You’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat

It's an iconic movie scene from Jaws. Martin Brody, played by Roy Scheider, sits at the stern of a small fishing boat slopping chum into the ocean. His face is turned away from the water as he mumbles complaints toward the boat's captain. When Brody turns back to the water, he is face-to-face with the leviathan-like shark that will soon hunt him. His face aghast and his body tense, Brody backs warily away from the water until he reaches the cabin. He turns to the captain. A cigarette jostles between his lips as he cautions, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Until this moment, the crew thought they were going on a standard shark hunt. For a standard shark hunt you can use a standard boat with standard bait and standard techniques. When Brody saw the titan shark they would be hunting he understood the mission. He realized nothing standard would make them successful. They would need a bigger boat.

When Jesus says to his disciples, "Make disciples of all nations," I imagine one of them, probably Peter, mumbling, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." This is the moment the disciples come face-to-face with Jesus' call. This is the moment we come face-to-face with Jesus' call. Jesus knows the magnitude and the impossibility of this call, which is why he says, in essence, "You're gonna need a bigger king...and I am he."