Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. —Luke 5:5, ESV
All day he toiled. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that. He changed the nets three times, and nothing happened. His brother added some fresh bait caught off the surface, and nothing. Everything they did failed—no fish would come to them! And by the time he and his brother went to cross into deeper waters, it was too late. No one they fished with told them they could find fish as such a late hour. the sun was setting. Oh, well. More soup and stale bread until the next sunrise.
Then someone came and slowly walked across. He looked at those two men, washing their failure away, cleaning their nets with the sea. They looked sunburnt and were eagerly talking about their family—and their failure; finding a carpenter to build them a bed—and failure; and the failure of failing so viciously at their failings. They laughed. They cried a bit. They embraced each other, as brothers. then they were ready to go.
The strange man sat in one of the boats, the people approaching the wise man with fear and confidence, learning about this newly strange concept called Kingdom. After he finished his extensive lecture, the two men approached the strange prophet who suddenly sat in the boat with his eyes fixed on them. He motioned the two men to sit inside their boat as the prophet laid his hands on the net.
—Go deeper and let down your nets—, he said.
—Sir—, the man spoke bitterly, —We have tried and tried since the day has started and we have nothing! I have done this every day of my life, and I have never encountered something so grating to my soul! But, if you say so, I will let down the nets—, the lead fisherman said with enlightened resignation.
The brothers, with the prophet, threw the net to the deepest place they could find, eagerly awaiting for whatever happened next.