Seeking Fish, Finding Jesus

Introduction

Life is full of surprises! Some of those surprises are good things - like when you look in the church bulletin and see that last week the offering was $814,000! Other surprises aren’t as good - like when you discover that there was a typo, and the 8 wasn’t supposed to be there. We all have experienced surprises from time to time. Think of some of the surprises we’ve seen already in the Gospel of Luke. Think of Zechariah and Elizabeth in chapter 1 - they are well past the point of having a child, and they are told that they are going to have a son and to name him John. That’s quite a surprise! Think about John the Baptist, now. He grows up and begins to prepare the way for Jesus, which is what He was called to do… and next thing you know, Jesus Himself comes up to you and tells you to baptize Him. You think that would be quite a surprise? Big time!

Life is full of these moments and today we’ll see another one as Jesus tells Peter how to do his job. Do you like being told what to do? Many of you are experts in your field. It wouldn’t be a fun surprise for someone to come up to you in your office and that person to tell you exactly how to do your job… especially if that person wasn’t even in your same field or department or company! But this is exactly what we will see this morning in Luke 5:1-11. We see a fisherman who was seeking fish, and He ended up finding Jesus. We’ll see that the miracle of all miracles isn’t that we seek Jesus, but that it is Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, who continues to seek and save sinners - aren’t you thankful for that today?

Let’s read from God’s Word - Luke 5:1-11

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.

Jesus seeks and provides - and we are called to follow His lead! Let’s thank Him and ask Him for help today, let’s pray!

Jesus’ Power Display’s His Divinity (1-7)

Throughout the Gospels we see examples of Jesus demonstrating His power over different things. Last week we saw that Jesus demonstrated His power by teaching with authority, by removing demons, and by healing people of diseases. From the get-go this morning, let me lay my theological cards on the table: I believe that this is a real story that really happened. Luke 5 demonstrates Jesus’ power once again and it demonstrates it in such a way that at the conclusion, we see that these professional fishermen literally leave their nets and jobs aside and immediately follow after Jesus. Why would these people do this? Closer to home, we must ask ourselves today, why do I follow Jesus? See, there is something about this person. We see this from the beginning in verse 1 - the crowd was pressing in on Jesus. Literally, the crowd was closing in on Him to the point that there was no room for Him because the people were so close around. There was something about this person that drew others towards Him, not only the things that He did, but the way that He taught. There was something special, something unique.

Today, we have the blessing of these things called microphones. We have speakers. We have modern amplification technology that can enable one person to speak or sing in front of hundreds of thousands! Have you ever wondered what they did before that type of technology? I love the epic speeches that you see in war movies before a big battle that are meant to pump up the soldiers before they fight as the leader, a king or general, speaks to thousands of people at once… but the logical part of me always asks: How could everyone hear this one person? If you go back nearly 300 years, there was a pastor named George Whitfield - one of the leaders of the 1st Great Awakening in our country. Whitfield had an incredibly powerful voice and could project his voice in such a way that tens of thousands of people could hear him preach at one time. In fact, Benjamin Franklin was a good friend of Whitfield’s, and he wrote about this powerful voice that could captivate even the largest of crowds.

Here in Luke 5, we see a massive crowd coming to hear Jesus speak… but I need you to see why they were pressing in on Him. It wasn’t because of His delivery skills. It wasn’t because of the creativity of His message. It wasn’t because of His powerful miracles that He had already done. Look at what Dr. Luke says in verse 1 - “The crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s Word.” Now, Jesus was the greatest communicator who has ever walked this planet. His Sermon on the Mount is said to be the greatest sermon preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived, and we have almost finished looking at that sermon on Wednesday nights - Jesus was a great communicator. Jesus did perform many miracles. It makes sense as to why Jesus would draw a crowd. There was something unique about this speaker. His message was different, as chapter 4 told us, He spoke with authority. Why? Because when people listened, they heard God’s Word. An accurate translation of the Greek is this: They were listening to the word that comes from God. What does that mean? Whenever Jesus spoke, God spoke. Remember that this was Jesus’ purpose in coming in Luke 4:43 last week - it was necessary for Him to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom. Why was that message necessary to proclaim? Look at what Jesus says about Himself in John 14

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

When there seems to be no way, Jesus says that He is the way. He is the bridge that saves and connects sinners with a holy God. But look at the second description that Jesus gives of Himself, He is the truth. Y’all, in our world that word means so many things. What is truth? We don’t know. Truth is so subjective, or feelings centered, nowadays that people talk about “My truth” “His truth” “Her truth” instead of “The Truth!” What is truth? Jesus defines it for us

John 17:17 CSB

17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

This book is truth. Why? Because it is God-breathed. It is inspired by God. Have you noticed that people in our day are desperately searching for something solid to cling on to? Brothers and sisters, we have the answer here. We have God’s Word and God promises that His Word never returns to Him void. Jesus preaches, from the boat, because there are so many people, and as He does this He proclaims God’s Word, He proclaims the truth.

What do you and I proclaim? Jesus came with the purpose and stated goal to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom… what about us?

Many proclaim the good news of Chiefs Kingdom

Many proclaim the good news of their favorite hobby

Many proclaim the good news of technology

Many proclaim the good news of their job or company

What do we proclaim as individuals here at South Gate Baptist Church? We proclaim the truth of God’s Word. Colossians 1 reminds us of our task: We proclaim HIM! Do you know what happens whenever Jesus is proclaimed? Lives are changed. And this doesn’t just happen inside the walls of the church building, this especially happens outside the walls of the church building. Anyone here like going down to Table Rock? I grew up on Table Rock with my friends tubbing, fishing, swimming, cliff jumping, little cold for those things today, but if you like those activities, this passage should encourage you - here is Jesus, on a boat in the Sea of Galilee, teaching the good news. Friend, wherever you are, you are there on a divinely given mission and that mission is to proclaim Christ. In your work place, you are there not just to work as a dedicated employee, but you are there to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ! In your home, you are not just there to be mom, or dad, or a son, or daughter, or husband or wife. You are there to first be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. At school, you are not first there to be a teacher or student or coach, you are first and foremost there to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ!

Here is Jesus, invading Peter’s workplace, the boat, teaching about the Kingdom of God with authority… and look at what happened whenever He was done. Peter had just had a long night of not catching any fish. Is there anything worse than spending hours fishing, and not catching any fish? We do this for leisure… these people did this for their livelihood! This is a big deal. Peter is exhausted. The last thing Peter would’ve wanted to do after this is to go back out on the water with this relative stranger… but verse 4, this is what Jesus calls Peter to do. Have you discovered yet in your life that Jesus often calls us to do exactly what we don’t naturally want to do? What does human nature say here? Who does Jesus think that He is? Sure, He is a wise teacher, but He is just a carpenter… Peter is the fisherman. Why should the fisherman who just got done fishing the night before and didn’t catch anything listen to Jesus? This would be like me telling Patrick Mahomes how to do his job. Isn’t that foolish?

Who does Jesus think that He is here? As CS Lewis once said, He is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. Peter responds to Jesus respectfully, he calls him Master which is a title of respect, but then he explains that they caught nothing. They were seeking fish, and came out empty. But there was something different about this person… so Peter obeys. He rows out. He puts the nets down. South Gate, whenever Jesus speaks, our responsibility isn’t to debate but to obey. Jesus issues a command in verse 4 - and Peter, after giving the facts, obeys and we see in verse 6 that their boat begins to sink because of how many fish they caught!

Can I let you in on a secret? Jesus is a better fisherman than Peter. How? Because He is omniscient. He knows all things. Jesus is better at loving, leading, working, serving, preaching, and everything than we are. You know what that should help us do? RELAX. We can rest in His sovereignty. We can trust in His provision. Jesus knows what is best and whenever we obey Him, we are always blessed. Maybe not by the world’s standards, but always by heaven’s. If the fish of the sea obeyed Jesus’ command, if Jesus could fill the nets of these weak, exhausted fishermen, imagine what Jesus can do in our lives today? He does more with your surrender than you and I can do with our strength. In this miracle, Jesus displays His power for the purpose of showing Who He is - He is not just a man, He is God in the flesh.

Jesus’ Purity Demands Our Devotion (8-10a)

This is a surprising turn of events. The professional fishermen couldn’t find a single fish, and suddenly Jesus provides them with the catch of a lifetime. If social media were around back then, this would’ve gone viral! People would’ve been talking about this for days on end. It would’ve been easy for Peter to immediately thank Jesus and express gratitude for what has happened… but look at what Peter does instead: He falls down and acknowledges that there is yet something else that is different about Jesus. Not only does Jesus teach with power. Not only does Jesus know where the fish are. Jesus is holy.

What does that word holy mean? To be holy means to be set apart. To be separated from the impure. Whenever you think of God, what are some attributes of God’s that come to mind?

Loving

Gracious

Merciful

Omniscient

Omnipotent

Omnipresent

These are wonderful truths that communicate who our God is. But there is only one attribute of God that is taken to the maximum degree in Scripture. Isaiah 6 says this

Isaiah 6:3 CSB

3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.

To say that God is holy is underselling things. He isn’t just holy. He isn’t just really holy. He is as holy as holy can get. He is as perfect, righteous, just, as those things can be. At first, Peter says that Jesus is Master - another word for a teacher… but after this miracle, Peter acknowledges Jesus as Lord. This is big. Luke 2:11 promised that this is what Jesus would be

Luke 2:11 CSB

11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

What does the word “Lord” mean? Some might say the word “Boss” and that might be a close modern word, but it means so much more than that. See, a human boss might have some authority in your life, but that is a limited authority. That boss isn’t perfect. They make mistakes. They fail. They drop the ball. Whenever we think of Jesus being Lord, a closer picture might be that Jesus is King. That Greek word “kurios” means master, ruler. Peter is acknowledging that there is something different about Jesus and part of that difference is the reality that Peter is a sinner. This is the first time this phrase shows up in Luke, and it won’t be the last time.

Whenever Peter see’s Jesus for Who He is, he realizes who he is. Whenever you see Jesus as the spotless, sinless Savior that He is, you become painfully aware of your sinful spots. Some say that we shouldn’t mention sin when we talk with others, or even in church, because it is too strong a word. I love you too much to sugar coat the truth: When we look to God’s Word, we should walkaway with 2 key truths:

There is a God

I am not Him

We are not God. Like Peter, we should come under conviction of our sin whenever we stand in the presence of Jesus Christ. In fact, it is the people who say that they are sinners who throughout Luke’s Gospel respond in faith to Jesus’ message and are changed. Because Jesus is holy, because He is truly God and truly man, we must respond and that response is found in Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 CSB

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.

We must respond to the holiness and the work of Jesus. Today we know that Jesus is Savior - He died on the cross to save us from our sins. Lots of people are content with Jesus as Savior. A Jesus who saves me from a punishment? That sounds like good news, I’ll take Jesus as Savior. But what about Jesus as Lord? If He is my Savior but not my Lord, I’m saved from punishment and I’m grateful, but my life doesn’t look a whole lot different. In Peter’s perspective, I can keep on fishing. I can keep living how I used to live. But if Jesus is Lord, this means that He now has a claim on my life and He has the authority to tell me what to do and what not to do! Because Jesus is both Savior and Lord, He calls on us to repent from our sins. To turn away from our sinful ways.

Peter knows that He doesn’t belong in the same boat as Jesus… but aren’t you thankful that Jesus doesn’t obey and “go away” from Peter like he asks him to? Today, Jesus is just as pure and holy as He was 2000 years ago. We can’t look at His works and hear His message and think that we’re all that in a bag of potato chips! We have to see Jesus for Who He is first, like these fishermen, we must be amazed at Jesus, because only after this do we see ourselves for who we truly are. Like Peter, we are sinners. We have dropped the ball. We are broken people living in a broken world, but into this world of brokenness, Jesus came in order to save us and to change us.

Jesus’ Priority Is to Change our Desires (10b-11)

Many people see this miracle take place - there are witnesses left and right. In fact, these aren’t just any witnesses, again these are professional witnesses! Whenever I first heard of this miracle, I imagined a person on a canoe or something along those lines… but these fishing ships were much larger than that. We’re not talking about a little boat you’d put on the top of your jeep. Nearly 40 years ago, 2 fishermen made a remarkable discovery in the Sea of Galilee as they found a ship that was preserved in mud that was estimated to be from the days of Jesus! Based on findings like this, historians believe that the type of boat that Peter would’ve been in was around 27 feet long, 8 feet wide, and about 4.5 feet deep. This is a good size boat… and there were so many fish in the net that the boat began to sink. I was curious about this and wondered how many fish it would take to sink 2 of these boats, so I did what we do in 2025, I used ChatGPT because this is way out of my lane! Remember the day before they caught 0 fish… now they’ve caught approximately 3,000 fish and the boat is starting to sink. We saw how Peter responded to this - he was convicted of his sins and he knew who was in the boat with him.

Look at what Jesus says at the end of verse 10 - don’t be afraid. This man knew exactly where the fish were when the professionals didn’t and he caught them so many that the boat nearly sank and He did this without sonar technology. There are many reasons to be afraid here because none of this is normal. Remember what the angels typically say whenever they appear to someone? “Don’t Be Afraid!” Here Jesus says the same thing. Peter became aware of who he was around and genuine terror is a realistic response… yet, Jesus redirects this fear and gives them a new mission: From now on you will be catching people!

Now, this doesn’t make much sense on one hand! How do you “catch” people? Do you put a worm on a hook and throw it into the water and wait for a bite? What does this mean? This English word is a combination of 2 words in the Greek “Zoos” - alive and “agrein” - catch. Jesus is telling Peter, James and John that they have a new business model. A new strategy. A new command. A new purpose: They will catch people alive. Think about the fishing industry - you are catching fish for death. What you find eventually dies so that other people can eat and live. Jesus has something new for them - they won’t be catching things that will die, they are going to catch men alive. Like Jesus, they are going to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom and as they do this, men will be raised from death to life. In Luke’s second volume, Acts, this is exactly what happens as Peter preaches the Gospel in Acts 2 and we see this response

Acts 2:41 CSB

41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

Then this again in chapter 5

Acts 4:4 CSB

4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

The Lord used Peter to catch many men alive! This morning we were blessed to witness 2 baptisms. How’d this happen? Because God providentially used a mom and dad, family members, friends, Sunday school teachers, and many others to “catch people alive.” This year we’ve already seen 11 people baptized here at South Gate—praise the Lord as this is the most baptisms at South Gate since 2019! And, yet, there are over 100,000 more in our community who don’t know Christ. If God moved in an even greater way, I pray we’d be willing to get uncomfortable—lose “our seat,” park farther away—for the sake of souls.

So, here’s the million dollar question: What prevents us from seeing this massive move of the Lord? Yes, we’ve seen 11 baptisms. 11 hearts saved by King Jesus. Praise the Lord - but there are more than 111,000 people in our community who are lost right now. Yes, it is Jesus alone who saves souls as that’s above our pay grade and ability… but like Peter, this is our commission. This is our call. Whenever Jesus saves you, He also sends you. Whenever you become a child of the King, you have a mission from the King to go and share the message of His Kingdom with those around you! You and I aren’t saved to sit, sulk, and soak… we are saved to share, sing, and shout of this Gospel message that has changed our lives.

Whenever you are saved, Jesus changes your heart and whenever He does this, He changes your desires. Think of a way that Jesus has changed you today. Maybe there is something that you used to not like doing that now you do… maybe there was a person that you couldn’t stand, but now you have a relationship with that person. One of the greatest problems facing the capital C church today is that we talk about wanting to change the world, but we live, act, and speak like the world. That difference is our power because the difference is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst and in our lives! Whenever you encounter Jesus, He loves you so much that He not only saves but changes you… and He commissions you, look at verse 11

These men left everything and followed Jesus. They had the biggest catch of their lives, they would’ve been the talk of the Sea! Yet, they realized they were called to something higher than catching fish. They were called to follow Christ. Church, this is discipleship - it’s not just walking an aisle, checking a box, saying some words, singing some songs, giving some money, it’s a call to reorder our entire lives under the authority of Jesus. It’s a call to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow our Christ. For these men it meant leaving their old profession behind and following Jesus on the earth for 3 years. This meant leaving their jobs, families, friends behind to follow Jesus.

What is the thing that you’re tempted to hold on to and not give up for the sake of following Jesus? This weekend I heard that there was a recent graduate from Kickapoo who passed away after being hit in a motorcycle accident. This is tragic! Heartbreaking! Some of you might know this family/situation, and even if you don’t your heart goes out for that family, and many of us know of a similar story of tragedy. My mind went back this weekend to the summer before my senior year of high school as a classmate of mine was riding his bike home from work one evening, and he too was hit and killed by a driver. After I heard this story, my heart sank… because I had a probably had a dozen classes with Tim and I knew where he was at spiritually. Tim believed that he didn’t need God. That he had an answer for everything and didn’t believe in a God who was his Creator or Savior. In fact, one of the classes that we had our sophomore year was called Literature of the Bible - can you have a better class to take as a Christian and share the Gospel with someone who is a professing Atheist?! I’ll never forget what he told me toward the end of that semester, “Joel, I always appreciate talking with you about the Bible because you never shove your beliefs down my throat.” Those words haunt me a decade later, but I wore that as a badge of honor as a 17 year old… you know what I never did? I never invited Tim to come with me to church. I really backed down from talking with him seriously about the Bible because I was afraid. We played Upward basketball together in 5th-6th grade. We were in classes together for years. We even had a class at Ozark high school about the Bible! But I dropped the ball - because in that season of my life, I was trying to stay in the mushy middle. People knew I was a Christian, but I wasn’t one of those Christians. I was sold out for Jesus at church, but I was passive for Jesus at school because I wanted to be liked by a crowd that I knew didn’t like Jesus.

Today, what is your ultimate desire? Our world tells us to chase comfort, peace, money, and approval. Honestly, if I had to choose, I’d rather be liked than disliked, comfortable than stressed. But those are secondary desires. Our highest desire must be to be found faithful before our Father. And if faithfulness comes at the cost of those other things, let us join in the Apostle Paul who said that he would boast in his weakness because when he is weak, Jesus is strong!

Friend, Jesus’ point in this story is simply this: He wants to give you a new desire - a new purpose. Do you believe that Jesus knows best? He’s not holding out on us - He wants what is best for us and what is most for God’s glory is most for our good! He wants you to be about His business in all that you do. In your job, at home, at school, in church

1 Corinthians 10:31 CSB

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

Church, how would our lives look different if we genuinely lived this out? How would South Gate look differently next year if we lived this out? How about 2030? 2040? The harvest is plentiful - the need is pervasive - but are we prepared? Where do we start? 2 things for each of us this week from this text

Because Jesus is the Seeker and Savior of Sinners:

Depend on His Word

These people came to Jesus and they heard God’s Word. Whenever the Bible speaks, God speaks, and our responsibility is to build our lives upon His Word! Whatever it is that we’re doing, the Bible is our standard and our guide and our help. We need God’s Word because God’s Word tells us what God wants from us and what He has in store for us! Depend on His Word this week to help you in your interactions with people around you. Depend on His Word whenever you get frustrated and tempted to give into despair. Depend on His Word whenever you feel hopeless - remember what Jesus has done. Remember that the fish, the wind, and the waves still obey His voice!

Dedicate Our Lives to His Mission

Our lives are about something bigger than ourselves. Wherever God has placed you today - your relationships, your job, your school, whatever your boat is, use that to point people to the power, the holiness, and the greatness of Jesus! These disciples left everything to follow Jesus, they were completely dedicated. They ran their race with their eyes fixed on Jesus - this week, let’s be a people who live our lives in such a way that those around us look at our lives and say that that man, that woman, that boy, that girl is dedicated to Jesus.

If you’re here and your life is not currently dedicated to Jesus, if you don’t have this hope, this purpose, good news! Jesus is still seeking to save broken people like you and me. John Stott called Jesus the Hound of Heaven who pursues us. Today, friend, lay down the nets of whatever it is that you’re seeking, fish, popularity, money, acceptance, lay those things down and stop seeking their validation. Today, look to Jesus. He alone can change your life and save your soul. He can give you purpose and passion that your heart truly desires. Look to Jesus! Let’s pray.