If you’ve ever read children’s magazines to your children, you’ve probably encountered comparison exercises in which you’re given two seemingly identical drawings and asked to spot the differences between them.
We may compare two identical scenarios in Scripture in almost the same way, except that in this case, we can be guaranteed that the contrasting aspects will always lead to some spiritual truth.
Studying the differences in seemingly identical scenes is always a meaningful and interesting experience!

Next time, we’ll apply this approach to Torah passages, and we’ll be able to derive some extremely significant spiritual lessons from this comparison.
Today, however, I will offer you a basic example from New Testament passages to demonstrate how to use this tool.

You may remember two very similar stories of supernatural fishing with Jesus in the gospels: the first in Luke 5, and the second in John 21.
Let us read both scriptures:

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”And when they had done this, 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!”For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken.

They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus…. And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea…. Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.”

There are many details in both passages that are highly similar (I emphasized them):
In both stories, the fishermen had been fishing all night when Jesus told them to throw the net, and they had caught nothing.
In all stories, He tells them to cast the net and gives them specific instructions on where to cast it.
They obey in both stories:
In both scenarios, they follow His instructions and throw the net again after a night of catching nothing.
And the outcome in both cases is overwhelming:
They caught a large amount of fish in Luke 5 but were unable to bring it in because of the large number of fish, as mentioned in John 21.

However, there is one notable difference in the outcome: the net!
In the first scenario, “their net was breaking,” but in the second, “the net was not broken.”
This apparently insignificant element bears a tremendous spiritual significance and reflects the very message of these stories. What does it mean then, this broken net, and why did it happen?

Let us try to see whether there were any additional different details in the stories themselves to understand the message of this comparison.
The only other difference we can find between both the images is Peter’s behavior: what sort of motion do we witness in each story?

In the first scene, Peter is saying: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” He is trying to distance himself from Jesus – and In this case, we read that their net was breaking.

In the second, Peter jumped into the water in an attempt to get closer to Jesus – and the net was not broken.

These are the conclusions that the New Testament intends for us to make.
When one’s heart is occupied with self and the world, he gets broken just like the net: how weak and sinful he becomes then, and how unworthy of Jesus he feels just like Peter did.

When one thinks about Jesus instead of self and is willing to go deeper into the depths just to be closer to Him – meaning to seek His strength and righteousness – then his net won’t break.
Even though Peter is now a follower of Jesus, as it is written in Luke 5, he is still focused on himself and his own problems.

One would think that in John 21, after his betrayal, Peter would have been even more aware of how weak and sinful he was; however, he simply jumped into the sea, wanting to be with Jesus because HE KNEW full well that forgiveness, healing, and righteousness could ONLY be found in Him and through Him.

The fundamental lesson of this comparison is that different states of the heart yield radically different results in the midst of almost identical circumstances.