Peter Followed Jesus

Opening

What makes Jesus worth following?

Is it because our friends are doing it?

Is it simply because its the right thing to?

Is it so that Jesus will make our lives perfect and we won’t ever be sad again?

What makes Jesus worth following?

In tonight’s lesson, I want us to look at the story of Peter when he first followed Jesus.

Before we jump into tonight’s lesson, let’s pray and ask God to help us know Him more from His Word.

(pray)

Lesson

Text

Luke 5:1–11 (CSB)

1 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.

2 He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

3 He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.

7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken,

10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”

11 Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.

Story

Here we have some fishermen - Simon Peter and Andrew - who had been out fishing all night long in Lake Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, and couldn’t catch a single fish.

Jesus was sitting inside a boat, teaching a crowd of people who were eager to hear God’s Word.

Jesus told Peter to put the net out in deep water for a catch.

Peter was like, “We have been doing that already, all night long, but if you say so, I’ll let down the nets”

And when they did, they caught so many fish that their nets began to tear! Not only that, they had to get the other boat to put the fish in, and both boats began to sink from how many fish were in there!

Peter Recognizes That Jesus is Holy

Here is the point where Peter recognized that something was different about Jesus.

He wasn’t just some teacher who was like everyone else. He was different; how could He know that putting the nets out in the deep would result in that many fish?

This wasn’t an educated guess. These were fishermen who did this for a living. They weren’t dumb. They knew what they were doing.

Peter recognized that Jesus was… holy.

Do you know what it means to be holy? (ask kids)

To be holy means to be set apart. To be separate from the rest of creation. To be blameless. Jesus was and is holy; there is no one like Him. Peter recognized this.

What was Peter’s response when He recognized this about Jesus?

Luke 5:8–9 CSB

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken,

Peter recognized who he was before Jesus: a sinful man.

Look at what Jesus says back to Peter:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”

What did this mean? Catching people? How do you do that?

Jesus was telling Peter that no longer would be catching just fish. He would be catching people; that is, sharing the good news of Jesus with them and trying to get them for Jesus.

And notice what the fishermen did after this took place:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

11 Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.

Follow Me

Jesus invited them to follow Him. In Matthew’s gospel, we see Jesus say the actual words: Follow Me.

And guess what they did: they followed Jesus.

This brings us back to our original question: what makes Jesus worth following?

Is He worth following for all the things He can give us?

Is He worth following just to make our lives look better on the outside?

No!

Main Point

Here’s our main point for tonight: Jesus is Holy.

A very short main point, but there is a lot said in those three words.

Gospel

Jesus is worth following because He is holy. There is no one like Him. He is not like you, and He is not like me. He is like us in that He is a human being, but not like us in that He is also God.

You see, our Holy God created us to be with Him. That was His intention from the start. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s commands, therefore casting themselves and all of us into sin.

Have you ever done something wrong before?

Have you ever thought something wrong before?

Have you ever said something wrong before?

We have done those things because we are sinners. It is in our nature to sin and disobey God. It is in our nature not to want to follow Jesus, and instead do what we want to do.

But you know what Jesus did?

Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life. He did not sin, not even once! He lived the life that we were supposed to live but failed at from the start.

Because of our sin, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. We deserve death for our sin.

But you know what Jesus did?

He took the punishment for sinners like you and me. He died on the cross in our place. We should have been on the cross.

Jesus then was dead, placed in a tomb, buried there.

But you know what Jesus?

He rose again three days later, defeating sin and death once and for all!

And He promised to come back for us one day where we can spend eternity with Him.

How do we follow Jesus?

So, how do we follow Jesus?

You see, the great news about Jesus is that His gift of Salvation is free.

The Gospel is what we call the good news. And good news is good for a reason.

We could never pay for this gift. No amount of perfect actions, thoughts, or words could ever be enough to be righteous in God’s eyes.

But Jesus gives us His righteousness and that is what makes us right with God.

We can follow Jesus by repenting of our sins, which means turning away from them and leaving them behind, and believing in Him and in what He has done.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible says it like this: Romans 10:9 “9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Closing

Peter and the other fishermen saw that Jesus was Holy. And they left everything to follow Jesus. Everything. Will we give up everything and follow Jesus too?

I encourage you, if you have any questions about what it looks like to follow Jesus, talk to one of your leaders in your group. They would love to have a conversation with you about it.

Let’s pray.