But his request should have been the very reverse of what it was —
[Was he a sinful man ? he needed so much the more to receive instruction from the Saviour respecting the way which God had provided for his deliverance. He should rather have said, therefore, ' Lord, I am a sinful man, and all my hope is in thee alone ; for, " to whom else can I go either for mercy or for grace to help me in the time of need ? " Thou alone canst bear with me ; thou alone canst save me. My efforts to catch fish shew me how little I can do of myself even in the way of my trade: and how much less can I do in the things that relate to heaven ! O, then, I entreat thee, never, never leave me ; never, never forsake me ; but be with me as my Guide and Comforter, my Righteousness and Strength, even unto the end. Without thee I can do nothing ; but by strength communicated from thee I shall be able to do all things.' Thus, instead of making his sinfulness a reason for entreating the Lord to depart from him, he should rather have urged it as a plea for mercy, saying, with David, " O Lord, for thy name's sake, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great b." This would have honoured the Saviour, whose mercy is equal to his power; and any other use of the miracle was, in fact, an ignorant and unbecoming perversion of it.]
The true intent of the miracle will appear, whilst we view it,
II. As explained by our blessed Lord —
He dissipates the fear of his trembling Disciple, saying to him, " Fear not ; " and for his comfort assures him, that the miracle was designed as an emblem,
1. Of the effects which should be produced by the Gospel —
[The whole world is like the ocean, where sinners range without controul : and the Gospel is as a net, which the ser- vants of the Lord spread in order to gather them for him, not that they may be destroyed, but that they may live under his protection, and be regarded by him as his peculiar possession. The prophets in their endeavours succeeded to a very limited extent : but the time was fast approaching, when the whole world, both of Jews and Gentiles, should be drawn to the Lord by the influence of his grace, and all nations be brought to the obedience of faith." True indeed, both bad and good are gathered by the Gospel now, and are brought to an outward profession of the faith ; a separation of the one from the other
b Ps. xxv. 11.