Luke 5:8. Simon Peter. His full name is given at this turning-point of his life.

Fell down, etc. Not an act of worship, but a recognition of God's power in Jesus.

Depart from me. Go out from me, i.e., from my boat. This is like Peter. This miracle took place not only in his presence, but in his boat, his net, his fishing.

For I am a sinful man. It was not superstition, but a sense of unworthiness. In Jesus he recognized to some extent the holiness as well as the power of God. Such a feeling always exists in similar cases. But Christ makes ‘sinful man' at peace with a holy God. It is not necessary to suppose that Peter had but lately committed some crime, that he felt the want of faith in what he had said before (Luke 5:5), that he was afraid of drowning, or that he had left the Master and now felt that he had been guilty in so doing. Our Lord knew how to answer better than Peter did to ask. Instead of departing from Peter, He drew Peter to Himself, and the reason Peter urged was the reason for making him cling more closely to his powerful and holy Master.

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Old Testament