinary people, not people known for their status, wealth, influence, or social standing. Jesus needed people who would give him themselves. It was not the accomplishments of a person that mattered to Jesus but what he could do with the person.
It seems that the characteristics of good fishermen are also some of the important qualities of good disciples. The patience and perseverance required for fishing must mark the life of disciples because of the frequent discouragement and hardship they encounter. The sense that a good fisherman has for knowing the right moment to drop the net is the kind of sensitivity needed by a seeker of souls, to know the longings and deep needs of people’s lives. Those who fish know how to choose the right bait to catch the fish; so too, disciples must be immersed in the real lives of people in order to share the message of hope and love that Jesus offers them.
The invitation of Jesus to “Follow me” and the immediate response of Simon Peter form a model for the kind of choice and reorientation of life that discipleship demands. Jesus’ call to Peter implies a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus wants Peter’s life joined to his own, wants Peter to eat and dwell with him, to meet the same people and share their lives.
Of course the circumstances in which that choice is made vary greatly from one individual to another. Many throughout history have been nurtured in faith through the privilege of being raised in a Christian home. Many others have had to struggle with faith through great opposition and ridicule. Some have come to faith through a transforming experience that brought them face-to-face with the urgent need for belief. We can never impose upon anyone the decision to follow Jesus. True conversion is ultimately a thoughtful and conscious decision to make Jesus the foundation of life and to make God’s reign first priority.
But the call of Peter emphasizes an even deeper reality about Jesus’ call to discipleship. It is ultimately Jesus who chooses and summons those he wants to be his disciples. Although it was usual in Jewish circles for students to seek out and choose a rabbi to follow, Jesus operated differently. The initiative in discipleship always belongs with Jesus. So as much as we may decide to follow Jesus and choose to reorient our lives around him, we must acknowledge, if only in retrospect, that the reverse has been true. In all our searching and choosing, we were being sought and chosen. The one we choose is the one who first chose us.
Luke’s Gospel offers another rendition of Peter’s call. The passage clarifies that Jesus and Peter met only after Jesus had acquired wide fame and growing popularity. Here the crowd is pressing in on Jesus and pushing him to the edge of the sea, so Jesus uses the fishing boat of Simon Peter to give himself room to teach the crowds.
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. (Luke 5:1–3)
Jesus got into the boat of Simon Peter and asked him to row out into the lake. Both Jesus and Peter knew that voices travel well across the water. And here Jesus sat in the boat and taught crowds of people from this floating pulpit.
Just below the Mount of Beatitudes, a hillside area commemorating Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, is a lovely semicircular bay. Here it is believed that Jesus taught on this occasion in Luke 5 and perhaps many others. The area is popularly called Sower’s Cove or Bay of the Parables. The slope of the hill forms a natural amphitheater where the acoustic quality is exceptional. Thousands of people could have heard Jesus teach from Peter’s boat moored in the bay. Mark’s Gospel describes the setting of Jesus’ teaching:
Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:1–8)
When I visit this spot, I can easily imagine Jesus sitting in the boat teaching in parables. His confident voice travels over the calm water to the crowd on the shore. But Peter, the boat’s steersman, sits near Jesus, seeing the beads of his perspiration, hearing the breath between his sentences, smelling the rugged scent of his cloak after a day of walking along the shore. As Jesus relies on Peter to facilitate, from his fishing vessel, Jesus’ first teaching in parables, Peter is becoming Jesus’ closest and most trusted companion.
The shore around the Sea of Galilee is not sandy beach; rather, it consists of footpaths, rocky ground, thorn bushes, and also lots of fertile soil. As Jesus told his parable, he didn’t need to ask his audience to imagine these elements of the terrain; they were already there. Jesus used the elements of nature that surrounded him to convey his message—seeds, black fertile soil, hungry birds, flowers and crops, and plenty of weeds and thistles. Jesus deeply experienced the environment around him and used the stuff of nature to teach about the new life God was offering.
I wonder what Peter was thinking as he heard Jesus’ parable. Although Peter was a fisherman by trade, surely he knew the ways of farming and the prospects associated with sowing seed. In the area directly around the sea, there were plenty of obstacles that prevented seeds from germinating, growing roots, and bearing fruit. But perhaps only after Jesus explained the parable to his closest followers was Peter challenged to ask whether his life was like the trodden path, the rocky ground, or the thorny soil. Or perhaps more profoundly, Peter was able to ask what parts of his own life were receptive to Jesus and his teachings and what parts were closed. Was he concerned yet that the words of Jesus might “wither away” when hardships came?
I’m sure that at this point in his life, Peter feels fairly confident that he can do for Jesus whatever is necessary. But as Peter continues to follow Jesus, he will learn through trial and error that discipleship requires removing obstacles to the growth of God’s word within him. Peter is our living model for this growth in discipleship. Life with Jesus means continually seeing the stumbling stones and removing the choking habits that prevent faithful following and deepening growth.
The Sea of Galilee yielded a surprising catch in 1986—the hull of a fishing boat old enough to have been sailing the sea at the time of Jesus and Peter. During a severe drought, the water level of the lake reached an unusually low point. Two fishermen discovered the boat preserved in the mud of the lake bed. And after a long unearthing and restoration process, the boat is now on display at a museum near the waters.
Evidence of repeated repairs to the boat showed that it had been used for several decades, perhaps nearly a century. Radiocarbon dating as well as pottery, wood, and nails indicate that the boat was in use in the early first century. The boat is about twenty-seven feet long and seven feet high, enabling it to carry up to fifteen people. Both the fore and aft sections were probably decked in, although the preserved remains do not reach this height. And like all fishing boats of the era, it had a mast for sailing and a rudder for steering. Of course there is no indication that this was the boat of Peter, but it certainly gives us a good idea of the type of boat those fishermen disciples must have used.
When Jesus had finished teaching the crowds from Simon Peter’s boat, Luke tells us that Jesus told the boatman to move into the deeper water so that he could cast his nets. Although Peter is skeptical about the prospects for a catch, he obeys Jesus: “If you say so, I will let down the nets.” The results, of course, overwhelm the fisherman, the nets, and the boat. Peter must get assistance from other fishermen and their boat to bring in the catch.
When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:4–11)
The catch of fish is a parable in action. The overwhelming haul of fish was designed not simply to amaze Peter but to teach him. In every parable something surprising—even shocking and incomprehensible—happens. The parable of the sower ends with a hundredfold harvest, a return that even the most optimistic farmer could never expect. This huge catch is beyond anything these fishermen have ever experienced. The teachings of Jesus are difficult to grasp and challenging to accept. He makes them provocative in order to arouse his hearers to an urgent, now-is-the-time response.
I can imagine the scene. The nets are overstuffed with fish, so much so that, despite careful mending, they are about to fray and break. As they are hauled aboard, the boat leans to one side and begins to take on water. As James and John hurry with their boat to help, the men shout for joy after catching nothing all night. The dramatic catch fills Peter with amazement as he begins to learn that trusting in and depending on Jesus provides for abundance.
Peter grasps immediately that this is more than a lesson in fishing. Rather than wondering why he has not known where the fish were, Peter falls down at the knees of Jesus and confesses his sinfulness. He realizes that he is in the presence of one who is not only his Master but also his Lord. Peter thinks that his sin means that Jesus should have nothing to do with him, and he urges Jesus to leave. But Jesus begins to teach him that the realization of his sinfulness is a fundamental ingredient of discipleship. He takes Peter’s humble faith and transforms it into a call to serve. The same power that prompted Peter to fall to his knees before Jesus now lifts him into his new life.
Everyone who receives the grace from God to be a follower of Jesus responds differently. Like Peter, we have a natural inclination to resist the invitation, feeling that we are somehow unworthy to be so close to the divine presence. We also feel many of the same fears that caused Peter to resist. We fear intimacy with Jesus, knowing that saying yes would join our lives closely to his. We fear commitment and all it entails, resisting the changes and sacrifices that following the way of Jesus would involve. But Jesus says to us the same words he addressed to Peter: “Do not fear.” Jesus chooses those who are humble enough to realize their need to change and those who are fearful enough to realize their need to grow in trust.
Although each Gospel writer describes the call of the disciples in slightly different ways, the message is the same. Jesus issues an invitation to share in an important mission. Peter and the other fishermen leave their nets and their boats to follow Jesus and to proclaim with him the kingdom of God, the reality that God is reigning over the world. This message announced by Jesus and his disciples is called euangelion, the “good news.” As they seek to follow Jesus daily, his disciples learn how to live the good news of God’s reign and how to proclaim it to others.
Of course, the Gospel accounts of the call of Peter and the other disciples speak to all future disciples. The call is not just a helpful spirituality or an invitation to adopt a new system of thought. The good news is about something unprecedented and astounding. It is a call to be part of a revolution. For this reason, the invitation to discipleship has a “grab you by the lapels” quality about it, whether it comes in a fishing boat, at a tax collection booth, at a town well, up in a sycamore tree, or anywhere else. There is something permanently fresh and urgent about the Christian faith. God’s offer to forgive us, to make us a new creation, to call us to share in a missionary upheaval, is addressed to us through Jesus the Messiah, who comes to bring among us the long-awaited kingdom of God.
One of the great thrills of visiting Galilee is taking a ride in one of the boats that bring pilgrims out on the lake. I’ve been on these boats many times in varying conditions. Usually the lake is calm, and the boatmen guide the vessel out to the middle of the lake and then turn off the motor. I then invite the pilgrims with me to imagine themselves in the boat with Jesus as I read passages from the Gospels set at the Sea of Galilee.
I was once in one of these boats when an afternoon storm blew up quickly. The position of the lake, below sea level but surrounded by hills, makes it prone to sudden storms. With little warning, the cool air from the heights rushes down the gorges, whipping the tranquil water into treacherous waves. On this occasion, the boatman quickly guided the vessel safely back to harbor.
Such storms are fairly frequent and are a well-known hazard for fishermen, and they must be constantly on the alert. Sometimes the wind drops and the waves subside as quickly as they blew up. But occasionally tempests break over the lake with such high waves that a small fishing boat could hardly survive. Such was the case on at least one occasion when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples.
On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:35–41)
The narrative presents a series of contrasts: the storm-tossed boat and the serene sleep of Jesus; the terror of the disciples and the sovereign authority of Jesus. The unruly sea is an image throughout the Hebrew Scriptures for the forces of evil and chaos. Here Jesus rebukes the wind and orders the sea to be silent with the same commands he gives to demons in other Gospel scenes. Jesus controls the sea and calms the storm with his word, showing his disciples that all destructive powers are no match for his authority.
Jesus continues to teach his followers how to trust. Jesus’ challenging questions, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” invite all disciples to cast away their doubts and to put their hope in him. The passage ends with the question of the astonished disciples: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The Gospel writer intends for his readers to ask the same question, as the overarching story of the many Gospel narratives continues to reveal the true identity of Jesus.
The boat became a very early symbol for the church in Christian art. The church, like the barque of Peter on the sea, is safely guided by Jesus through the storms of the world. Although Jesus might seem to be asleep and seemingly unconcerned about the perils that threaten the church from without and from within, disciples in every age must know that nothing can ultimately harm those who place their trust in him.
On another occasion, Peter and the other disciples were being tossed on the sea and battered by the waves. They were far from the land and were unable to reach the shore because the strong winds were against them. Then, amid the howling wind and the labored breath of the rowers, the disciples saw a singular physical presence shrouded in darkness moving toward them on the sea. Naturally the disciples were terrified by the specter, and they cried out in fear. But Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).
Then Peter issued an audacious request: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus’ response seemed even riskier. He said to Peter, “Come.” At Peter’s initial call to discipleship, Jesus had commanded him to follow in his way and had given him a share in his own mission. Peter desired to follow in Jesus’ steps and to take part in his sovereign mission to rescue those in peril. So at the invitation of Jesus, “Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus” (Matthew 14:29).
The scene shows us both faith and doubt. Peter walked on the troubled waters as he depended on Jesus, as he trusted him and entrusted control to him. But the wind and waves began to overwhelm Peter, and he began to sink as he took his focus off Jesus. Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” and the hand of Jesus was immediately there to hold him up.
How far had Peter walked on the water before he began to fail? How deep had he sunk before Jesus reached out his hand? The Gospel writer is not concerned with such details. The important reality is that Peter stepped out in faith and walked on the sea and that Jesus rescued him when Peter was overwhelmed with fear.
As Jesus reached out to catch his sinking disciple, he said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” We don’t know the tone of voice in which Jesus spoke these words to Peter. Was Jesus exasperated with him? Did he speak with gentle concern? I can imagine Jesus speaking these words with a laugh and with humor in his voice. Why would you doubt that you could walk on water?
The life of Peter with Jesus was a continual pattern of invitation, risk, failure, and rescue. Peter shows us that the best disciples are not those who always succeed. Peter needed to sink in order to take the next step of faith in Jesus. Sometimes the best learning in discipleship is accomplished through failure. When we fail while attempting great things, even when our failures are caused by doubt and fear, we are in fact growing in faith—because faith is not a possession but an activity. It is like a song that disappears when we stop singing. Jesus urges us to grow, to reach, to dare, and to know that no matter what happens, he will be there with us.
This dramatic scene and others in the Gospels challenge us to be open to what seems impossible: walking on water, feeding thousands with a few loaves, rising from the dead, forgiving an enemy, giving precious time to prayer, giving away hard-earned money, standing alone for what is just. All of these seem impossible to fulfill, but at the invitation of Jesus, we can step out in faith and attempt the impossible. When we keep our focus on Jesus, we begin to live in the new world of God’s kingdom. As the water-soaked Peter learned, growth in discipleship always begins with a cry for help. And it continues in the boat with Jesus as we learn courage and mastery of fear so that we can go forth in faith knowing that Jesus is with us.
After bringing pilgrims out on the Sea of Galilee for a morning boat ride and then leading them to see the ancient fishing boat in the shoreline museum, I always enjoy inviting travelers to a fish lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. The type of fish served is called musht, which means “comb” in Arabic, describing the fish’s spiny dorsal fin. It was the most popular fish in the first century and still is today. Scientifically named Tilapia Galilaea, the fish is popularly called St. Peter’s fish. Its flat shape makes this fish ideal for the frying pan, after which it is served whole at the table.
Sharing a meal of St. Peter’s fish always makes me think of the meals Jesus ate with his disciples, many of which must have featured this fish from the sea. At the time of Jesus, meals were not only a means of nourishment but also an expression of union with others. Sharing a meal was an intimate encounter, which is why it was so shocking to many that Jesus ate with tax collectors, prostitutes, and public sinners. He was continually extending God’s family and seeking to save the lost.
As Peter shared his life with Jesus, he consumed far more than physical food. As Peter listened to Jesus preaching and teaching, he dined at the table of God’s word. Peter came to realize that this divine word spoken by Jesus had the potential to nourish his spirit, just as healthful food contained everything necessary to feed and satisfy his bodily hungers.
This understanding of feeding on God’s word is vividly expressed by the ancient prophet Ezekiel. In a vision God hands him a scroll and tells him to eat it.
He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey. He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them. (Ezekiel 3:1–4)
God placed the inspired word into the prophet so that it could become part of him. God wanted Ezekiel to experience that word with his whole self—body, mind, heart, will, and spirit—so that he could genuinely proclaim that word to others.
In the same way, as we follow Peter’s life with Jesus, the fisherman reminds us not only to read Scripture but also to assimilate it. Jesus wants his disciples to experience his teachings deeply so that his word will be digested and nourish their lives. We can let Peter teach us ways to take in the words of Jesus, eat them, chew them, digest them, and get those words flowing through our bloodstream, so to speak.
When we “feed” and meditate on God’s word in this way, it becomes digested and metabolized into a form we can use for God’s reign in the world. As Peter continually discovered, the divine word is transformed through us by God’s grace into works of healing, justice, and forgiveness. The sacred text is changed, in the name of Jesus, into cups of cold water for the thirsty, to washing of feet as servants, to visits to the imprisoned, to food for hungry children, to compassion for the immigrant and the outcast. May we, like Peter, consume the word of the Lord.
What characteristics of discipleship in the Gospels help you understand better what it means to follow Jesus?
Why do you think it’s significant that Jesus called a fisherman to be his first disciple?
At what point in your life did you begin to understand your Christian faith as a personal choice to follow Jesus?
Choose one of the Gospel scenes with Peter in Galilee and consider the sensation of each of your five senses in the scene. How does this meditation help you enter more personally into the story?
Do you find yourself resisting the call of Jesus to discipleship? How can the relationship between Jesus and Peter help you to respond more fully to the call?