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A carpenter, two ships and a coin

Jerry Raaf


The eerie calls of loons echoed through the morning mist which brooded over the cold waters of Heart Lake in northern Alberta. Canada geese flew overhead in their usual V-formation. The mist reluctantly receded before the sun’s rays, exposing clear blue water. Three sleepy fishermen sipped on steaming cups of coffee as small waves gently tapped the side of their fibreglass fishing boat and the cool morning air numbed their nostrils. The sun continued to rise, exposing brown cattails, green bushes, trees and mossy beaver dams.

In this morning utopia, I caught five fish with five casts of my line. Eagerly, I cast my hook toward the waters for the sixth time, but caught nothing. Turning to my comrades, I mumbled, “What a crummy lake. Maybe we ought to try somewhere else.”

As the owner of the boat laughed, I cast my hook again toward the area that appeared to be the “perfect place”. Again, I caught a fish. Six fish with seven casts. Wow, what a fishing trip!

The New Testament relates three fishing trips that far surpassed my experience.

The first is in Matthew 17:24-27. Imagine for a moment that the person calculating your income tax, calls with the depressing news that you owe money. This is what happened to Peter. He approached Jesus, who said to him, “Go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.” Wow, what a fishing trip!

Luke 5:1-10 records a fishing trip in which Jesus told fishermen, soon to become His disciples, to move out into deeper water and cast out their nets. When they did, they caught so many fish that the catch filled two ships. Wow, what a fishing trip!

John 21:1-14 records another fishing trip, after Jesus’ resurrection. He told His disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, and this time they caught 153 fish. Wow, what a fishing trip!

Strange as it may seem, Jesus, a carpenter, was telling fishermen how and where to fish. What is also unique is that He was able to use His creation to meet the immediate needs of His disciples while He was choosing them, training them and commissioning them. Wow, what a Mentor!

The Bible tells us that our Father knows the number of hairs on your head, knows the desires of your heart, knows the words before they are formed in your mouth and knows your needs. “Will He not also . . . graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Wow, what a Heavenly Father!

If you have felt, or are currently feeling, God’s breath on your life for full-time or part-time service and are fearful of not having your needs met, perhaps you should drop into a sporting goods store and pause in front of the fishing rods, hooks and nets. It may help you to remember the uniqueness of three fishing trips recorded in the Bible.

Jerry Raaf lives in Abbotsford, B.C.

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Last modified May 4, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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