Drawn out of the water, one becomes a disciple. Drawn out of the water, one is saved alive.

Moses was drawn out of the water. Indeed, that is what Moses means: “drawn out.” Doomed to death by hard-hearted Pharaoh’s decree of sex-selection infanticide, Moses acquired his name from the princess who rescued him from the river. Water kills, but to be drawn out of the water is salvation.

The floodwaters drowned the people of the ancient world. But buoyed up on the ark of salvation was Noah and his family, eight souls in all. St. Peter likens Holy Baptism to this great event, saying that “Baptism now saves you.”

This is why faithful parents bring their children to Baptism. For in these waters is life. In these waters is salvation. Yesterday at Mrs. Mensing’s funeral we lit the Paschal Candle. Today we light it for the baptisms of Jaylen and Ryan. What binds these together is Easter, when at the Vigil we first light the candle. On that night Ryan’s older brother Braeden was baptized, and on that night we rejoiced in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. The lighting of that candle is a visual reminder that the baptized are united with Christ in His death – and His resurrection.

Drawn out of the water, one becomes a disciple. Drawn out of the water, one is saved alive.

Baptism and funeral are thus both pointed toward Easter, pointed toward Jesus and His resurrection. Thus today and at the hour of our death there is a hope that transcends all our vain aspirations, envy and bickering, rage and melancholy, disease and death.

When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he announced that forgiveness of sins and victory over death is found in Jesus, and he pointed the crowd to baptism: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” He then went on to declare, in the clearest possible words, that this gift was also to be given to children. “For the promise is to you and to your children,” he said. Thus you do well when you bring your children for baptism, for you are bringing them to Jesus. As you would be cruel to not bring your sick child to the physician, thus it is cruel to deny baptism to children, for they need it from the beginning, and our Lord wishes to give His gifts to them.

But how much damage is done when we baptize and then do not catechize? Our Lord Jesus sent out His ministers to make disciples, which is to say, students, learners, pupils. “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all the days, even to the close of the age.” See here that baptizing and teaching go together. The disciple is baptized and taught, instructed in the words of Jesus.

Thus we have a beautiful image in today’s Gospel that unites all these things. It begins with Peter’s failure, for he had labored throughout the night and achieved nothing. But in the morning, there is Jesus preaching, and the crowds are pressing upon Him, so eager are they to hear the Word of God. Jesus commandeers Peter’s boat and teaches the people from it. Afterward, He instructs Peter to launch out into the deep for a catch.

The fish brought in at the Word of Jesus was superabundant, such that the boats were heavy, both Peter’s boat and that of his business partners, James and John. Peter comes to the realization of who he truly is before God. It is the realization that you must come to as well.

Our consciences are twisted, like everything is after the fall. We have a tremendously perceptive conscience when it comes to the sins of others, as we heard last week, where Jesus accuses us of finding specks in our neighbor’s eye, but incapable of seeing the plank in our own. Likewise ask people today, “Are you a good person?” and the answer is invariably, “Yes.” “Of course I am a good person, unlike those hypocrites I work with or go to church with or in the opposing political party from mine.” And when we are brought to acknowledge wrongs we have done, we quickly find excuses, a justification for the sin that places the fault and blame squarely back on someone else.

But this is all a lie, self-delusion. There is only one thing to say when confronted with the Word of God. There is only one thing to say in the presence of Jesus. Peter realizes at last that Jesus is no mere man, no simple preacher, but the LORD, God in the flesh, sitting in his boat. He prostrates himself right there in the fishing boat, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

Let all your joy be in this, that our Lord Jesus has sent His ministry to you, that you might be saved alive.

But what does Jesus say to men who confess their sins? “Do not be afraid.” That is the word spoken over Jaylen and Ryan this morning. It is the word spoken over you when you come to confession. It is the word given in bread and wine at the Eucharist. It is Jesus’ word to you even in death, and at the burial of one you love. “Do not be afraid.”

And for Peter, one thing more. Peter is not made a “fisher of men.” The NKJ, which we read this morning, gets closer when it says, “From now on you will catch men.” I am mystified by these translations. Fish are caught to be killed and eaten. Peter is not being sent to “catch” men, as though they are criminals to be apprehended and tried and sent to prison. No, what Jesus says is something far more wonderful. “You will save men alive.” This is a rescue operation, more like a fireman carrying a child from a burning building, a lifeguard rescuing a drowning swimmer. This is what Jesus does, through Peter and all His ministers, through the Church’s ministry of Word and Sacraments. This is what was happening as the waters of Baptism poured over Jaylen and Ryan: they were being saved alive. This is what is happening to you every time you confess your sins, throw yourself down before our Lord Jesus, and He absolves you: you are being saved alive. And this is our great hope when that Paschal Candle is lit once again at a funeral: this person, though now dead, is nevertheless baptized. They have been saved alive, and so though they die, yet shall they live, and living in the resurrection of the dead, the glorious rising again of the body, they shall die no more.

Let all your joy and hope and gladness be not in money or sensual pleasure, revenge over enemies, a political victory or a promotion at work or a secure retirement. Let all your joy be in this, that our Lord Jesus has sent His ministry to you, that you might be saved alive. +INJ+∗