They caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:6-8)

How would you respond if you had just witnessed this miraculous catch of fish?

Wouldn’t you at least go “Wow!” for starters?

Wouldn’t you be tempted to jump up and down for joy when you start figuring out how much this catch would fetch you in the market?

OK, let’s say you were not blessed with such an exuberant personality. Wouldn’t you at least spit out a conservative: “Thank you, Jesus?”

Yet, Peter does none of the above.

His response is rather startling, wouldn’t you say? “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

It would appear that two things happened to provoke such a response.

Firstly, Peter received a revelation of who Jesus really was.

Secondly, he saw himself as he really was in the light of this revelation.

This revelation of the Holy One results in Peter seeing himself as the Sinful One.

Hence the unexpected response.

It is reminiscent of the call of Isaiah as recorded in chapter 6.

When he sees the Lord, “high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple,” only one response is appropriate:

“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Or consider Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. He knew Jesus as the one whom all these Christians called the Messiah and was determined to snuff out this new movement in its infancy.

When he receives the revelation of Jesus in the blinding light and the voice from heaven, everything changes.

You could say that in this instance, Revelation Results in Salvation.

Pastor Che Ahn once shared that at the end of a service at HRock Church in Pasadena, California, a young woman told him that she did not really need Jesus as she was quite happy with her Buddhist faith.

Che resisted the temptation to convince her that who she really needed was Jesus, not Buddha.

He offered a simple prayer instead: “Jesus, will you reveal yourself to this young woman so she can see you as you really are?”

Then he simply walked away from her and kept on praying for others.

When he came back that way, she was sobbing uncontrollably and wanted to know how she could become a follower of Jesus.

What was responsible for this change?

Elementary, dear Emily! Jesus answered Che Ahn’s prayer and revealed himself to her.

Is there someone you know who needs to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour?

Are you hesitant about how to impress this upon them?

Perhaps you have already exhausted every resource at your disposal.

How about following Che’s example?

I invite you to pray right now:

“Jesus, will you reveal yourself to ……….. (name) so he/she can see you as you really are?”

I pray that you will discover that Revelation Results in Salvation.