Fishers of Men (Luke 5:1–11) | The Gospel of Luke (Part 38)

Transcript

JRNT 89
7/6/2025
Fishers of Men – The Gospel of Luke (Part 38)
Luke 5:1-11
Jesse Randolph

One of my old-time heroes in ministry is a Welsh pastor and preacher named Martyn-Lloyd Jones. Martyn-Lloyd Jones, because his name is so long it goes often by “ML-J” or in certain circles he’s known as “the Doctor.” That second nickname - “the Doctor” stems from the fact that Lloyd-Jones was a medical doctor before he became a pastor and a preacher. In his younger years, Lloyd-Jones was really piling up the accolades as a young medical professional. He enrolled in medical school at the age of 16. He was a member of the British Royal College of Surgeons at age 21. He earned his doctorate in medicine at the age of 23. Also, at 23, he was invited to serve alongside the personal physician to King George V, a very prestigious position. But despite all the accolades that were piling up for young Lloyd-Jones, he could not seem to shake this ultimate feeling of dissatisfaction and despondency, as though there was something that was still missing in his life. Something which those degrees and accolades and words of praise could not seem to fill. Then something happened. Right around this same time of life, this season of life, at the age of 25, young Lloyd-Jones began attending Westminster Chapel in London. Through the preaching of a man named John Hutton and upon hearing the message of God’s grace given through the gospel Lloyd-Jones was converted. Here are his words, summarizing what happened, he says:
“He [meaning the pastor, John Hutton] brought me to see that the real cause of all my troubles and ills, and that of all men, was an evil and fallen nature which hated God and loved sin. My trouble was not only that I did things that were wrong, but that I myself was wrong at the very center of my being.”
Then Lloyd-Jones got saved. Praise the Lord for that. Now as a follower of Christ, Lloyd-Jones had this moment which really resembled the scene we’ll be looking at in our text for today. See, as he studied the notes and the files of the patients he was treating in his medical practice. As he realized that this was what he would be doing for the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years of his professional life; Lloyd-Jones had this profound moment. Where he experienced this sense of clarity and conviction that the greatest need of those whose charts he was reading, day in and day out was not medical or physical, rather the greatest need of those he was treating medically was spiritual. He could bandage them and wrap them all he wanted. He could write prescriptions till the cows came home. But if the state of their souls wasn’t addressed, they would one day be cast into a lake of fire, eternally tormented as the punishment they deserved for their sins in the face of a just and a Holy God.

All of this weighed on young Lloyd-Jones. So, without hesitation, and without once looking back. He left that prestigious medical career, which he had worked so hard to secure, which had gained him so much social prestige and relational capitol and clout. He pursued this path into full-time vocational ministry.

As I mentioned already what Lloyd-Jones experienced in London in the early 20th century bears some resemblance to what we’ll be looking at today in Luke 5. In fact, go ahead and turn with me to Luke 5. In Lloyd-Jones’ case, he went from being a medical doctor to being a doctor of souls. Caring for those who were in need by the Great Physician, Himself the Lord Jesus Christ. What we are going to see here in Luke 5:1-11, that’s our text today. Is that Peter, and not merely Peter, but his companions as well went from being a fisherman to a fisher of men as he answered the call of Jesus his Lord.

Let’s go ahead and look at our text for this morning, Luke 5:1-11 – God’s word reads:

“Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the Word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret; and He waw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. a little got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; so, they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.”
This text has it all; it has fishing, and fear, and faith, and following.

But I’m going to alliterate it in a different way. Here is our outline for the sermon.
In verses 1-3, we’re going to see The Insistent Crowds.
In verses 4-7, it’s The Incredible Catch.
In verse 8 through the first part of verse 10, we learn of The Immediate Conviction.
Next part of verse 10, is The Immense Call.
Then finally, in verse 11, is The Incalculable Cost.

Let’s start with:
The Insistent Crowds in verses 1-3. Let us read it again:
“Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the Word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat.”

Now, Luke, the skilled narrator that he is, begins by using that familiar little connection phrase what we’ve seen over and over already, “Now it happened.” He does this to signal to Theophilus that he’s moving on to a new account. To a new story involving the life and the ministry of Jesus. He’s taken us from this scene in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, where Jesus was nearly run off a cliff. To now, this scene is in Capernaum. Which we’ve looked at the last few weeks when Jesus cast the demon out of the demon possessed man in the synagogue. Jesus healed Peter’s sick mother-in-law. And Jesus, after being urged to stay in Capernaum by the crowds there said to them in Luke 4:43, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities . . .”

Now, Luke has moved us on from those scenes. He’s taken us down to the seashore, specifically, to “the edge of the lake of Gennesaret.” Which is another term for “the Sea of Galilee.” Or, as John’s Gospel describes it “the Sea of Tiberius.” Whatever term you give it, whatever label you give it we know that this is a large body of water in this part of the world. It would have been about 14 miles long and 6 miles wide. It was about 690 feet below sea level. It was abounding with fish and fishermen in these days. This is where Jesus has this encounter with Peter and James and John and presumably, Peter’s brother, Andrew.

Now, for some context we have to remember that Jesus had already started to gain a reputation by this point. There was that first year or so of His ministry. Which we saw a few weeks ago, as mentioned in the first few chapters of the Gospel of John. Which records what’s known as Jesus’ “Judean ministry.” It was during that time that Jesus turned water into wine, in John 2 and the wedding at Cana. It was during that time where Jesus, in John 4, healed the royal official’s son. It was during that time that Jesus, in John 5, healed the man who had been sick for 38 years, at the pools at Bethesda. After that came the earlier part of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. That followed His Judean ministry. His Galilean ministry we’ve been looking at the early phases of it so far, in Luke 4 where Jesus taught authoritatively. And He cast out demons powerfully. And He healed the sick thoroughly.

So now, as we turn to chapter 5. Jesus has moved from the synagogue there in Capernaum down to this seashore in the same region. End of verse 1, “He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret.” And as our Lord stood there, it says that “The crowd was pressing around Him.” They wanted to see Him. But they not only wanted to see Him, but they also wanted to hear from Him. Look how Luke just describes it. “The crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the Word of God.”

What a statement that is. Yes, even though by now Jesus was growing as this One who was performing signs, and miracles, and wonders. The crowd was cramping His physical space because they wanted to hear “the Word of God.” I mean, isn’t that something? We think about the churches and the ministries in our day. We think of pastors and church goers in our day who are all about wanting to witness some sort of sign or experience something miraculous. They’ll point to the ministries of Jesus and the Apostles, who did, in fact, perform miracles. As the reason they want now, and expect now, to see something miraculous happen in their lives. But they’ll be quick to blow right past episodes like this where we see that the primary function of Jesus’ miracles and the wonders He performed. Was to undergird His preaching and His teaching ministry. Remember what He said in Luke 4:43, He had come to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.”

The signs and the wonders and the miracles were no doubt amazing. But they pointed to something even more amazing. Which is that Israel’s Messiah, God’s own Son, God the Son God in human flesh had arrived. He had come proclaiming a message. He had come proclaiming a message Luke 4:18, involving “release to the captives.” Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. That message alone, the gospel of the kingdom was compelling enough for these crowds to press in on the Lord, on the seashore so that they could hear more.

So, He’s there, “standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret” it says in verse 1, and He’s being pressed in on by the crowd. You can almost picture Him backing further and further with His heels now in the water. His sandals crunching on the pebbles by the seashore there. As He gets a little wet and He can only go so far back. But then He spots a solution.
Verse 2, “. . . and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets.”
So, with the crowds pressing in on Him and realizing He’s running out of real estate there on the beach to proclaim the Word of God. He spots these two empty Galilean fishing boats. We know from research and archeological discoveries; these were probably about 25 feet long. Maybe 8 feet wide. Enough to hold a crew of about 5 or so sailors.

These boats had apparently been out all night and now the fishermen are there on the shore. They are washing their nets. They’re rinsing their nets of all the silt and the weeds that had accumulated overnight. They’re going to dry them out so they can go out the next night. Now this is where I geek out a little bit. But the term there for “nets” is a specific type of net. It is a “trammel” net. This is a net that would have been connected between two fishing boats and there would have been weights attached to the bottom of the net that would have pulled this mesh net all the way down to however deep they wanted to go. And with this fishing at night, this dark mesh net connected between two boats well fish are dumb, and fish are largely blind, and especially at night, they would just swim right into that thing and voila! You got the catch! That was the whole idea. These aren’t the kind of scoop nets that we think about over at Holms Lake.

Well, Jesus saw fishermen like that. Cleansing nets like those on the shore and He saw their empty boats bobbing on the lake. What He really saw here was an opportunity. Look at verse 3, it says:
“And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land,” Now, let’s pause for a moment to mention, that the name “Simon” here, is referring to the same “Simon” whose mother-in-law Jesus had healed back in Capernaum. This is the “Simon” who also went by “Peter,” the name Jesus gave him. And this is the “Simon” who Jesus, earlier had called to follow Him.

In fact, this would be a good time to mention that what we have here in Luke 5 is not, I believe, Jesus’ initial call on Peter’s life. In fact, I think there might be up to two different incidents where Jesus was calling Peter to follow Him and Peter did initially follow Him. Then what we have here is the “peek moment” where Peter actually did follow Him. To show you what I mean, let’s go to John 1. We’ve already mentioned, records Jesus’ early Judean ministry before the start of His Galilean ministry which is what Luke records. In John 1, specifically verse 41 we learn that Andrew, Peter’s brother, told Peter that he had found the Messiah. Look at John 1:41, this is speaking of Andrew here, it says:
“He first found his own brother Simon [that’s Peter] and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ).” Then look down at verse 42, “He brought him (meaning Peter) to Jesus. And when Jesus looked at him, He said, ‘You are Simon the son of John, you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). So that’s the first contact between Jesus and Peter, where Peter became a follower, in a sense, of Jesus.

But then we go over to Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospel, and we have these twin recordings of this second encounter between Peter and Jesus. Look with me over at Matthew 4. We will also go to Mark 1. But we’ll start in Matthew 4, for another incidence of Jesus encountering Peter, and Peter following Jesus. This goes to Matthew 4:18 says:
“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.”
Now the parallel to Matther’s account is in Mark. Go over with me to Mark 1:16, this should sound familiar. Mark records:
“As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went away to follow Him.”
Now, interestingly, if you go just down the page, we don’t have time to explore this in detail right now. But if you go down the page just a few verses in Mark’s Gospel, you see this instance of the demon possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum incident. Now, we’ve already covered that in the Gospel of Luke. Luke puts that incidence before the call of the fishermen at Capernaum. Meaning, I think, some will say, ‘Well this is just two different Gospel accounts, and one is wrong, and one is right. I don’t think so. I think what we have here is the different Gospel authors recording different encounters between Jesus and Peter. John gives us one. Matthew and Mark gave us another. Then there’s the incident of the healing of the demon possessed man in Capernaum as Luke records it. And then we have our incidence in Luke 5.

So, the point is, Peter, Andrew, James, and John had, at some earlier point, encountered Jesus. They had, at some point, interacted with Jesus. They had even laid down their nets to some degree and followed Jesus. But what we’re going to see, as we keep on going here, is that they had, at this point, had not yet laid down their nets full-time. They were still fishermen, not yet full-time disciples of Jesus. We often think of the disciples as continually following Him immediately after first hearing the call. But I don’t think that’s actually the case as you lay out the three Gospel accounts side by side by side. What we’re seeing here is that these men, in these earliest months of following Christ still lived in two worlds. One as a follower and one as a fisherman. But we’re going to see today that they really merge.

Back to Luke 5:3, it says:
“And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land.” So Jesus asks Simon, back here in Luke’s Gospel, to shove off from the shore, not to escape the crowds but really to more effectively teach them. Look at the last line of verse 3, “And He sat down [Jesus did] and began teaching the crowds from the boat.”
Some think this happened at this little inlet just on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Just southwest of Capernaum. There is a natural place where this could have taken place. There’s this area where the terrain slopes gently down to the shore creating this natural amphitheater environment where there are excellent natural acoustics. Jesus easily could have shoved off the shore here and spoke to thousands of people assembled on the shore just in reach of His voice. That is likely where this happened, just southwest of Capernaum.

But verse 3, He’s on the fishing boat. Floating on the lake, south of Capernaum and He’s there with Peter. Peter is the captain of the ship. Jesus here is seated on the boat. And He’s continuing, it says, to proclaim the Word of God. “He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat.” That should not be a surprise to us at this point, because we’ve seen, going back to some of the synagogue incidents, which being seated was the normal position of teaching in these days. He was seated as a teacher not in a synagogue, but on the Sea of Galilee. It’s pretty easy to visualize this scene. You know, Jesus is out there on Peter’s boat. He has this floating pulpit, essentially. The crowds are out there on the hillside. He’s in the boat delivering the Word of God to that throng that are assembled there. His voice is carrying across the sea, across the land to the furthest person on the edge of the hill.
Then, from this same boat we see that Jesus turns to Peter – who is right there with Him. The captain of the ship and He gives him a command. This will take us to our second point this morning:

The Incredible Catch
Look at verses 4-7:
“And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; so, they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.”

So, the next part of the narrative begins with the words, “And when He had finished speaking.” I mean, wouldn’t we have loved to know what it was He said to those on the shore that day? Wouldn’t it be great to have a printed outline of Jesus’ sermon notes from that day? To know how many points He had. And if it were alliterated? Or if He was a non-alliterated preacher? Who knows? But God, through Luke, saw fit not to give us that detail and that’s really ok. Because in context here, the focus of Luke’s narrative is not on what Jesus taught those crowds on this specific day. But instead, on Peter and the other disciples and how the Lord was going to turn them from their trade of fishing for fish, to now instead fishing for men. Verse 4, “And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon.”
And then here comes the command: “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

Now, there’s a lot to mention here. For starters, “Put out into the deep water” those words there are clearly in the singular. Meaning, they’re addressed to one person on that boat namely Peter, the captain of the boat. He’s telling Peter here where to steer the ship. But then, He gives this second command in the same breath saying, “let down your nets for a catch.” and that is plural. Meaning, He’s addressing a whole different group of people there. And what group would He be addressing? Well, the other crew men the other sailors on the boat. Who made up this crew on Peter’s boat? We don’t know. It’s reasonable to surmise that Andrew, his brother, would have been one of those on the boat. Or it could have been made up of entirely hired hands. But the point is, Jesus is directing them all.

Now, think with me for a minute about what must have been running through Peter’s mind at this point. Right? Here’s Jesus the son of a carpenter. Telling Peter, this skilled fisherman where to navigate his boat. He’s also telling Peter’s team of salty fisherman where they’re supposed to drop their nets. He is telling these guys to head back to this same spot of the same lake where they had spent the night before, catching absolutely nothing. As he thought about the fact that the fish that they didn’t catch the night before had certainly by now descended to the bottom of the lake, in the middle of the day. Peter must have been thinking to himself, in this moment, even if he never said it: “This Galilean guy, like He’s good with a hammer, I’m sure.” “And He’s clearly a healer.” “And He's a good teacher.” “But what in the world does He know about fishing?” Those must have been the types of thoughts that were rolling through Peter’s mind at this point.

Now, surely there are many of us here this morning who can relate to Peter. Since we sometimes ask questions in our minds, like this of the Lord. The Lord has given us a command of some sort. In our day it’s not directly face to face with Him. Instead, it’s in His Word. We’re not sure about the command. We’re not sure how we feel about the command. We’re not sure we agree with the command. We’re not really sure the Lord has given us the right command. We have a choice to make, don’t we? We do. “Am I going to follow His command, and His will?” “Or am I going to follow - Whose?” “Mine.” “My own.”

That’s what Peter was up against as he sat there on this boat with Jesus. The Lord had given him this command. “Put out into the deep water.” Peter had this choice sitting in front of him. Was he going to follow that command or not? This, no doubt, was a test of Peter’s faith. He and his crew had been toiling and laboring all night. They’d spent this sleepless night on the sea. They are tired. And they are probably a little irritable. Not only that, but to them, Jesus’ command must have sounded completely irrational. Everyone on that boat knew that the best time to fish for fish with the types of nets that they had was at night. Were they really supposed to believe that they were suddenly now going to start catching fish in the broad daylight with the sun now glimmering through the sea and illuminating for the fish, the nets that are meant to hide from the fish? No. For this group of experienced fishermen, to have this carpenter’s son tell them where to go in the worst of conditions. To the very spot where they failed to catch fish the night before, under prime conditions was a head-scratcher, to say the least. And surely, deep down, brought some frustration.

But Peter, by this point he had heard Jesus teach. He had seen Jesus heal. He knew that his job wasn’t to question but to obey. And he did, verse 5,
“Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets,’”
Now, some have suggested that Peter here was being sort of a smart aleck. That he was giving Jesus here some sort of implied rebuke, and this was said in some sort of snarky tone. Something like: “Oh, this carpenter thinks He knows fishing, huh?” “Let’s show Him, by dropping these nets out in the middle of the sea at noon time and show Him who’s really the boss on this boat.” I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think Peter was raising an objection here as much as he was expressing his feelings of misgiving, and worry, and doubt. I think what we see in Peter here is the very normal outworking of what we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives. Where we have been given a command. We know that obedience is the right thing to do. We know that obedience is what will please the Lord. We also know that obedience might bring some extra difficulty or complication. But because, ultimately, obedience is right and because obedience is what we are called to do . . . we obey.

That seems to be what is happening here. In response to the command from Jesus to put out into the deep and to let down the nets Peter, already humbled by this fruitless night of fishing, reluctantly obeys the Lord’s order. He’s effectively saying here: “Ok, Lord, if you say so, I’ll do it.”
“If that’s what You want, that’s what I’ll do.” “I’ve seen you do some amazing things in Capernaum.” “In fact, You healed my own mother-in-law.” “So, I’m going to go along.” He must have had his reservations though. Not only was this his boat. This was his trade. This was his crew. This was his livelihood. You know, his were the hands which had grown calloused over the years pulling in those nets. His was the face which had grown lined and weathered out in the sun, working year over year. His was the mind which knew the patterns of where fish went in this body of water. Now here he was, being put to the test and sometimes we forget there’s a crowd on the shore watching all of this.

Now, on the one hand, for Peter in social terms, there was great potential for failure here. He could have been embarrassed and humiliated in front of the hometown crowd there on the shore as he threw in the nets that were meant for nighttime in the glistening noontime waters of Gennesaret, only to haul in nothing, yet again. Back-to-back failures. But this was also an opportunity, in eternal terms, to demonstrate his faith. To demonstrate his faith in the Galilean who had given him this command. As a fisherman what Christ had commanded Peter to do in this instance went against every instinct Peter had. It was the wrong time of day. It was the wrong spot. Everything about it seemed wrong. But as a humble and teachable man of faith. Peter put his personal feelings aside and he obeyed. He said to Jesus, again, verse 5, “at Your word, I will let down the nets.” It reminds me a lot of what Mary says in Luke 1:38 where she says to the angel Gabriel, after receiving her news. She says, “Behold, the slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Well, Peter obeyed Jesus’ word, and the Lord rewarded his obedience, in a major way.

Look at what comes next, verses 6 and 7. It says:
“And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; so, they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filed both of the boats, so that they began to sink.”
This truly is an unbelievable scene. Peter had navigated this vessel to this spot in this body of water where, especially at this time of day it was just about useless to drop one’s nets. Instead of coming away empty-handed, or empty-netted, this enormous school of fish comes passing through at just this time. It says in verse 6, “. . . they enclosed a great quantity of fish.’
All the fishermen in the room are like, what kind of fish? We don’t know. All the fishermen in the room are saying how big was the fish? We don’t know. We think of John, who gave an exact number of fish in a different scene 153 in John 21. Luke doesn’t do that. He doesn’t give us the count, the size, the species, the color, the stripes. We don’t’ have any of that. What Luke tells us, though is that the sheer volume, the sheer weight of this catch, was causing a problem. Verse 6 says, “. . . their nets began to break.” The ropes which were holding these nets together were straining. The rope was fraying. It was this stressful situation because you think of these fish you’ve just hauled in. And now they’re about to be released out to the sea, involuntarily.

The stress that those in the boat were experiencing comes through in verse 7, when we’re told that they “signaled” that word there means a distress signal of some sort. They “signal to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them.” The other fishermen did come. They jumped in the other boat. They shoved off from the shore and they came to that spot in this body of water where this massive haul of fish had been enclosed. You see it there at the end of verse 7, “And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink,” So, not only were the nets initially filled, but now the boats are filled. The weight of the catch is so huge that it’s pulling both boats down. Both boats are starting to sink. This entire fleet, this mini armada, this armada of two, is about to go under.

Again, imagine what the folks on the shore are thinking in this whole scene? They’ve taken in this whole chaotic series of events. I mean, they were the ones the ones on the shore, the crowds who had begun to press in on Jesus. Then they heard from Him, as He taught them from the boat. And now they’re seeing Jesus involved in this scene where these fishermen out there in the deep waters of the Sea of Galilee in broad daylight, where the fishing is never good. Have just brought in the greatest catch of their lives. Their nets are breaking, and the ships are sinking. It’s total chaos! Now, how did this all come to pass? I mean, just taking a step back here from the immediate scene here in Luke 5. Maybe looking at this through a biblical, theological lens. How did this whole thing occur? How did this unlikely haul of fish happen the way it happened? In this most unlikely set of circumstances?

Well, that takes us back to our earlier sermons in the Gospel of Luke. To our Sunday evening series from last year on the doctrine of Christ. We have learned a lot, as a church, over the past year about what the Bible teaches about Jesus being both fully-human and fully-God. The God-Man in every sense and what we can deduce from our study of God’s Word. And what it teaches about Jesus’ perfect humanity, and His perfect deity. Is that at the very moment when Jesus was here, in this scene in Luke 5, in the flesh, standing before Peter, instructing him to “put out into the deep water,” At that very moment, as God. Jesus knew, in His omniscience, that there would be out there, a massive school of fish assembling at high noon on the Sea of Gennesaret. I would take it up a notch and say, not only that. The very fact that that school of fish was assembled in that part of this body of water at that moment, was because Jesus was the One who in His omnipotence as God, directed every single one of those fish to that spot at that time.

Jesus, as we’re going to continue to see throughout Luke’s Gospel was not only sovereign over the wind which would cause ripples and waves over the Sea of Galilee. He was sovereign over every fish which swam in its waters. He was sovereign over every fin and gill and scale and tail in that sea. To make His point to Peter here, that He was not only a Teacher and a Rabbi and not only Messiah and King. But the Sovereign God over all. Jesus miraculously caused each of those fish to swim into those nets at just the time that He commanded Peter to navigate his boat to where those fish would be assembled.

Jesus had promised to Peter that he would find fish and that the crewmen on his boat would make a “catch.” Then Peter and his crewmen obeyed, and they found fish. They did in fact make that “catch.” It was a larger catch than they could ever have expected or dreamed of. When they found those fish enclosed in Peter’s nets it caused a reaction. That takes us to our next point, our third point this morning:

The Immediate Conviction
This will take us from verse 8 down to the first half of verse 10 it says,
“But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed.”

A switch flipped in Peter on the sea on this day. Up to this point. He had been acquainted with Jesus. Associated with Jesus. Tagging along with Jesus next to Jesus. But when the Lord caused those fish to fill his nets. At a time and at a place which otherwise made no sense. Which lent itself to no ordinary human explanation. Peter knew that he was just in the presence of greatness, but that he was in the presence of God. Verse 8, “But when Simon Pete saw this.” “This,” meaning Jesus’ power over the wind and the waves. Jesus’ power over the fish in the sea. Demonstrated right there in front of Peter’s very eyes. We are told here by Luke, “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

See, God is not merely a force or a power. God is not our homeboy or our boyfriend. God is not “the man upstairs.” May God forgive us for having such silly and irreverent thoughts about Him. No. God is a Holy God. God is a God of purity and light. God, we’re told, is a consuming fire. If we think that we’re going to just sort of confidently strut into His presence one day and slap Him a high five. And thank Him for all of the goodies He blessed us with in life all these years on earth. Well, then we don’t know Him. If that’s how we really think about God that He’s just sort of the goofy grandfather upstairs. Then we have created a figment of our own self-willed, self-deceived imagination of who we think God is. Rather that worshiping Him for who He truly is.

See what the Bible reveals, time and time again. Is that when individuals are actually in the presence of God. When they are in the vicinity of His divine majesty. When their eyes open up to a clear vision of who He truly is. When the light of His blazing holiness exposes every dark crevice of our sin-blackened hearts. When that happens, faces hit the floor. Time and time again, that’s what we see. As individuals bow down in awe and wonder and reverence at the greatness and the grandeur and the majesty of God.

At the burning bush in Exodus 3:5, God said to Moses:
“Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is Holy ground.”
In Exodus 33:20, God said to Moses:
“You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
In Judges 13:22, Manoah said to His wife:
“We will surely see death, for we have seen God.”
Isaiah 6:1-4, the prophet there describes what he sees. You know this scene, many of you. He says:
“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke.”
And then Isaiah’s response, in verse 5, he says:
“Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.’”
Ezekiel 1:28 says:
“As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I fell on my face and heard a sound of a voice speaking.”
Job, at the end of the book that bears his name, Job 42:5, he says:
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore, I reject myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
Or we think of John the apostle, on the Isle of Patmos, in the book of Revelation, where he says after turning and seeing the glorious risen and ascended Savior, Jesus Christ. He says: I fell on my face as though dead.

So it is, with all who behold the glory of the King. Including Peter here in Luke 5:8. When he saw what Jesus had done by causing those fish to swim into his nets. It all started to add up for him. The teaching the casting out of the demon the healing the ability to cause all these seemingly-mindless fish, at one time to swim into the nets that just happen to be dropped right in that spot, on that day helped Peter to see that Jesus was not merely a teacher. Not merely a Rabbi. Not merely a healer. Not merely a miracle-worker. But God. Like all who have been in God’s presence, as I’ve just rattled off these instances from the Old Testament, Peter was awestruck. He was stricken with shame over his own sin. He was experiencing this overpowering, and accurate sense of his own unworthiness and wickedness. And so, it says, verse 8, he “fell down at Jesus’ knees.” Remember, Jesus has been teaching from this seated position. So, it’s almost like Peter here is falling, broken and undone into the Lord’s lap as a real sign of humility, and deference, and of worship. Then he said this in verse 8, Peter did: “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” He calls Jesus, Lord here. Kyrios. Earlier, in verse 5, he called Him “Master,” which is more a term of being a ruler, or a boss. But now it’s “Lord.” We have seen that word “Lord” almost 30 times already in these first few chapters of Luke’s Gospel. Each time, it’s a reference to deity. Meaning, Peter knew right then and there that he was in the presence of the Holy. He knew that he was not holy which is why he says: “I am a sinful man.”

See, no one can enter God’s presence. No one can be reconciled to God without first being convicted of their own ungodliness and wickedness and the unworthiness. A sinner can not be made right with the pure and Holy God who is reveled in scripture without first acknowledging that they are a sinner. The first step toward being made right with that God, the actual God of the universe, the God of heaven and earth, is acknowledging one’s sin problem, one’s sin nature, and one’s sinful plight. That includes acknowledging that what the Bible teaches, that through the act of one man, Romans 5:12, sin has entered the world. It means acknowledging that we are all, without exception, Psalm 51:5, conceived in sin. It means acknowledging that all do in fact sin, Romans 3:23, and fall short of the glory of God. It does involve acknowledging, Romans 6:23, that the wages of our sin, the actual sin that we commit against that God, is death.

The first step, friends, toward being pardoned by a Holy God. Being pardoned of sin by a Holy God. Forgiven of sin by a Holy God. Granted the promise of eternal life from a Holy God is not by going to therapy. Not by working on yourself. Not by getting a prescription. Not by turning over a new leaf. Not by becoming a better version of yourself. Not by making new friends. Not by even going to church. No. The first thing a sinner must do and acknowledge to receive a divine pardon from God. To be saved from their sins. To be spared from the terrors of hell. To be promised the glories of heaven. Is to recognize that they are a sinner. Peter recognized that he was a sinner. Look at his confession again, in verse 8. He doesn’t confess to being a bad fisherman. Does he? No. He says, “I am a sinful man.” Peter recognized his own unworthiness as the same first step that we all must take. The weight of his sin was so great. As he kneeled before Jesus on this boat. He says to Jesus, “Go away from me Lord.” Now, he’s not trying to kick the Lord off the boat here, as though he could. Instead, what’s happening here is he’s so overcome by his sense of unworthiness and nothingness that he’s saying, “I don’t even deserve to be in the same boat as You!” There is an unequal relationship here, Lord.

Now, what Peter didn’t recognize immediately at this moment, and we see it later in Luke’s Gospel, in Luke 7, is that Jesus is a friend of sinners. He didn’t immediately acknowledge in this moment, we see it later in Luke 5 that Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He doesn’t call on sinners to justify themselves by clearing some impossibly high bar that He’s set for them. No. Jesus calls on sinners like Peter and sinners like you and me, to completely drop our defenses. To let them go and receive in faith, His offer of forgiveness. Which is rooted in His great and immeasurable love. Salvation, friends, is not found in what we do. Salvation is found in who He is. Salvation is given to those who acknowledge who He is. Those who trust who He is. Those who believe in who He is. On the basis of that belief, go on to live faithfully as His followers. Which we’ll soon see is what happened with Peter. As Jesus gracious as He is, didn’t turn His back on Peter. Rather, He enlisted Peter for His service.

So, we’ve seen verse 8, that Peter was awestruck. He’s just witnessed this obvious manifestation of divine power where this Nazarene, this son of a carpenter, has somehow directed fish into his nets. He’s prostrated himself before Jesus on this boat and declared himself unworthy of Jesus’ presence. The same sentiment apparently was shared by the other men on the boat.

Look at verses 9 and 10,
“For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed.” Now, that word “amazed” or “amazement”, it’s not the type of amazement that we experienced a couple of nights ago, on the Fourth of July. Where we say, “Oh, that’s a beautiful light show, how amazing.” No, the word has much stronger connotations. It means something like “astonished.” Or “terrified.” Or “emotionally shaken.”

Let’s lean into that for a minute. A well put together fireworks show will amaze you, right? As you see the beautiful arrangement of colors in the nighttime sky . . . gorgeous! Wow! It’s like a painting, amazing. This word is more like – if somebody sets off a mortar right behind you, and you’re not expecting it. You’re not just amazed, you’re terrified. Your insides are shaking. Your teeth are rattling. That’s what’s happening. That’s what Luke is saying here of James and John, and the other companions of the boat. They had sensed something supernatural had just taken place. They weren’t just “amazed”, they were absolutely shaken.

But Jesus, as we see next, He doesn’t leave Peter to languish in his sense of unworthiness, back in verse 8, He doesn’t leave the other disciples in their sense of amazement, verses 9 and 10. Look at the rest of verse 10, it says, “And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

Here’s our fourth point, for you notetakers:
The Immense Call
Clearly, the Lord now had Peter’s attention. Not to mention the others who were on the boat. While Jesus had every right, at this point, to cut Peter off, for failing to recognize who He was initially. That is not what He did. No. Instead, He calms Peter’s fears. Look at the command He gives him – “Do not fear.” Then He gives this call and this commission, “from now on you will be catching men.” “I’ve got work for you to do, yet.” “You’ll be fishing still, in a sense.” “But you’ll be fishing for, not fish, but for souls.” Now, this would be a permanent call on Peter’s life. More on that in just a minute.

Now, some have challenged Jesus’ metaphor here, in verse 10. Where He’s calling on the disciples to be “catching men.” Or as Matthew and Mark have it fishing for men. Because as the objection goes, fishing for men would presumably be about rescuing people from death, so that their life is preserved. Whereas fishing for fish does the opposite. They are all fine down there in the water, in their natural environment. Then you pull them out, and what happens? They die, right? Within minutes. This is so clever and so amazing, and it just shows us, and it showcases the richness of God’s Word. But here in Luke 5:10 where Jesus here is quoted as saying, “from now on you will be catching men.” That is a great translation, because the literal meaning is: “You will be taking souls alive.” “You will be rescuing human beings alive.” “You will be rescuing men.” So, Peter, Jesus is saying here, you’ll no longer catching fish you’ll be catching men. Literally, taking men alive. We would think that, in our modern terms, that it’s winning souls, soul winning. Rescuing the spiritually dead by bringing them to a place where they can have eternal life. So, Jesus here, in His own way, caught Peter through His own act of grace. And now He’s commissioning Peter to do the same with others.

Let’s be reminded as we think about the Gospels and their applications to us today. That same commission that the Lord gave to Peter extends to us as well. Jesus didn’t save us to sit around. You know, He didn’t cause the person who shared the Gospel with you, to open their mouth and proclaim the good news of grace with you just so you would close your mouth and not share with anybody else. No. He caught us He commissioned us and now He calls us to go share with others. Fishing in a lake is fatal for fish. But fishing for souls offers freedom to those who are fallen. So why wouldn’t we go extend? Why wouldn’t we go out there and cast some lines? Why wouldn’t we go out there and open our mouths and it doesn’t have to be at Holms Lake on a Wednesday, though it can be – Amen, John Carry? It can also be at home as you witness to your kids. As you witness to your grandkids. As you witness your neighbor across the fence. We’re all called to fish, to catch.

Well, as we turn to the last part of this account. We see that for the men that were in the boat that day who witnessed this haul of fish. And who heard Jesus declare His call on their life it was going to come at a cost. This is our fifth point this morning:

The Incalculable Cost
Look at verse 11,
“And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.”
So, the scene started on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, or “the Lake of Gennesaret.” Then, from verse 3 on the scene moves off the shore, and onto the sea itself. Now, as this whole episode draws to a close. The ships have made their way back to the shore back to dry land. Having not only caught this massive haul of fish. But having this epiphany that they realize who Jesus truly was. And having received this commission to “catch men.” That’s exactly what these disciples did.
They “brought their boats” in, as we’re told in verse 11. And then after disembarking “they left everything.” That includes, presumably, the massive haul of fish they had brought in that very day, “and [they] followed Him.” No more wavering in their convictions. No more halfway discipleship. No more part-time service for Jesus. No. Even though they just experienced the most amazing business day they had ever had. It wasn’t as important as what they had learned that day, about who Jesus is and what He had called them to do, in following Him. So, now they were ready to follow Him to the ends of the earth.

You know, Jesus today, still issues the call He issued to those men on the Sea of Galilee, some 2,000 years ago. But He doesn’t issue His call from a fishing boat. He issues His call from the right hand of the Father, in heaven. He doesn’t issue His call audibly, like He did 2,000 years ago, when He had people right there next to Him, that He was giving a command to. Instead, He issues His call through His Word and through men who preach the Win settings like these.

So, let me ask you this question. Have you answered His call? Not just partially and not just half-heartedly, but totally, like we see here in this scene. Have you come to the end of yourself, as Peter did here? Where you realize that you are a sinner who is in need of a Savior. Have you repented and believed in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Trusting in what He did in dying for you on the cross and trusting and believing that He rose from the grave three days later, to certify that He truly is the Savior of the world. Like the fishermen in this account. Are you willing to leave on the shore, so to speak – the trappings of your old life? If it will make you a more fit servant for Jesus. For Peter and his buddies on the boat, which was the nets, and the boats, themselves, and the fish. In your case, it might be the lusts, or the lies, or the thoughts, or the relationships or any of the earthly comforts that are tying you to this world.

As we all leave here now. The question I pray will be rattling around our hearts and our heads all week. Is have we all truly left our nets on the shore?

Let’s Pray
Father, thank You so much for the chance to be in Your word this morning. Thank You for its richness, its truth, its timelessness, its perfection, its beauty. Thank You for the example of Peter, that we have here in this account in Luke 5. Thank You for the example he gives us of leaving everything behind to follow You, Lord. I pray, God, that You would bring conviction where conviction is needed. Whether it be an unbeliever who is deceived about their status before You, who needs to come to Christ as Savior and Lord. Whether it be a believer who has grown rusty or calloused or cold in their following of Christ. God, I pray You would do a work through Your Spirit in our midst, as You take this section of Your word, You imprint it and drive it deep into our hearts and bring about the change that You see fit. We love You. And thank You for this time. In Jesus’ name. Amen