As the people, therefore, pressed upon Him, He requested Simon to push off his boat a little way from the shore, that He might teach the multitude, and at the close of His discourse, bade him thrust out into the deeper waters, and let down his net for a draught. The ill success that had attended his efforts the previous night, made Simon at first hesitate, but he had no sooner made the trial, than the net enclosed such a multitude of fishes, that it began to break (Lk. v. 6). On this he and Andrew beckoned to James and John, and their companions in the other boat, who had doubtless watched all that had occurred, and they immediately came to their help, and filled both the boats so that they began to sink (Lk. v. 7). So deep was the impression made by this unlooked-for success upon the mind of Peter, that yielding as always to the impulse of the moment, he cried, _Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord_[286]. But the emblem of their future destinies, and the pledge of future success, having thus been given them, the Saviour bade him and the others leave their ships and become _fishers of men_. And thus Peter and Andrew, James and John, quitting their earthly occupations, henceforth became His regular attendants and disciples. The report of this miracle, and of the determination of the four to follow the Prophet of Nazareth, would soon be noised abroad among the populous villages along the lake. It is no wonder, then, that on the following Sabbath the words of the Saviour were eagerly listened to in the synagogue of Capernaum (Mk. i. 22; Lk. iv. 32), confirmed as they also were by a remarkable occurrence that now took place. A man was present in the synagogue possessed with an evil spirit, which, in the hearing of all, cried out, _What have I to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth? art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God._ Thereupon the Redeemer rebuking him, and bidding him hold his peace, commanded the Evil Spirit to leave the sufferer he was tormenting, and the demon having thrown the man into strong convulsions (Mk. i. 26), and “uttering an inarticulate cry of rage and pain[287]” left him, amidst the awe and wonder of those assembled. This miracle――the first of the kind――over unclean spirits was speedily noised abroad throughout the whole region of Galilee, and excited a strong enthusiasm in favour of the _Prophet of Nazareth_. Leaving the synagogue, the Saviour repaired to the abode of Peter, whose wife’s mother lay struck with a violent fever[288], and taking her by the hand lifted her up. Immediately the malady yielding before that Divine rebuke (Lk. iv. 39), left her, and in place of the exhausted energy and prostration usually following it, she found herself able not only to rise, but even to minister to the Healer and His disciples (Mk. i. 31).