Luke 5:1-11

Turn to Proverbs 3. We are going to be in Luke 5 this evening but I want to start with a couple of verses from Proverbs. If these verses from Proverbs are not familiar to you I hope they will become familiar. They are some of the first verses I remember memorizing though the way I memorized them was through singing them.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

What are these verses saying? First, we are to trust God. Hebrews 11:6 says that in order to please God we must believe that he exists. That is part of the definition of faith. Faith is believing that there is a God and that he created the world.

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. . . . 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. . . . 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:1, 3, 6)

Another part of our faith is trusting or putting our confidence in him. Solomon instructs us to trust in God. For your information in case you didn’t notice, the word he uses is Lord or Yahweh, God’s covenantal name he gave to Moses at the burning bush.

We are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. In other words, we are to trust in God with all that we are. When Solomon says we’re to trust in God with all our hearts he’s not talking about trusting God just 30% or even 75%. He’s talking about trusting God completely – 100%. When investing, you are encouraged to spread out your money so it’s not all in the same stock or even the same kind of investment. Then, if something happens to the stock market all of your money isn’t affected. We’re not to treat God that way. Don’t trust in God and something else. That’s what the Israelites were doing when they would worship God AND the idols of the nations around them. They were hedging their bets. We’re to put all our trust in God. We’re to put all our eggs in that basket. And isn’t God worthy of our trust?

Several years ago out at church camp I tried out their leap of faith. The leap of faith is a utility pole about thirty to forty feet tall. You climb up to the top of the pole and jump off, trying to grab hold of a trapeze bar or a ring. The hard part is there is nothing to hold onto. While I wasn’t able to grab onto the bar, I was happy just to make it to the top of the pole. When I got down I could feel my heart beating for a good half hour. The only way I was able to do it was because I was in a harness. I was completely assured that if I fell, the harness would hold me and I wouldn’t get hurt. I completely trusted the harness and the person holding the other end of the rope. We are to completely trust God because he is worthy of our trust. Abraham so completely trusted God that he was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. How willing are we to trust God?

Solomon says we are to trust God and not lean on our own understanding. To lean on is to trust. You lean on a cane or on crutches to support you. Do lean or trust in your own knowledge, wisdom, or experience. Instead, lean on God. That means we are to trust in God and obey him even if it doesn’t make sense to us. It didn’t make sense to Noah to build a huge boat hundreds of miles from water but he went to work. It didn’t make sense to Abraham to leave his father and travel to a foreign land but he went. It didn’t make sense for him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice but he was willing to obey. What God leads us to do won’t always make sense but that’s leaning on our own understanding. Instead we need to trust him and obey.

One preacher told this story about trust. Jon Courson said:

When I went skydiving, a man on the ground held a big arrow that he turned to show which way the wind was blowing and which way we were to go to catch it. I remember that when I regained consciousness after jumping out of the plane, I saw the guy turning the arrow. But I thought his direction was wrong, that he was leading me into a power line. His direction didn’t make sense to me. Do I follow the arrow? I wondered. Or do I follow my own judgment? For a moment, I ignored the arrow. And then I thought I’d better follow it. So follow it I did—flying right over the power lines and landing in the right spot.

He then applied that story to this verse saying:

It’s tempting to think we know more than the arrow. It’s tempting to think, “Well, Lord, I know I’m not to lean on my own understanding. I know I’m to trust You. But what You’re doing doesn’t seem to make sense.” At that point, we have a decision to make – whether to follow the arrow or to do our own thing. How I encourage you to follow the arrow, gang. Even if you can’t figure it out, follow the leading of the Lord according to his word. You’ll dodge the deadly power lines of the wicked and land right in the center of the field every time.

Then, in everything we do acknowledge him or submit to him. If we trust him we’ll recognize his authority in our lives. God has a right to tell us what to do and because we trust that he has our best interest at heart we obey. Acknowledging God is seeking his direction and wisdom for our lives. It’s asking God what he would like us to do. It is seeking his glory and not our own. We must turn every area of our lives over to God’s control. Our sole purpose must be to live for him.

And then Solomon says God will direct our ways and make our paths straight. It’s a lot easier to drive a straight road than a crocked one. And it’s especially easier at night when you don’t see as well. When we trust in God and seek his leading we are told that God will help make our paths straight. When we trust in God he makes our way easier. Later in Proverbs Solomon wrote:

Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. (Proverbs 28:26)

It is not uncommon for preachers to be asked for help discerning God’s will for their lives. I’ve been asked that question very recently. In these verses from Proverbs Solomon gave a wonderful answer. As David Guzik put it, we should:

Decide to put our trust in the Lord

Decide to not trust in our own understanding, but give attention and priority to God’s revealed word

Decide to acknowledge and honor God in all that we do

Guzik then says:

When we do those things, we can trust that God will direct our paths. We can go forward in peace, believing that through his word, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, through the counsel of others, through godly common sense, and through life circumstances, God will direct our paths. We will walk along our way of life and come to see that we have been on the path God intended all along.

After that long introduction now turn to Luke 5. Before we start reading the passage we need to remember what happened in our last passage. After leaving his hometown of Nazareth where they tried to push him over a cliff, Jesus traveled to Capernaum. Peter lived in Capernaum and Capernaum became Jesus’ home base during his ministry.

Once there, Jesus visited the synagogue on the Sabbath where he taught. He was interrupted by a man possessed by a demon. When the demon started yelling out Jesus’ identity, Jesus cast out the demon. After synagogue, Jesus went over to Peter’s house where he found Peter’s mother-in-law sick and in bed. After Jesus healed her, she got up and started serving them. At sunset, when Sabbath was over, people began bring their sick to Jesus to be healed.

Chapter 5 starts sometime later though we’re not told how much later. 

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. (Luke 5:1)

As Jesus traveled around the area teaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons, word quickly spread about him. Now, he’s returned to Capernaum and is teaching alongside the sea. Luke refers to it as the Lake of Gennesaret. It was actually know by three different names. We are most familiar with the Sea of Galilee. It is also called Gennesaret (Greek) or Chinnereth (Hebrew). Both mean harp and it is so called because it is shaped like a harp. You can see the harp I placed inside the sea. Sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem it became known as Lake Tiberius after the town that sits along its western shore. We don’t find this name for the sea in the Bible.

Jesus is by the sea teaching but the crowds become too great. They are about to crowd him into the water when Jesus has an idea.

2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. (Luke 5:2-3)

Two of the fishermen, as we’ll soon find out, were Peter and Andrew. They had been fishing all night and were now washing their nets.

When I’ve gone to the beach I’ve seen people fishing with nets. Those nets are round, generally six to ten feet across with weights tied at various spots around the outside to help spread the net out as it is tossed and then to drag the net down around any fish that may be under it. Until we went to the beach last month I’d never seen anyone actually catch anything with those nets but I saw a couple of fishermen use the nets to catch some bait fish with them. We were standing on a pier when we saw a man drop his net into the water. We could see a school of fish beneath him in the water. He pulled up a few dozen small fish. The net did exactly what he needed.

The nets Peter and Andrew were using were much larger. After an evening of fishing, the nets needed to be cleaned. They would need to pick out any sticks and debris as well as mend any tears. It was all part of keeping up with your equipment. They are ready to call it day and go home when Jesus decides to get into their boat and teach. They go out a little into the water where Jesus can get some distance from the people in order to teach.

At that time it was the teacher who sat down and those listening stood. Jesus did the same with the Sermon on the Mount.

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. (Matthew 5:1-2)

That was a nice tradition that we should have kept.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5:4-5)

Jesus got into the boat to teach and now he wants to do a little fishing. So, he asks Peter to go out a little deeper into the water and let down the nets they’ve been washing. That means they’ll have to start the process of cleaning them all over again.

At this point, Peter refers to Jesus as “master.” The word he uses is for a teacher, like a school master. He recognizes Jesus as a teacher and the authority he has as such. He’s not excited about putting the nets back into the water though. It had been a long night made even longer by the fact that they hadn’t caught anything. His livelihood is based on his ability to catch fish. If he doesn’t catch any fish he doesn’t make any money. And then to add insult to injury, he’s being told how to fish by a carpenter. What does a carpenter know about fishing? Peter had been fishing all his life and now Jesus knows more about fishing that he does. He’d been out fishing all night. There was nothing to catch. It didn’t make sense to go out into the water again and let down the nets they’d spent the last hour preparing to put away. You can hear Peter’s exasperation but he does it anyway. Though it doesn’t make any sense he is willing to do it anyway because he’s heard Jesus teach and because he’s seen the miracles Jesus performed. He didn’t think anything would come of fishing at this time of day. It would be as worthless as the evening they’d just spent on the water and then they’d have to clean the nets again. But Peter obeyed simply because Jesus asked him to. Jesus was the master.

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. (Luke 5:6-7)

They’d fished for hours and hadn’t caught anything. They’d gone to their favorite fishing spots and used every trick they knew with no results. Have you ever had a day like that when nothing seems to go your way? But now, when they followed Jesus’ instructions, they catch so many fish they can’t pull them all in. This is the biggest catch of their lifetime. It’s so big they need help from some of the other fishermen with them. Even then, the large number of fish threatens to sink both boats.

In 1986 two fishermen stumbled across something in the mud along the Sea of Galilee. Low water levels that year revealed a two thousand year old boat. It took almost two weeks getting it out of the mud, wrapping it in foam and fiberglass to keep it together. It took another eleven years soaking it in wax to preserve it so it would fall apart anymore. And here’s what they think the boat would have originally looked like. The boat is twenty-seven feet long, seven-and-a-half feet wide, and four-and-a-half feet deep. These weren’t huge boats, but to sink two of them would take a lot of fish. Peter couldn’t believe what was happening.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8)

Peter’s reaction is to fall at the feet of Jesus. Jesus had seen Jesus cast out a demon, he’d seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law, and he seen Jesus heal numerous others, but this miracle drove Peter to his knees. It was too much for him. Maybe in his mind he had explained away the other miracles, but this one was too much for him. Having no explanation for this he is suddenly overwhelmed by what was happening and fell at Jesus’ feet.

Peter asked Jesus to leave him. Literally, Peter asked Jesus to pass him by. He was saying, “Jesus, you need to get someone else, I’m a sinful man.” Suddenly realizing the holiness of Jesus, Peter recognizes his own sinfulness.

When we compare ourselves to each other we don’t look too bad. Chuck Smith said he liked to see men who were fatter than he was. It helped him feel better about himself. It’s the same with sin. We look at someone else and think, “At least I’m not that bad.” But when we look at Jesus we are made all the more aware of just how sinful we are and how much we are in need of his forgiveness. Like Peter, it brings us to our knees. Therefore, if you seen someone spiritually proud you have to wonder if they’ve ever met Jesus. Coming into the presence of Jesus makes us more aware of our failures and our sins. It was the cry of Isaiah when he had the vision of the throne room of God:

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)

Jesus said that it is those who recognize their spiritual poverty that are blessed. It is those who recognize their sin and their need for Jesus that will receive the kingdom of heaven.

9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10a and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. (Luke 5:9-10a)

It is now that we are given the names of some of those who are with Peter. While we’re told about James and John, it appears there were others. Luke tells us that Peter was amazed at the large number of fish they’d caught but so also were the others who were with him including James and John. We’re assuming from the other gospel’s telling of this event that Andrew was there but there were others too. They all had a hard time understanding what had just happened.

10b Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:10b-11)

Jesus told Peter not to be afraid because he was afraid. It’s the natural reaction when you realize you’re standing in the presence of the Son of God.

Jesus then calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to leave their nets and follow him that they might become fishers of men. They will no longer catch fish but people.

The word Jesus used to catch people is only found twice in the Bible. It means to catch or to take captive. Paul used the word in his second letter to Timothy to describe the work of the devil.

24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

Captive. There’s that same word. Satan has caught these opponents of the gospel as well as many others. That’s what the devil wants to do. Jesus also has caught people but for a completely different reason. The devil wants to catch them because he has come to steal, kill, and destroy. He’s like a lion seeking who he may devour. But Jesus wants to catch people that they might be free from the bonds of sin and death.

When they reach shore, Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave their boats, their nets, and the fish to follow Jesus. I want to know what happened to the fish. I guess they left the fish with the other guys who were with them. That was a large number of fish to give up. It was the largest catch they would ever see. However, what they received in following Jesus was so much greater because as Jesus said:

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:36)

Or, as Jim Elliott aptly summarized:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.

The world may think us a fool but it is worth it all to follow Jesus.

We read of another incident quite like this in the gospel of John. Jesus had crucified, he’d been buried and rose the third day, but the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus had in store for them so Peter decides he would go fishing. Once more, just like this story, they fish all night and caught nothing. The next morning Jesus appears on the sea shore though they don’t recognize him yet. Jesus asks them if they’ve caught anything and they tell him they haven’t. Jesus then suggests they throw their nets on the other side of the boat like that’s going to make any difference. It they were fishing for minnows maybe, but they want larger fish and larger fish aren’t going to be on one side of the boat and not the other. It didn’t make any sense but for some reason they did it anyway. And when they obeyed Jesus they once again caught such a large number of fish that they had trouble hauling them in. It was then that John recognized it was Jesus standing on the shore.

The world wants proof and an explanation before it will believe but often there is none. We must simply believe and trust. God rarely lays out everything before us in detailed plans that we can understand. Instead, he calls us and shows us just enough to take the next step. As a result, we me must follow the advice of Solomon and:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)