Luke 5:1-11 | Following Jesus

Big Idea:

Jesus called Simon (and the other disciples) to trust in Him and revealed His divine power to them, after which He called them to follow Him on the mission of the Gospel.

Introduction

Good morning, church!

What a blessing to be with you this morning.

My name is David Lundin and I am one of the elders here at Trinity. It is my joy to open up the Bible this morning and dig into God’s Word with you.

I’m always glad when Sunday falls on the last day of the year. I don’t know about you – but this is how I need to end this year. Gathering as the church. Leaning into the Word… clinging to the hope that we have in Jesus.

I’m glad you’re here today. Really, I am. It takes a lot to show up today. Because.. it’s not like a regular Sunday, is it?

The calendar between Christmas and New Year’s Eve feels like a mystery zone. You’re not sure which day it is, what you should be doing, or where you put your motivation… it’s like a cosmic limbo where time has lost all of its meaning. We find ourselves asking, “Is it still yesterday or is it already tomorrow?”

So, yes, I’m glad you are here.

Because in the muddle of it all… there is God’s Word. And there is Jesus. And there is hope and purpose.

As we look to leave this year behind us and as we look forward to a new year – we are going to look at a story in the Gospel of Luke. Throughout this last month, we’ve been working our way through deconstructing Christmas – up to the point of experiencing and celebrating Christmas. Focusing on the magnitude of what happened that day when Jesus was born and came to be with us… and next week, we’re going to start a series in the book of Acts – looking at the early church and its lessons for us…

Today, we’re going to jump into one story in the gospels where we will discover how Jesus calls us to trust in Him and to experience His power – and how this sets us up for the mission and purpose that He has for us.

But, first, let us pray.

I. Jesus calls us to trust in Him.

Go ahead and open your Bibles to the gospel of Luke if you haven’t already done so. We’ll be in Luke chapter 5, verses 1-11. But first, let’s rewind the story a little bit.

The baby that we celebrated last week did not stay a baby. For us parents, we are acutely in tune with the reality that children grow up, and that they do so very fast. The Bible has always amused me, and perhaps even frustrated me, because we move so quickly from Jesus the Baby to the little boy sitting in the temple listening to the Rabbis, asking them questions, to the 30-year old man that begins His ministry to change the world.

I can’t help but to wonder about the missing pieces. Where is Jesus, the teenager? What is Jesus the 20-year old doing? I can’t help but to wonder.

The reality, however, is that God’s timing is perfect. It always has been and always is.

And so, the 30-year old Jesus begins to emerge out of the quiet. The Gospels record John the Baptist preparing the way and Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River Himself. After that, we are told in Luke 4:1 that Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit is guiding Him into the wilderness.

In a remarkable and mysterious fashion, Jesus’ time in the wilderness is an extremely interesting interplay of the Trinity.

Jesus, filled with the Spirit, is rebuking the devil by pointing to God the Father. Worship the world, Satan tempts, and “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only,” Jesus responds.

The triune God. God in three distinct but equal persons, as one, is about 30 years old and is walking on the ground near Jerusalem. This is incredibly remarkable. Isaiah’s prophecy, as Matthew noted, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,” doesn’t just apply to the baby laying in the manger.

God, indeed, is with us. He is a physical man, like us, of flesh and blood – walking this earth just as us. God has literally come down to be with us. Jesus is fully God and fully man, here with us.

The triune God, God the Son Jesus on earth as fully man – filled with the power of God the Spirit, under the authority of God the Father, resists the devil in the wilderness and begins His ministry to the world.

We begin to see, in the Gospels, that this is starting to cause some commotion. In Luke 4:14, we read “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.”

People are noticing. There is now a stirring in the air, something is happening, something is going on.

And the events are intensifying. Jesus begins to perform miracles, healing sickness, casting out demons…

People are beginning to realize that Jesus is not your average guy. He is doing remarkable things.

Luke 4:36, “All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out! And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.”

For us, it is perhaps easy to glance over these events because we are aware of the larger story.

But for the purpose of today, let’s shut down our minds. It’s December 31st, this won’t be hard to do. I know everybody is tired and poofed out. Close your eyes, shut your minds off and put yourselves on a chair somewhere in Simon Peter’s house.

If you fall asleep, that’s ok, I won’t tell anybody.

Simon’s mother-in-law is very sick. She’s laying in bed with a high fever and is not doing good. Somebody had told Jesus about this at the synagogue, and now that it was over, Jesus was on His way. Jesus enters the house, finds the sick lady.. and rebukes the fever. You’re in the house and can’t believe your eyes, the lady that’s been rolling around in agony and panting for her breath has now immediately bounced up and has decided to find something to make lunch for everybody with.

The fever is gone.

The word begins to spread.

And we’ll pick the story up in chapter 5 now.

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

Jesus is preaching to a crowd. Surely, people have heard some of the stories being passed around. Did you hear what this guy did? Did you hear what happened? Who is he! Let’s go listen..

And as Jesus is teaching, he is noticing two boats. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. Verse 3, “He (Jesus) 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.”

We are not told of Simon’s reaction here, but my guess is that he was probably tired after working and just wanted to finish untangling all the nets, go home and get something to eat… but here was the teacher that had miraculously healed his mother-in-law… it wasn’t like he was in position to decline the request.

Jesus is calling Simon to trust in Him.

They row out a bit and Jesus now has a good vantage point before the crowd. He finishes speaking and, in verse 4, asks Simon to “put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Woah....

That’s actually asking for a lot. Simon doesn’t know yet what Jesus is about to do. Simon has no clue what Jesus is up to. But Jesus is, really, just asking Simon to trust in Him. Trust him even with the things that Simon knows best.

II. Jesus calls us to experience His power.

There is a lot of potential for reading between the lines here, but let’s hear Simon’s response in verse 5: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything!”

Illustration:

Now, I’m not that much of a fisherman and especially not in the methodology of using a row-boat to power yourself around a lake to cast out nets, heave them up out of the sea… over and over again to hopefully catch some fish to feed yourself, your family and have some left over to trade for other items you need… but I do know that Jesus has some guts to ask Simon, who has been up all night, and is ALMOST done with cleaning the nets… to head back out.

This Summer at our campground, we opened a café and entered the world of food service. We had a blast, but we quickly realized that this was exhausting work. After being on our feet all day, cooking pizza and doing all these other things, we’d reach the end of the day with our staff tired and worn… but we knew we’d need to break everything down, clean, scrub, finish the dishes… and THEN, and only then could we shut off the lights to go home to sleep.

I like to think of myself as a kind and reasonable guy. But if someone came to me standing at that sink at eleven at night and said “Hey, I see you’re almost done here.. but let’s just go back and fire everything back up again… let’s make a mess of everything…

I can sense Simon’s emotion to his very core here. He is trying hard to be respectful… but it’s almost as if he’s looking at Jesus, in his exhaustion, and says…

“Jesus… you’re a great Rabbi and when you speak about God, we listen! You speak with great authority. But, please, we are not great Rabbis but we know about fishing. I’ve been fishing my whole life, since I was a little boy.. Please, this is pointless. We’ve let down those nets a hundred times and we can’t catch anything. There is no fish today. We just need to go home and sleep…”

But, Simon, more a man than I am.. bites his tongue and instead responds in verse 5, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Because you say so.

He is admitting that this is pointless. He is admitting that this is a waste of time. He is admitting that he would rather go home to his wife with an empty catch than to be by this lake for another minute.

But because you say so.

So, they row out into the deep and they put their nets out.

Jesus is not cruel. He is not trying to mock Simon.

He has already asked Simon to trust in Him. He showed Him what He was capable of when he healed his mother-in-law. He knows Simon is exhausted and bummed.

But it’s one thing to have theoretical knowledge of something. You can know a fact, but if you don’t know how to apply it to your life… it might as well be useless. I know that eating healthy is important, but what good does that knowledge do me unless I actually practice it?

Jesus sees Simon and he realizes that this guy is beginning to get it. He has been listening to the sermons and he has seen what I am capable of… but does he really understand who I am and what it means FOR HIS LIFE?

And, perhaps, Jesus is making an example of Simon because most of us are like him.

Jesus asked Simon to trust Him, and when Simon trusted in Him, he was able to experience His life-changing power.

Let’s pick it back up in verse 6. Simon has reluctantly set out to sea again.

Verse 6. “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” , “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.”

Jesus called Simon to experience His life-changing power.

Simon was a hard-headed man like most of us are. But Jesus saw that, and Jesus knew exactly what He needed to do to get through to him.

Simon was a fisherman. He knew that what happened was remarkable. Healing a fever was one thing.. but to him, this was personal. This was real. This was unmistakable. This kind of stuff does not happen. Fish do not change behavior this quickly and there has never been an amount of fish even remotely close to this.

And what is Simon Peter’s response?

Verse 8. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord: I am a sinful man! For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.”

Simon Peter experienced Jesus’s power. The raw essence of it.

You might be surprised by his response to Jesus.

I mean, I read this story and I am kind of anticipating Simon to be thrilled and to rush to woo Jesus into a business partnership.

Can’t you see it before you? In true Shark Tank fashion, the TV show where entrepreneurs present their ideas to rich investors and try to win an investment in the business by some means.

“Alright Jesus.. I’ll let you join the boat and the fishing club from here on out.. you help us catch fish and we’ll give you 25% of all the proceeds from the sale of the fish.. WE ARE GOING TO BE RICH!!!”

But that’s not what happens, is it?

Simon Peter falls before Jesus and pleads with Jesus to leave him, for he is a sinful man.

He is realizing who is before Him. It is not just a masterful Rabbi with lots of knowledge about God. It is God Himself.

The similarities with the prophet Isaiah are unmistakable.

Isaiah 6:1-5

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Simon Peter encountered the majesty of Christ.

He encountered the holiness of Christ.

He realized that He who was before Him was not just a man.

And whenever humanity encounters the presence of the holy, we fall flat on our faces. We are not worthy. Sin burns like a raging fire in the presence of the holy.

And, so, Simon is terrified. He realizes he has no ability to stand in the presence of Jesus. Jesus is not just a great Rabbi with great knowledge of God. He is God – before Him. Simon is terrified.

Close your eyes, again.

Picture God, in flesh, standing right in front of you. The Creator of the Universe. The Creator of YOU. Aware of every sinful thought… every selfish inclination in your heart. God, before you. You can’t help but fall down, cowering in fear.

III. Jesus calls us to a Mission and gives us a purpose.

But, Jesus speaks.

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

Jesus does not reject Simon on the basis of his sin. Jesus is not surprised to hear that Simon is a sinful man. Jesus has come to die on the cross for those very sins.

Later, when he appeared to the disciples after his resurrection – and as we can read in John 10:21, Jesus said “As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

He has revealed himself to Simon. Simon, who by trusting Jesus was able to experience the fullness of his power and glory, his holiness – and now, Jesus is giving him a mission – a new purpose, and he sends him.

From now on, he says.. you will fish for people.

In the course of one morning. Simon’s life has changed. No longer is his life about waking up and setting the course for catching fish. Instead, he is one of the first disciples – the first followers of Jesus paving the way, showing us what it means to follow Him and to experience life in light of His saving grace.

Simon, who later when gathered with the other disciples, would respond to Jesus’s question “Who do you say I am?” in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Simon, whom Jesus would respond to in Matt. 16:17-18: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it…”

The fallible Simon Peter who failed numerous times to live up to the calling. Falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, later denying Jesus…

Yet, chosen by God to lead the early church.

If there was hope for Simon Peter, there is hope for us too.

And perhaps therein lies the remarkable beauty of this story.

Because Jesus invites us to encounter Him, too. He asks us to trust Him and to allow Him to reveal Himself to us. He invites us to the mission, too.

Yes, we are not worthy of Him. But that’s the thing about Jesus. You don’t have to earn your way. Jesus didn’t ask Simon to accomplish something great and then follow… he instructed Simon to turn.

Before you were this. Before you did this. Now, you are this. Now, you’re going to do this.

And that invitation is for you and me, too.

Simon later writes in the beginning of one of his letters to the church…

In 1 Peter: “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you… THOUGH you have not seen him, you love him. THOUGH you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

According to his great mercy. Simon Peter knew this great mercy very well, didn’t he?

We do not see Jesus. But we believe in faith and we witness His power… and we are saved. Born again to a living hope.

This changes everything. And it changed everything for Simon. And it changes everything for you.

Application

It is the last day of 2023.

I don’t know if I’m just getting old or if the world is actually just struggling.

I think I am accurate when I proclaim that we need hope. Hope is needed.

But here’s the reality.

We don’t have to go looking for it. We don’t have to go searching.

We don’t have to cast nets out into the deep & dark sea, hoping that we will catch something.

Hope came to us. He revealed Himself to us. And He showed the way.

Jesus invites us all to follow Him.

Maybe you’ve been a faithful disciple of Jesus for as long as you can remember. You’ve heard all of this time and time again.

But what does this message mean for you?

Simon, James, John… they dropped everything and they followed Jesus.

When we first encounter Jesus and when we first decide to follow Him, there’s a certain rudimentary simplicity to it. Like the disciples, put down what you are doing and take steps towards Jesus.

But what if you’ve already been following but you are beginning to lose sight of Jesus in the midst of all the distracting noise of the world…

Peter got distracted, too. In Matthew 14, Jesus asked him to come to him on the water.. and he walked for a few steps, but when he realized what he was doing… he became afraid and began to sink.

‘O you of little faith’, Jesus called him after reaching his hand out.

There is comfort in the knowledge that my savior saves people like that.

I struggle in my faith. I lose sight. I get distracted. But His hand is always there.

His hand is always there.

We are called to follow.

What does that mean for you?

If you have never made the decision to follow Jesus and you are busy going about your life… read and hear this message and experience Jesus individually calling YOU to put down what you are doing and follow Him.

Simon, James, John… and the others, did not know what this would mean for them. But they experienced Jesus and it was all that they could do.

If you have followed Jesus for a long time but you sometimes get lost in the fog… know that your Savior does not give up on you.

Ask yourself, pray for God to reveal to you, what’s creating this fog in your life. Ask for Jesus to stretch His hand out and guide you.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that there is an elaborate method or procedure.. or perhaps even piece of technology to help us.

Some are tempted to believe that they must listen to the best and greatest preacher.

Personally, I love reading books and I love reading other peoples interpretation of things. But it becomes a problem when I’m tempted to read what someone says about the Bible rather than the Word itself.

These are easy traps to fall into.

My prayer and encouragement for you all as we head into this new year is the same prayer and admonition that I have for myself. To resist the temptation of complexity and find our way back to the basics.

I love James 4:8. “Come near to God,” James says, “and He will come near to you.”

Jesus called Simon and He has called us to a life of discipleship. He has called us to lay things down and to turn our lives around, following Him. But we can’t do that properly when we fill our lives with distractions.

We must be people of the Word – soaking in God’s word, and we must be people of prayer. I have always struggled with prayer. My mind wanders too much. But come near to God, and He will come near to you.

Most of us base too much of our internal life on our exterior circumstances. I am terribly guilty of this. Tim Keller said, in regards to this, “Their inner peace is based on other people’s valuation of them, and on their social status, prosperity, and performance.” Instead, as Christians, we must fill up our internal life with the Word and with God’s steadfast love and let that pour out of us… lest we will be subject to the whims of everybody else, their opinions and we will live lives of fear and insecurity.

God gives us something better than that.

What Simon experienced that day in the boat with Jesus was remarkable, but the reality is that Jesus has offered something even more remarkable to all of us who choose to trust and believe in Him. His salvation, by grace and through His blood, allows us to be restored to the Father. We have a place and a purpose, and that is in the great family of God – where we are seen, valued and of tremendous importance.

We can have a lot of opinions and emotions about life as a human in this world today. It is tiring, hard, painful and evil. It is not hard to find something to complain about.

But this place is not our home and our purpose is not in the cushioning of it.

We have been called to a Savior.

So let’s step into 2024 with that in mind. Let’s return to the basics, let’s follow Jesus.. and live our lives to the fullest extent possible. Let us not forget the incredible hope of Jesus. And let’s share the joy of knowing Him with all those that we encounter.

Let’s pray.