Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Raphael: The Miraculous Draught of Fishes

PD Image: The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1515), painting by Raphael shows Jesus in the boat with fishes (first miracle).

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes refers to two miracles attributed to Jesus in the Christian canonical Gospels, in which the apostles were fishing unsuccessfully in the Sea of Galilee when Jesus told them to cast the net again and when they did so, they were rewarded with great catches.

According to Luke, on the day of this FIRST miracle, Jesus was preaching near the Lake of Genesareth (Sea of Galilee), when he saw two boats. Boarding the boat of Simon (Peter), and moving out a little from shore Jesus preached to the people from the boat, and said to Peter, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

To this, Peter answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

But to everyone’s surprise, "they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break," and they had to seek help from another boat. Seeing the huge haul of fish which filled both boats almost to the sinking point, Peter fell at Jesus' feet and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

Jesus advised Peter and his partners James and John, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men," after which the men left everything and followed Jesus.

No comments: