Introduction:

Do you ever get frustrated? You do something that seems to have no results whatever. You begin to wonder, “Why bother?”

Luke 5:1-11

The First Disciples

1  Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

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

3  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 people from the boat.

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

5  Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

6  When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

7  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.

8  But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9  For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

10  and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

11  When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

I.       The Problems That Plague Us

A.   You take a stand in your world, and it has no effect

B.   You seek to win others to Christ and have no success

C.   You pray for an unsaved or wayward loved one, but there is no change

D.   You spend a lot of time and effort seeking to help someone who peters out or turns against you

E.   You do good to someone, and there is no return

F.    You minister faithfully, but it appears there are no results

G.  You strive to keep a testimony before an unsaved mate who only grows more difficult as time goes by

H.   You begin to wonder—Why bother?

II.    The Example That Enlightens Us

A.   Peter (and others) were doing what they knew to do

B.   They had fished all night without results

C.   Christ now tells them to fish where they know there are no fish

D.   Peter expresses it: Why bother?

E.   Peter’s next words explain it all—

“Nevertheless at thy word” (v. 5 kjv)

F.    Peter does the pointless because Christ told him to do it

III.  The Consequences That Challenge Us

A.   The disciples received a supernatural return

1.     It came after a long time of action

2.     It goes along with

Galatians 6:9

9  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

B.   Sometimes the repayment is postponed

1 Corinthians 4:5

5  Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

1.     When the motivations of hearts are revealed, each will receive praise from God

C.   Even if there is never a reward, there will be praise from Him because we have done what was right because it was right

Conclusion:

Why bother? Because He said so! There will either be a harvest—possibly after a long time—or there will be praise in eternity.

The disciples. This is not the first time Jesus had met the disciples. John 1:35–2:11 tells us that several first met Jesus when John the Baptist was preaching. They went with Him to a wedding in Cana, He spent time in their homes in Capernaum, and they also watched the first time Jesus drove money changers from the temple.

What a model for evangelism. It’s not necessary to press for a decision on a first meeting. It takes most of us time to get to know Christ. But there always is and must be a moment of decision, when Christ calls, and we make an informed decision to follow Him.

“Worked hard all night” (5:5). Fishing was a demanding trade. The men fished at night and sold or salted their catch and dried or mended nets during the day.

“Go away” (5:8). Peter’s reaction is not at all surprising. He had just seen Jesus more clearly, as seen in the shift of address from Master, a term that acknowledges superiority, to Lord, which here suggests the first glimmering recognition of who Jesus really is.

The trouble is, when we see Jesus more clearly we also see ourselves more clearly. His beauty exposes our flaws; His perfection reveals our sinfulness. Man’s first reaction to such a revelation is often, “go away.” But only by coming to Jesus can we find forgiveness for our sins and inner personal renewal.

“Don’t be afraid” (5:10). Some are afraid to trust Jesus because they’re afraid He will change their lifestyles. He will. But for the better.

E. Power Through Training Others: Disciples Called (5:1–11)

Several important lessons emerge from this simple account of the call of Peter.

1.  The Lord used Peter’s boat as a pulpit from which to teach the multitude. If we yield all our property and possessions to the Savior, it is wonderful how He uses them, and rewards us too.

2.  He told Peter exactly where to find plenty of fish—after Peter and the others had toiled all night without success. The omniscient Lord knows where the fish are running. Service carried on by our own wisdom and strength is futile. The secret of success in Christian work is to be guided by Him.

3.  Though an experienced fisherman himself, Peter accepted advice from a Carpenter, and as a result, the nets were filled. “ ... at Your word I will let down the net.” This shows the value of humility, of teachability, and of implicit obedience.   4. It was in deep waters that the nets were filled to the breaking point. So we must quit hugging the shore and launch out on full surrender’s tide. Faith has its deep waters, and so do suffering, sorrow, and loss. It is these that fill the nets with fruitfulness.

5.  Their net began to break and the ships began to sink (vv. 6, 7). Christ-directed service produces problems—but what delightful problems they are. They are the kind of problems that thrill the heart of a true fisherman.

6.  This vision of the glory of the Lord Jesus produced in Peter an overpowering sense of his own unworthiness. It was so with Isaiah (6:5); it is so with all who see the King in His beauty.

7.  It was while Peter was engaged in his ordinary employment that Christ called him to be a fisher of men. While you are waiting for guidance, do whatever your hand finds to do. Do it with all your might. Do it heartily as to the Lord. Just as a rudder guides a ship only when it is in motion, so God guides men when they too are in motion.

8.  Christ called Peter from catching fish to catching men, or more literally, “taking men alive.” What are all the fish in the ocean compared to the incomparable privilege of seeing one soul won for Christ and for eternity!

9.  Peter, James, and John pulled their boats up on the beach and forsook all and followed Jesus on one of the best business days of their lives. And how much hung on their decision! We would probably never have heard of them if they had chosen to stay by their ships.

5:1-3. The large throng crowding around Jesus prevented His teaching effectively as He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, another name for the Sea of Galilee, by a village on the northwest shore. So He went out a short distance in the water in Simon’s boat so that they could all listen to the Word of God.

5:4-7. On Jesus’ request, Simon put out his nets and caught . . . a large amount of fish. Though Simon, an experienced fisherman, was sure he would not catch anything at that time of the day when the fish were deeper in the lake, he obeyed Jesus’ word. This showed a significant amount of faith. The resulting catch began to break the nets, so they filled Simon’s and another boat with the fish till both boats . . . began to sink.

5:8-11. The miracle of the fish brought two responses in Peter and the others. They were astonished (lit., “amazement [thambos] seized him and all those with him,” v. 9; cf. 4:36) at the large catch of fish, and Peter realized his sinfulness before Jesus (5:8). The result was that Jesus made the fishermen fishers of men. Jesus’ teaching, combined with His miraculous acts, showed that He had the authority to call the men and have them respond by leaving everything.

Lu 5:1–11. Miraculous Draught of Fishes—Call of Peter, James, and John.

Not their first call, however, recorded in Jn 1:35–42; nor their second, recorded in Mt 4:18–22; but their third and last before their appointment to the apostleship. That these calls were all distinct and progressive, seems quite plain. (Similar stages are observable in other eminent servants of Christ.)‍‍

3. taught … out of the ship—(See on Mt 13:2).‍

4. for a draught—munificent recompense for the use of his boat.‍

5. Master—betokening not surely a first acquaintance, but a relationship already formed.

all night—the usual time of fishing then (Jn 21:3), and even now Peter, as a fisherman, knew how hopeless it was to “let down his net” again, save as a mere act of faith, “at His word” of command, which carried in it, as. it ever does, assurance of success. (This shows he must have been already and for some time a follower of Christ.)‍

6. net brake—rather “was breaking,” or “beginning to break,” as in Lu 5:7, “beginning to sink.”‍‍

8. Depart, &c.—Did Peter then wish Christ to leave him? Verily no. His all was wrapt up in Him (Jn 6:68). “It was rather, Woe is me, Lord! How shall I abide this blaze of glory? A sinner such as I am is not fit company for Thee.” (Compare Is 6:5.)‍‍

10. Simon, fear not—This shows how the Lord read Peter’s speech. The more highly they deemed Him, ever the more grateful it was to the Redeemer’s spirit. Never did they pain Him by manifesting too lofty conceptions of Him.

from henceforth—marking a new stage of their connection with Christ. The last was simply, “I will make you fishers.”

fishers of men—“What wilt thou think, Simon, overwhelmed by this draught of fishes, when I shall bring to thy net what will beggar all this glory?” (See on Mt 4:18.)‍

11. forsook all—They did this before (Mt 4:20); now they do it again; and yet after the Crucifixion they are at their boats once more (Jn 21:3). In such a business this is easily conceivable. After pentecost, however, they appear to have finally abandoned their secular calling.

From Failure to Success (Luke 5:1–11)

This event is not parallel to the one described in Matthew 4:18–22 and Mark 1:16–20. In those accounts, Peter and Andrew were busy fishing, but in this account they had fished all night and caught nothing and were washing their nets. (If nets are not washed and stretched out to dry, they rot and break.) Jesus had enlisted Peter, Andrew, James, and John earlier, and they had traveled with Him in Capernaum and Galilee (Mark 1:21–39), but then they went back to their trade. Now He would call them to a life of full-time discipleship.

It is possible that at least seven of the disciples were fishermen (John 21:1–3). Consider the fact that fishermen generally have the qualities that make for success in serving the Lord. It takes courage and daring, patience and determination to work on the seas; and it also takes a great deal of faith. Fishermen must be willing to work together (they used nets, not hooks) and help one another. They must develop the skills necessary to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

If I had fished all night and caught nothing, I would probably be selling my nets, not washing them to get ready to go out again! But true fishermen don’t quit. Peter kept on working while Jesus used his ship as a platform from which to address the huge crowd on the shore. “Every pulpit is a fishing boat,” said Dr. J. Vernon McGee, “a place to give out the Word of God and attempt to catch fish.”

But there was another side to this request: Peter was a “captive audience” as he sat in the ship listening to the Word of God. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17, nkjv). In a short time, Peter would have to exercise faith, and Jesus was preparing him. First He said, “Thrust out a little”; and then, when Peter was ready, He commanded, “Launch out into the deep.” If Peter had not obeyed the first seemingly insignificant command, he would never have participated in a miracle.

Peter must have been surprised when Jesus took command of the ship and its crew. After all, Jesus was a carpenter by trade (Mark 6:3), and what do carpenters know about fishing? It was a well-known fact that, in the Sea of Galilee, you caught fish at night in the shallow water, not in the daytime in the deep water. What Jesus asked Peter to do was contrary to all of his training and experience, but Peter obeyed. The key was his faith in the Word of God: “Nevertheless, at Thy word” (Luke 5:5).

The word translated “Master” (Luke 5:5) is used only by Luke and it has a variety of meanings, all of which speak of authority: chief commander, magistrate, governor of a city, and president of a college. Peter was willing to submit to the authority of Jesus, even though he did not understand all that the Lord was doing. And remember, a great crowd was watching from the shore.

How people respond to success is one indication of their true character. Instead of claiming the valuable catch for themselves, Peter and Andrew called their partners to share it. We are not reservoirs, but channels of blessing, to share with others what God has graciously given to us.

The famous sheet of water in Galilee is called by three names—the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias and the Lake of Gennesaret. It is thirteen miles long by eight miles wide. It lies in a dip in the earth’s surface and is 680 feet below sea level. That fact gives it an almost tropical climate. Nowadays it is not very populous but in the days of Jesus it had nine townships clustered round its shores, none of fewer than 15,000 people.

Gennesaret is really the name of the lovely plain on the west side of the lake, a most fertile piece of land. The Jews loved to play with derivations, and they had three derivations for Gennesaret all of which show how beautiful it was.

(i) From kinnor, which means a harp, either because “its fruit is as sweet as the sound of a harp” or because “the voice of its waves is pleasant as the voice of the harp.”

(ii) From gan, a garden, and sar, a prince—hence “the prince of gardens.”

(iii) From gan, a garden, and asher, riches—hence “the garden of riches.”

We are here confronted with a turning point in the career of Jesus. Last time we heard him preach he was in the synagogue; now he is at the lakeside. True, he will be back in the synagogue again; but the time is coming when the door of the synagogue will be shut to him and his church will be the lakeside and the open road, and his pulpit a boat. He would go anywhere where men would listen to him. “Our societies,” said John Wesley, “were formed from those who were wandering upon the dark mountains, that belonged to no Christian church; but were awakened by the preaching of the Methodists, who had pursued them through the wilderness of this world to the High-ways and the Hedges—to the Markets and the Fairs—to the Hills and the Dales—who set up the Standard of the Cross in the Streets and Lanes of the Cities, in the Villages, in the Barns, and Farmers’ Kitchens, etc.—and all this done in such a way, and to such an extent, as never had been done before since the Apostolic age.” “I love a commodious room,” said Wesley, “a soft cushion and a handsome pulpit, but field preaching saves souls.” When the synagogue was shut Jesus took to the open road. There is in this story what we might call a list of the conditions of a miracle.

(i) There is the eye that sees. There is no need to think that Jesus created a shoal of fishes for the occasion. In the Sea of Galilee there were phenomenal shoals which covered the sea as if it was solid for as much as an acre. Most likely Jesus’ keen eye saw just such a shoal and his keen sight made it look like a miracle. We need the eye that really sees. Many people saw steam raise the lid of a kettle; only James Watt went on to think of a steam engine. Many people saw an apple fall; only Isaac Newton went on to think out the law of gravity. The earth is full of miracles for the eye that sees.

(ii) There is the spirit that will make an effort. If Jesus said it, tired as he was Peter was prepared to try again. For most people the disaster of life is that they give up just one effort too soon.

(iii) There is the spirit which will attempt what seems hopeless. The night was past and that was the time for fishing. All the circumstances were unfavourable, but Peter said, “Let circumstances be what they may, if you say so, we will try again.” Too often we wait because the time is not opportune. If we wait for a perfect set of circumstances, we will never begin at all. If we want a miracle, we must take Jesus at his word when he bids us attempt the impossible.

5:1 “the crowd was pressing around Him” Jesus’ preaching/teaching/healing ministry caused large crowds to follow Him; most of them tried to touch Him.

 “listening to the word of God” This is a Lukan phrase (cf. 5:1; 8:11, 21; 11:28; and Acts 4:31; 6:2, 7; 8:14; 11:1; 12:24; 13:5, 7, 44, 46, 48; 16:32; 17:13). It is only used once in each of the other Gospels. It reflects a Septuagint idiom.

Sometimes we modern believers think the “word of God” is only the Bible, but in reality, the phrase has a much wider meaning. It refers to all that God has communicated to us. Some of it is recorded in the Bible. Psalm 19:7–11 and 119 are OT examples of how the Jews understood this phrase. The NT understanding can be seen in Luke 1:2; 8:11–15, 21; 11:28; 24:44. Thank God for the words we do have! We must act on them and not worry about what we do not have. We have all we need for salvation and the Christian life. We must resist our curiosity.

 “by the lake of Gennesaret” This body of water goes by several other names: (1) “Chinneroth”; (2) the Sea of Galilee; (3) the Sea of Tiberias; and (4) sometimes just “the sea” (cf. Matt. 13:1; Mark 4:1, from the Septuagint of Num. 34:11; Josh. 12:3). It is a body of water about twelve miles by eight miles and is 680 feet below sea level, surrounded by low rolling hills. The etymology of the term Gennesaret is uncertain. Because it is the name of a land area west of the lake that was very fertile, some suppose it means “princely garden.”

5:2 “He saw two boats” This Greek term can be used of any size boat. The fact that this boat was manned by several men in vv. 2, 4, and 5 implies that at least one was a large fishing boat.

 “were washing their nets” Fishing was done on the Sea of Galilee at night. Apparently these men had been fishing all night and simply were washing and repairing their nets (cf. Mark 1:19) for the next night.

5:3 “He got into one of the boats” The press of the crowd was so great that Jesus got into the boat as a means of protecting Himself (cf. Mark 3:9; 4:1) and possibly as a way of amplifying His voice to the large crowd.

 “He sat down and began teaching” This is the normal position for rabbis when teaching (cf. 4:20; Matt. 26:55), but in this context it was safer to sit than stand in a boat.

5:4 “Put out into the deep water” These are both AORIST ACTIVE IMPERATIVES. It was the wrong time of day, the wrong place, and the wrong depth to catch fish, yet Peter obeyed (after arguing briefly, cf. v. 5)!

5:5 “Master” The Greek term epistatēs literally means “one placed over.” The term was used of one in charge. This term is also used by Luke, who never uses the term rabbi because he is writing to Gentiles (cf. 5:5; 8:24, 45; 9:33, 49; 17:13).

 “we worked hard all night and caught nothing” Why did Luke record this incident out of all the things Jesus said and did? One reason is that this chapter has a series of incidents that show Jesus’ power over (1) nature; (2) disease; (3) sin. This would have confirmed His teachings. He not only spoke with authority, He acted with authority.

Still (noting this is still Luke, not John) one wonders whether this is not a slap at human effort, energy, merit, and knowledge. These professional fishermen tried their best with no results, but Jesus’ word was overwhelmingly productive.

5:6 “they enclosed a great quantity of fish” Jesus, being Lord of all creation, understood well the habits of fish and could control them (cf. Matt. 17:27). This is not an example of a great fisherman, but Jesus, God’s agent of creation and Spirit-filled Messiah!

5:8 “when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet” The phrase is literally “fell at the knees of Jesus.” He fell down in the middle of the fish! Peter, who knew fishing, recognized the miraculous nature of this event and the power of the person!

 “Lord” When we interpret the Gospels we must remember they were written well after the events. Those who wrote knew the full story. It is difficult to know how much of their full gospel knowledge is read back into their accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. The term “Lord” is a good example. It is obvious that this term takes on divine attributes after the resurrection (cf. Acts 2:36; Rom. 10:9–13; Phil. 2:9–11), but also culturally it could simply be a polite address comparable to our “mister ” or “sir ” (cf. Matt. 18:26; Luke 7:6; 9:57; John 4:11). It is possible that Luke intentionally plays on this ambiguity (cf. Vincent Taylor, The Names of Jesus, p. 42, examples Luke 7:13, 19; 10:1, 39, 41). This account here is a good illustration. What did Peter mean by kneeling before Jesus and calling Him Lord? It is obvious adoration, but was it worship to Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, the Messiah (cf. Luke 9:20)?

 “I am a sinful man” The closer we get to God, the more we recognize our own sinfulness (cf. Job 42:5–6; Isa. 6:5). There is also the reassurance that God lives and works with sinful, fallen, marred people (e.g. Moses, David, Apostles). Fallen mankind’s only hope is the gracious character of God and the self-giving work of Christ.

5:9 “For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish” The miracle astonished the crowd also.

5:10 “James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon” These would become the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples. All of them were middle-class businessmen from Galilee.

 “ ‘Do not fear’ ” This is a PRESENT MIDDLE (deponent) IMPERATIVE with the NEGATIVE PARTICLE, which usually means stop an act already in process. This is a characteristic Lukan phrase (cf. 1:13, 30; 5:10; 8:50; 12:32; Acts 18:9; 27:24).

 “you will be catching men” This Greek phrase implies “catching them alive.” This may be an allusion to Jer. 16:16 about YHWH sending fishermen and hunters into the world to find and restore His people. It is possible that the early church’s symbol of a fish for Christianity is related to (1) the acrostic, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior” or (2) catching fish, used as an evangelistic metaphor.

5:11 “they left everything” After a tremendous catch of fish like this, which was worth so much, they left them. The question has been raised, did they leave them to rot? Obviously not. There were other workers of Zebedee, or possibly they were used to feed the crowd.

Here again, one wonders how much this phrase is meant to characterize true faith (cf. v. 28; 14:33).

 “followed Him” This is probably not the first time they had heard, seen, and talked with Jesus. We learn from John’s Gospel that Andrew had introduced them earlier (cf. John 1:29–42). I am sure they had heard Him preach and teach. Possibly they had seen Him perform miracles. It is significant to realize they left everything and immediately followed Him! This was a rabbinical way of acknowledging their officially becoming disciples of Jesus (cf. 5:27–28; 9:23, 49, 57, 59, 61; 18:22, 28).

5:1–2.  Nets would collect things other than edible fish, thus requiring cleaning. Edible fish in the inland “Sea” of Galilee (the Lake of Gennesaret) today include varieties of carp; Josephus says that the lake of Galilee held several kinds of fish.

5:3.  The shore of the lake functioned acoustically like an amphitheater; withdrawing a little from the crowd and addressing them from the boat thus would have made Jesus much easier to hear.

5:4–5.  Peter’s obedience is exemplary; a fisherman might trust a rabbi’s teaching on religious matters but need not do so in his own field of expertise, fishing. The fishermen had labored with a dragnet at night, which should have caught them many more fish than Jesus’ instructions in 5:5. Sources suggest that fish were more easily caught at night than in the day in the lake of Galilee; they would be sold in the morning.

5:6.  Jesus’ multiplication of food and of creatures has Old Testament precedent (e.g., food—Ex 16:13; 2 Kings 4:1–7, 42–44; creatures—Ex 8:6, 17, 24; 10:13).

5:7.  Because the overhead cost of equipment was high, fishermen often worked together in cooperatives; families would sometimes work together to increase their profits. Other fishing cooperatives are known from ancient Palestine, so it is not unusual for Simon and Andrew to be in business with the family of Zebedee (5:10). Men working from more than one boat could let down larger nets than those working from only one; fish could then be emptied onto the boat or the nets hauled ashore.

5:8–9.  Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah were all overwhelmed by their initial calls; but Peter’s excuse is especially like Isaiah’s (Is 6:5) and fits Luke’s emphasis (Lk 5:20, 30–32).

5:10.  “Fishers of people” could allude to two Old Testament texts (Jer 16:16; Hab 1:15), transforming an image of impending judgment into one of rescue from that judgment; but Jesus is probably just transforming their vocation as fishermen, as God made Moses and David “shepherds” of his people.

5:11.  Fishermen made a better-than-average income (even if they had had a bad night—5:5), so leaving their job is an act of radical commitment that they would expect to adversely affect them economically.

Verses 1-11

This passage of story fell, in order of time, before the two miracles we had in the close of the foregoing chapter, and is the same with that which was more briefly related by Matthew and Mark, of Christ’s calling Peter and Andrew to be fishers of men, Mt. 4:18, and Mk. 1:16. They had not related this miraculous draught of fishes at that time, having only in view the calling of his disciples; but Luke gives us that story as one of the many signs which Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, which had not been written in the foregoing books, Jn. 20:30, 31. Observe here,

I. What vast crowds attended Christ’s preaching: The people pressed upon him to hear the word of God (v. 1), insomuch that no house would contain them, but he was forced to draw them out to the strand, that they might be reminded of the promise made to Abraham, that his seed should be as the sand upon the sea shore (Gen. 22:17), and yet of them but a remnant shall be saved, Rom. 9:27. The people flocked about him (so the word signifies); they showed respect to his preaching, though not without some rudeness to his person, which was very excusable, for they pressed upon him. Some would reckon this a discredit to him, to be thus cried up by the vulgar, when none of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him; but he reckoned it an honour to him, for their souls were as precious as the souls of the grandees, and it is his aim to bring not so much the mighty as the many sons to God. It was foretold concerning him that to him shall the gathering of the people be. Christ was a popular preacher; and though he was able, at twelve, to dispute with the doctors, yet he chose, at thirty, to preach to the capacity of the vulgar. See how the people relished good preaching, though under all external disadvantages: they pressed to hear the word of God; they could perceive it to be the word of God, by the divine power and evidence that went along with it, and therefore they coveted to hear it.

II. What poor conveniences Christ had for preaching: He stood by the lake of Gennesareth (v. 1), upon a level with the crowd, so that they could neither see him nor hear him; he was lost among them, and, every one striving to get near him, he was crowded, and in danger of being crowded into the water: what must he do? It does not appear that his hearers had any contrivance to give him advantage, but there were two ships, or fishing boats, brought ashore, one belonging to Simon and Andrew, the other to Zebedee and his sons, v. 2. At first, Christ saw Peter and Andrew fishing at some distance (so Matthew tells us, ch. 4:18); but he waited till they came to land, and till the fishermen, that is, the servants, were gone out of them having washed their nets, and thrown them by for that time: so Christ entered into that ship that belonged to Simon, and begged of him that he would lend it him for a pulpit; and, though he might have commanded him, yet, for love’s sake, he rather prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land, which would be the worse for his being heard, but Christ would have it so, that he might the better be seen; and it is his being lifted up that draws men to him. Wisdom cries in the top of high places, Prov. 8:2. It intimates that Christ had a strong voice (strong indeed, for he made the dead to hear it), and that he did not desire to favour himself. There he sat down, and taught the people the good knowledge of the Lord.

III. What a particular acquaintance Christ, hereupon, fell into with these fishermen. They had had some conversation with him before, which began at John’s baptism (Jn. 1:40, 41); they were with him at Cana of Galilee (Jn. 2:2), and in Judea (Jn. 4:3); but as yet they were not called to attend him constantly, and therefore here we have them at their calling, and now it was that they were called into a more intimate fellowship with Christ.

1. When Christ had done preaching, he ordered Peter to apply himself to the business of his calling again: Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets, v. 4. It was not the sabbath day, and therefore, as soon as the lecture was over, he set them to work. Time spent on week-days in the public exercises of religion may be but little hindrance to us in time, and a great furtherance to us in temper of mind, in our worldly business. With what cheerfulness may we go about the duties of our calling when we have been in the mount with God, and from thence fetch a double blessing into our worldly employments, and thus have them sanctified to us by the word and prayer! It is our wisdom and duty so to manage our religious exercises as that they may befriend our worldly business, and so to manage our worldly business as that it may be no enemy to our religious exercises.

2. Peter having attended upon Christ in his preaching, Christ will accompany him in his fishing. He staid with Christ at the shore, and now Christ will launch out with him into the deep. Note, Those that will be constant followers of Christ shall have him a constant guide to them.

3. Christ ordered Peter and his ship’s crew to cast their nets into the sea, which they did, in obedience to him, though they had been hard at it all night, and had caught nothing, v. 4, 5. We may observe here,

(1.) How melancholy their business had now been: "Master, we have toiled all the night, when we should have been asleep in our beds, and have taken nothing, but have had our labour for our pains.’’ One would have thought that this should have excused them from hearing the sermon; but such a love had they to the word of God that it was more refreshing and reviving to them, after a wearisome night, than the softest slumbers. But they mention it to Christ, when he bids them go a fishing again. Note, [1.] Some callings are much more toilsome than others are, and more perilous; yet Providence has so ordered it for the common good that there is no useful calling so discouraging but some or other have a genius for it. Those who follow their business, and get abundance by it with a great deal of ease, should think with compassion of those who cannot follow theirs but with a great fatigue, and hardly get a bare livelihood by it. When we have rested all night, let us not forget those who have toiled all night, as Jacob, when he kept Laban’s sheep. [2.] Be the calling ever so laborious, it is good to see people diligent in it, and make the best of it; these fishermen, that were thus industrious, Christ singled out for his favourites. They were fit to be preferred as good soldiers of Jesus Christ who had thus learned to endure hardness. [3.] Even those who are most diligent in their business often meet with disappointments; they who toiled all night yet caught nothing; for the race is not always to the swift. God will have us to be diligent, purely in duty to his command and dependence upon his goodness, rather than with an assurance of worldly success. We must do our duty, and then leave the event to God. [4.] When we are tired with our worldly business, and crossed in our worldly affairs, we are welcome to come to Christ, and spread our case before him, who will take cognizance of it.

(2.) How ready their obedience was to the command of Christ: Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net. [1.] Though they had toiled all night, yet, if Christ bid them, they will renew their toil, for they know that they who wait on him shall renew their strength, as work is renewed upon their hands; for every fresh service they shall have a fresh supply of grace sufficient. [2.] Though they have taken nothing, yet, if Christ bid them let down for a draught, they will hope to take something. Note, We must not abruptly quit the callings wherein we are called because we have not the success in them we promised ourselves. The ministers of the gospel must continue to let down that net, though they have perhaps toiled long and caught nothing; and this is thank-worthy, to continue unwearied in our labours, though we see not the success of them. [3.] In this they have an eye to the word of Christ, and a dependence upon that: "At thy word, I will let down the net, because thou dost enjoin it, and thou dost encourage it.’’ We are then likely to speed well when we follow the guidance of Christ’s word.

4. The draught of fish they caught was so much beyond what was ever known that it amounted to a miracle (v. 6): They enclosed a great multitude of fishes, so that their net broke, and yet, which is strange, they did not lose their draught. It was so great a draught that they had not hands sufficient to draw it up; but they were obliged to beckon to their partners, who were at a distance, out of call, to come and help them, v. 7. But the greatest evidence of the vastness of the draught was that they filled both the ships with fish, to such a degree that they overloaded them, and they began to sink, so that the fish had like to have been lost again with their own weight. Thus many an overgrown estate, raised out of the water, returns to the place whence it came. Suppose these ships were but five or six tons a piece, what a vast quantity of fish must there be to load, nay to over-load, them both!

Now by this vast draught of fishes, (1.) Christ intended to show his dominion in the seas as well as on the dry land, over its wealth as over its waves. Thus he would show that he was that Son of man under whose feet all things were put, and particularly the fish of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea, Ps. 8:8. (2.) He intended hereby to confirm the doctrine he had just now preached out of Peter’s ship. We may suppose that the people on shore, who heard the sermon, having a notion that the preacher was a prophet sent of God, carefully attended his motions afterward, and staid halting about there, to see what he would do next; and this miracle immediately following would be a confirmation to their faith, of his being at least a teacher come from God. (3.) He intended hereby to repay Peter for the loan of his boat; for Christ’s gospel now, as his ark formerly in the house of Obed-edom, will be sure to make amends, rich amends, for its kind entertainment. None shall shut a door or kindle a fire in God’s house for nought, Mal. 1:10. Christ’s recompences for services done to his name are abundant, they are superabundant. (4.) He intended hereby to give a specimen, to those who were to be his ambassadors to the world, of the success of their embassy, that though they might for a time, and in one particular place, toil and catch nothing, yet they should be instrumental to bring in many to Christ, and enclose many in the gospel net.

5. The impression which this miraculous draught of fishes made upon Peter was very remarkable.

(1.) All concerned were astonished, and the more astonished for their being concerned. All the boat’s crew were astonished at the draught of fishes which they had taken (v. 9); they were all surprised; and the more they considered it, and all the circumstances of it, the more they were wonder-struck, I had almost said thunder-struck, at the thought of it, and so were also James and John, who were partners with Simon (v. 10), and who, for aught that appears, were not so well acquainted with Christ, before this, as Peter and Andrew were. Now they were the more affected with it, [1.] Because they understood it better than others did. They that were well acquainted with this sea, and it is probable had plied upon it many years, had never seen such a draught of fishes fetched out of it, nor any thing like it, any thing near it; and therefore they could not be tempted to diminish it, as others might, by suggesting that it was accidental at this time, and what might as well have happened at any time. It greatly corroborates the evidence of Christ’s miracles that those who were best acquainted with them most admired them. [2.] Because they were most interested in it, and benefited by it. Peter and his part-owners were gainers by this great draught of fishes; it was a rich booty for them and therefore it transported them, and their joy was a helper to their faith. Note, When Christ’s works of wonder are to us, in particular, works of grace, then especially they command our faith in his doctrine.

(2.) Peter, above all the rest, was astonished to such a degree that he fell down at Jesus’s knees, as he sat in the stern of his boat, and said, as one in an ecstasy or transport, that knew not where he was or what he said, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, v. 8. Not that he feared the weight of the fish would sink him because he was a sinful man, but that he thought himself unworthy of the favour of Christ’s presence in his boat, and worthy that it should be to him a matter rather of terror than of comfort. This word of Peter’s came from the same principle with theirs who, under the Old-Testament, so often said that they did exceedingly fear and quake at the extraordinary display of the divine glory and majesty. It was the language of Peter’s humility and self-denial, and had not the least tincture of the devils’ dialect, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? [1.] His acknowledgment was very just, and what it becomes us all to make: I am a sinful man, O Lord. Note, Even the best men are sinful men, and should be ready upon all occasions to own it, and especially to own it to Jesus Christ; for to whom else, but to him who came into the world to save sinners, should sinful men apply themselves? [2.] His inference from it was what might have been just, though really it was not so. If I be a sinful man, as indeed I am, I ought to say, "Come to me, O Lord, or let me come to thee, or I am undone, for ever undone.’’ But, considering what reason sinful men have to tremble before the holy Lord God and to dread his wrath, Peter may well be excused, if, in a sense of his own sinfulness and vileness, he cried out on a sudden, Depart from me. Note, Those whom Christ designs to admit to the most intimate acquaintance with him he first makes sensible that they deserve to be set at the greatest distance from him. We must all own ourselves sinful men, and that therefore Jesus Christ might justly depart from us; but we must therefore fall down at his knees, to pray him that he would not depart; for woe unto us if he leave us, if the Saviour depart from the sinful man.

6. The occasion which Christ took from this to intimate to Peter (v. 10), and soon after to James and John (Mt. 4:21), his purpose to make them his apostles, and instruments of planting his religion in the world. He said unto Simon, who was in the greatest surprise of any of them at this prodigious draught of fishes, "Thou shalt both see and do greater things than these; fear not; let not this astonish thee; be not afraid that, after having done thee this honour, it is so great that I shall never do thee more; no, henceforth thou shalt catch men, by enclosing them in the gospel net, and that shall be a greater instance of the Redeemer’s power, and his favour to thee, than this is; that shall be a more astonishing miracle, and infinitely more advantageous than this.’’ When by Peter’s preaching three thousand souls were, in one day, added to the church, then the type of this great draught of fishes was abundantly answered.

Lastly, The fishermen’s farewell to their calling, in order to their constant attendance on Christ (v. 11): When they had brought their ships to land, instead of going to seek for a market for their fish, that they might make the best hand they could of this miracle, they forsook all and followed him, being more solicitous to serve the interests of Christ than to advance any secular interests of their own. It is observable that they left all to follow Christ, when their calling prospered in their hands more than ever it had done and they had had uncommon success in it. When riches increase, and we are therefore most in temptation to set our hearts upon them, then to quit them for the service of Christ, this is thank-worthy.

Verses 1–11

When Christ had done preaching, he told Peter to apply to the business of his calling. Time spent on week days in public exercises of religion, need be but little hinderance in time, and may be great furtherance to us in temper of mind, as to our worldly business. With what cheerfulness may we go about the duties of our calling, when we have been with God, and thus have our worldly employments sanctified to us by the word and prayer! Though they had taken nothing, yet Christ told them to let down their nets again. We must not abruptly quit our callings because we have not the success in them we desire. We are likely to speed well, when we follow the guidance of Christ’s word. The draught of fishes was by a miracle. We must all, like Peter, own ourselves to be sinful men, therefore Jesus Christ might justly depart from us. But we must beseech him that he would not depart; for woe unto us if the Saviour depart from sinners! Rather let us entreat him to come and dwell in our hearts by faith, that he may transform and cleanse them. These fishermen forsook all, and followed Jesus, when their calling prospered. When riches increase, and we are tempted to set our hearts upon them, then to quit them for Christ is thankworthy.

5:1 The Lake of Gennesaret is also known as the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias.

5:4 let down your nets: This was a “parabolic action.” Jesus commanded Simon to place his nets in the water in order to depict a spiritual reality. Jesus, in v. 10, explained the spiritual truth: Simon’s new occupation would be fishing for people who would do the will of Jesus.

5:5 at Your word I will let down the net: This is Peter’s statement of faith. The fisherman noted that he and his companions had just failed to make a catch at the best time for fishing, the evening. The circumstances were not good for a catch at the time of Jesus’ command, but Peter chose to obey His word and let down his nets anyway.

5:8 Peter’s confession indicates that he recognized God’s work through Jesus. Peter, as a sinful man, was not worthy to be in Jesus’ presence, because Jesus was holy.

5:10 Do not be afraid: Jesus does not drive away the sinner who recognizes his or her wretched condition. He accepts the confessing sinner and offers that person the opportunity of reconciliation with God. Then He sends the forgiven sinner out to do the work of God. catch men: Peter’s commission was to rescue men from the danger of sin.

5:11 forsook all and followed Him: Following Jesus became the main priority in the disciples’ lives. Such priority is the essence of discipleship.

5:1 The Lake of Gennesaret is also known as the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias.

5:2, 3 washing their nets: They were cleaning their nets from the evening’s labor (v. 5).

5:4 let down your nets: This was a “parabolic action.” Jesus commanded Simon to place his nets in the water in order to depict a spiritual reality. Jesus, in v. 10, explained the spiritual truth: Simon’s new occupation would be fishing for people who would do the will of Jesus.

5:5, 6 at Your word I will let down the net: This is Peter’s statement of faith. The fisherman noted that he and his companions had just failed to make a catch at the best time for fishing, the evening. The circumstances were not good for a catch at the time of Jesus’ command, but Peter chose to obey His word and let down his nets anyway.

5:7 they began to sink: The success was overwhelming—two boats so full they were sinking.

5:8, 9 Peter’s confession indicates that he recognized God’s work through Jesus. Peter, as a sinful man, was not worthy to be in Jesus’ presence, because Jesus was holy.

5:10 Do not be afraid: Jesus does not drive away the sinner who recognizes his or her wretched condition. He accepts the confessing sinner and offers that person the opportunity of reconciliation with God. Then He sends the forgiven sinner out to do the work of God. catch men: Peter’s commission was to rescue men from the danger of sin.

5:11 forsook all and followed Him: Following Jesus became the main priority in the disciples’ lives. Such priority is the essence of discipleship.

Context

Having given a brief summary and overview of Jesus’ mission in 4:16–44, Luke began to describe the appropriate response to Jesus’ preaching in 5:1–11. ‍‍ Since he had already mentioned Simon in 4:38–39, and since Simon would become the apostles’ leader, Luke told the story of the calling of the first disciples. Luke also used 5:1–11 as an introductory paradigm for what is to follow in 5:12–6:16. After 5:1–11 Luke followed the Markan order. ‍‍ The only difference between Luke and Mark involves the reversal of the last two accounts. Luke did this in order to have 6:17–19 serve as a summary conclusion for what precedes and as an introduction for what follows. Literarily, these passages are tied together by the term egeneto in 5:1, 12, 17; 6:1, 6, 12.

Some commentators have expressed surprise at Peter’s response. Readers tend to expect a sense of awe and appreciation for the catch of fish rather than a confession of sinfulness. Yet if we understand this account not so much as a miracle or pronouncement story but rather as a theophany involving a call to service, the response is very appropriate. In a theophany a confession of one’s sinfulness and the title “Lord” (5:8) are most fitting. ‍‍ Such a theophany often occurs before a divine call to ser vice, and here it foreshadows 6:12–16 and Peter’s future role in the church. There is no need to see in this account a postresurrection appearance of Jesus read back into Jesus’ life.

Comments

5:1 By the Lake of Gennesaret. The term “Gennesaret” refers to a fertile, heavily populated area at the northwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum lies at the lake’s northern tip. The district’s name was at times extended to the lake so that it could be called the Lake of Gennesaret. In light of the setting, this description serves primarily a geographical purpose rather than a theological one.

Word of God. This is the first appearance of the expression in the Gospel. It should be interpreted as a subjective genitive, i.e., as the word that comes from God. We also find this expression in 8:11, 21 (where it is not found in the Markan parallels) and in 11:28, which is unique to Luke. ‍‍ In contrast it appears only once in Mark (7:13) and John (10:35) and possibly once in Matthew (15:6). The “word of God” refers to the gospel message as Acts 8:12, 14 reveals.

5:2 Two boats. This prepares us for the miracle in 5:6–7.

By the fishermen. Luke did not mention Andrew (cf. Mark 1:16), but the plural leaves room for him. He may have omitted mentioning Andrew in order to focus the readers’ attention on the central figure—Simon Peter.

5:3 And asked him to put out a little from shore. Even though more disciples than Simon Peter would be involved in this (for the command to “let down [5:4]” is plural as is “the nets”—literally your [plural] nets ), Jesus’ conversation was directed to Simon, who was the leader. One should not see in the expression “put out [into the deep]” any allegorical nuances.‍‍

The one belonging to Simon. Luke did not mention any of the other men, such as James and John (5:10), in order to focus the readers’ attention on the calling of the most famous and important disciple. The following references to Simon in 5:4–5, 8–10 continue to emphasize his importance.

5:5 Simon answered, “Master.” This title (Greek epistatēs) was a favorite of Luke and was used only by him in the NT (cf. 8:24, 45; 9:33, 49; 17:13). Whereas the title “teacher” in Luke was used of Jesus only by strangers, “Master” was used only by Jesus’ followers and reveals better his authority and might. Luke also avoided completely the use of the title “Rabbi” for Jesus.

We’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. This is not to be understood as a reply of disobedience, for the use of the title “Master” and the next statement in this verse reveal Simon’s obedience. In light of his previous experience in 4:38–41, Simon agreed to do something that at face value appears foolish. This statement and the next heighten the following miracle.

5:6 Such a large number of fish … nets began to break. These two statements stress the size of the catch. Is this “great multitude” of fish a symbol of the “great multitude” who would come to Jesus due to the preaching of Peter and the other disciples? Luke gave evidence that he might have been thinking this way.‍‍

5:7 This verse further heightens the miraculous nature of the catch by mentioning the need for another boat and the fact that both boats were about to sink. The latter statement probably is hyperbolic since the remaining verses show no concern about the possibility of sinking. Where the other boat was at the time (nearby on the lake, on shore) is not stated. It was unimportant for Luke’s purpose.

5:8 Simon Peter … fell at Jesus’ knees. This was an appropriate posture in a theophany when one encountered the Lord. Objections have been raised that this would not have been physically possible to do in a boat, but the recent discovery in the Sea of Galilee of a boat twenty-six and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide dating from Jesus’ day has refuted this. ‍‍ Luke provided at this point the full name by which Simon is known to the readers of his Gospel because this event marks the call of the great apostolic leader.

Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man. In the presence of this theophany Peter responded much like Isaiah did (cf. Isa 6:5). The request is not to be taken literally, for where would Peter have expected Jesus to go? Rather it is idiomatic for “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” or “Forgive me” or something like, “What is a Holy One like you doing with a sinner like me?” Peter’s sense of his own sinfulness was not due to disobedience in Luke 5:5a but to a general unworthiness (cf. 7:6; Job 42:5–6) as he confronted the Lord’s might and majesty.‍‍

5:9–10 That Luke intended his readers to see the catch of fish as miraculous is evident by Peter’s response and now by that of his companions.

5:10 And so were James and John. These two are encountered again in 9:54 and Acts 12:2. They appear together with Peter in Luke 8:51; 9:28, and Peter and John appear together in 22:8; Acts 3:1, 3–4, 11; 4:13, 19; 8:14.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid.” Fear is a normal reaction to the experience of God’s glory. These words of reassurance were frequently part of a theophany.‍‍ They brought the assurance of the forgiveness of sins.

From now on. A Lukan expression (cf. 1:48; 12:52; 22:18, 69).

You will catch men. Some argue that the fishing metaphor is a poor one because of what fishermen do to the fish they catch, whereas a shepherd metaphor would be much more positive (cf. Mark 6:34). The fishing analogy can be used negatively as Jer 16:16; Amos 4:2; 1 QH 5:7–9 indicate. However, this metaphor should not be pressed beyond the one basic point of analogy, namely, that just as fishermen catch fish, so Peter would catch people for his Lord. The shepherd metaphor is not without its own problems, for shepherds raise sheep not just for their wool but also for their meat.

Is this metaphor of fishing for disciples directed only to Peter in this passage? In Mark 1:17 it is addressed to Simon and Andrew, and the implication is that when James and John left their nets (1:19–20), they did so to follow Jesus and to be fishers of men as well (cf. Matt 4:18–22). That Luke spoke of “their” leaving everything and following Jesus in the next verse implies that James and John also were included in the call to be fishers of men. If Luke had sought to apply this metaphor to Peter alone, he would have had to make this clearer to his readers, for they would have interpreted this passage in light of their knowledge of the tradition (cf. Luke 1:4) such as found in Mark.

5:11 So they … left everything and followed him. Whereas Mark 1:20 has “left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him” and Matt 4:22 has “immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him,” Luke pointed out that they left “everything.” ‍‍ The term “followed” is frequently used to denote Christian discipleship in Luke. ‍‍ For Luke everyone who is a Christian is called to “follow Jesus,” both apostles and nonapostles. The particular kind of calling may vary, but all are called to the same commitment. The ability to follow Jesus assumes the forgiveness that enables one to follow. This is evident from Luke 5:27–32, where Levi followed Jesus (5:27–28), for 5:32 implies that Levi was one of the tax collectors and sinners who repented and thus received the forgiveness of sins (1:77; 3:3).

The Lukan Message

In this account Luke sought once again to demonstrate to his readers Jesus’ greatness. Like God the Father, Jesus possesses omniscience. Although experienced fishermen with all their wisdom and skill knew that there should be no fish present, Jesus without any such experience knew that there were in fact fish there. Peter recognized through this experience that he was in the presence of the divine. As a result the title of respect and authority, “Master” (5:5), now gave way to the title “Lord” (5:8) and to the acknowledgment of human frailty and sinfulness.

Along with this theophany is also a call to service much like we find in Isa 6:1–13. The Lord in his glory appeared to Peter (cf. Luke 5:5–7 with Isa 6:1–4), and this is followed by a sense of sinfulness and unworthiness (cf. Luke 5:8–9 with Isa 6:5–7) and then by a divine commissioning (cf. Luke 5:10–11 with Isa 6:8–13). Peter’s call to follow Jesus in this account serves a twofold purpose for Luke. First, it satisfies the historical interest of Luke’s readers by telling them about the experiences and calling of the greatest and most famous apostle, the apostle Peter. Even as Christians today are interested in learning about the early apostles, so Luke’s readers were as well. Second, Luke used this incident as a paradigm to show what it means to be a Christian. Being a Christian involves following Jesus and leaving everything (Luke 5:11).

5:1–11 The call of the disciples (cf. Mt. 4:18–22; Mk. 1:16–20). Mark’s briefer account of the call of Jesus’ first disciples concentrates on the basic fact that the right response to the message of the kingdom of God is instant obedience to the summons to follow Jesus. Luke’s longer account suggests that the call took place only after Jesus had won the friendship of Simon and shown his power to him. Simon, as an experienced fisherman, knew that there was little likelihood of a catch, since the best fishing was done by night in the deep water. (During the daytime they fished in the shallow water.) Nevertheless, he was already sufficiently impressed by Jesus to obey his command. When the full revelation of Jesus’ power came to him, he was overcome by a deep sense of fear and unworthiness in the presence of somebody who demonstrated heavenly power and was thus shown to be a holy person. Simon was not necessarily especially sinful, but he felt the sense of fear which anybody ought to have in the presence of the divine (cf. Jdg. 13:21–22). Jesus, however, told him not to be afraid (cf. 1:13, 30) and gave him a call to discipleship in words that were suggested by Simon’s present occupation. All the attention is focused on Simon as the leader of the Twelve: we are left to infer Andrew’s presence from v 6.

Notes. 1 Gennesaret (Chinnereth in the OT) is another name for Galilee, and refers specifically to the area just south of Capernaum (cf. Mk. 6:53). 3 For Jesus, teaching by the sea and using a boat as a kind of pulpit see Mk. 4:1–2. 11 Theories that the great catch of fish was intended to provide provision for the dependants of the disciples or that it symbolizes the catch of people whom they would take (cf. Jn. 21:1–14) are speculative.

iv. The Call of the Disciples 5:1-11

From the general account of Jesus’ preaching activity Luke singles out one particular episode by the Lake of Gennesaret, and then lets the spotlight fall upon one particular group of hearers, Simon and his companions, who not only listened to his preaching, but also responded to his command to go and fish in an unpropitious situation. When their obedience resulted in a miraculous catch of fish, Simon was overwhelmed with a sense of the holiness of Jesus as the Lord. But Jesus summoned him to join him in a new task of ‘catching’ men, and Simon and his companions (including the sons of Zebedee) abandoned their previous way of life to join him in his mission.

The story concentrates attention on Simon, the later leader of the church, and on his call to mission, shared by his colleagues. It is parallel to the account of the call of the first four disciples, related in a highly economical manner in Mk. 1:16-20, and to the brief account of Jesus’ preaching by the lakeside in Mk. 4:1f.; cf. 2:13; 3:7-9. The fact that Luke has omitted Mark’s story of the call of the four fishermen shows clearly that he regarded this story as equivalent to it. It is impossible that Luke has created his story simply on the basis of what he read in Mk.; the facts that it occurs at a different position in the narrative and that its contents go well beyond Mk. prove this point. Nevertheless, it is clear that Luke knew Mark’s account and that it has influenced his own telling of the story; parallelism with Mk. can be seen in vs. 1-3, 10f., and many scholars would claim that Luke has drawn on Mk. for most or all of the material in these verses (Schramm, 37-40; Pesch, Fischfang, 53-76); it is disputed merely whether v. 10b is based on Mk. (Pesch, Fischfang, 72-76) or on an independent tradition (Klein, 21-25). Where, however, Mark has simply related the basic fact that the proper response to the gospel of the kingdom is instant obedience to the call to discipleship, Luke’s story shows that the call took place only after the fishermen had made the acquaintance of Jesus and experienced a revelation of his heavenly power.

There is a parallel to the part of the incident not recorded in Mk., namely the miraculous catch of fish, in Jn. 21:1-14. The two stories show a considerable amount of agreement in detail: after fishing all night, the disciples have caught nothing. Jesus commands them to let the nets down. They do so, and make an enormous catch. The effect on the nets is noted. Peter (in Jn., the beloved disciple) reacts to the miracle. Jesus is called Lord. The other fishermen present say nothing. The motif of following Jesus is present, and the catch of fish is symbolic of missionary success (Brown, John, II, 1090). The question of the relation between Lk. and Jn. at this point is complicated by difficulties in the Johannine narrative. Many scholars find that two narratives have been interwoven in Jn., an account of a resurrection appearance of Jesus at a meal and the story of a miraculous catch of fish. It is then argued that the two accounts of the miraculous catch are variant forms of the same tradition, and on the whole it is thought that Jn. 21 shows more secondary features than Lk. 5. The question is then whether the story originally referred to the pre- or post-resurrection period. While it is often argued that Luke has ante-dated a post-resurrection story (e.g. Creed, 73f.; Leaney, 54-57); Klein, 25-30), C. H. Dodd (Nineham, Studies, 9-35) has claimed that the story lacks the essential ‘form’ of a resurrection story and must be placed in the pre-resurrection period.

We can leave aside here the analysis of John’s narrative, since there is no evidence that Luke was dependent upon it. The question is rather that of the relation between the traditions used by the two Evangelists. As already indicated, Luke’s story did not reach him as a resurrection-story (cf. Dietrich, 55f.). While few scholars would allow that Luke has recorded a tradition separate from that incorporated in Jn. 21, there is no real evidence that forbids this possibility. There are other examples in the Gospels of pairs of similar but distinct incidents (cf. 7:36-50) where the parallel features have led to some modification of each narrative in the light of the other, and this may well have been the case here. Jn. 21:1-14 may be regarded as a story in which Jesus is recognised by the similarity of his command and its consequences to those in the earlier incident (although the narrator was unaware of this correspondence); when Brown, John, II, 1090f., asks how Peter could have gone through the same situation and much of the same dialogue again without recognising Jesus, he greatly over-estimates the amount of this ‘common dialogue’, which amounts to no more than Jesus’ command to let down the nets. Rengstorf, 74, is correct in affirming that neither narrative is based on the other. Although Pesch, Fischfang, 126-130, denies that a historical incident lies behind Lk., his arguments by no means exclude this possibility. Granted that the narrative shows ‘legendary’ features in the prominence of Simon and the interest in him as a person, this in no way invalidates it as history, and it may well contain historical reminiscence (Dibelius, 108-111).

This brings us back to the relation of the miracle story to the story of the call of the disciples in Mk. 1:16-20. We have seen that the wording in Mk. has influenced Lk. What is not clear is whether Luke’s independent tradition contained material corresponding to Mk. 1:16-20. While most scholars argue that Luke has constructed the introduction to the scene out of Marcan material, this is questioned by Dietrich, 25-38, 63-76, who notes various features in the Lucan narrative which are difficult to explain purely on the basis of Mk. as a source. The biggest question concerns v. 10b. Did a call to be a fisher of men figure in the story of the miraculous catch? While Klein, 32-43, asserts that such a saying was contained in the (post-resurrection) tradition behind Jn. 21:1-14, Pesch, Fischfang, 72-76, claims that the Lucan saying is based on redaction of Mk.; the latter has the better of the argument, but his case is not compelling. On the whole, it seems most probable that Luke has incorporated the miracle story in a framework based on Mk., and in so doing he may have replaced the original ending of the miracle story with Marcan material.‍‍

(1) Luke portrays a situation similar to that in Mk. 3:7-9;  4:1, in which Jesus is standing by the shore of the lake, surrounded by a crowd to which he can speak only with difficulty on account of its size. The way in which the crowd disappears without trace halfway through the story suggests that Luke has linked together two separate incidents, using a typical scene in Jesus’ ministry from Mk. to stress that the call of Simon took place after he had heard the word of Jesus. ‍Diglot‍ follows p75 in reading καὶ ἐγένετο for ἐγένετο δέ, but the external evidence is too weak to justify the change. For the use of the ἐγένετο … καί … construction, see 1:8 note. The καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἑστώς … clause is then to be regarded as a circumstantial clause before the real apodosis begins in v. 2 with καὶ εἶδεν (Black, 83; Beyer, I:1, 49; Schürmann, I, 267 n. 30). ἐπικεῖμαι (23:23‍*‍; Acts 27:20‍*‍; Dietrich, 33f.) describes the physical pressure of the crowd on Jesus to hear his teaching, here solemnly described as ‘the word of God’ (8:11, 21; 11:28). The phrase is used frequently in Acts for the apostolic message, thus bringing out the continuity between the teaching of Jesus and that of the church; here the phrase stresses the significance of the message to be heard by Simon. Luke always uses λίμνη as the correct term to refer to Galilee, in contrast to Matthew and Mark who loosely describe it as a θάλασσα (Lk. 8:22, 23, 33). Γεννησαρέτ (Mt. 14:34; Mk. 6:53‍**‍) usually means the land immediately south of Capernaum, but is also found in the form Γεννησάρ as a local name for the lake (Jos. Bel. 3:463, 506; cf. OT ‘Chinnereth’, Nu. 34:11): has Luke avoided the term ‘Galilee’ here in view of his earlier alteration in 4:44?

(2) The text is uncertain: δύο πλοῖα (p75 אc D Θ pm lat; ‍TR‍); πλοιάρια δύο (4 a); πλοῖα (א*); πλοῖα δύο (B W pc; ‍Diglot‍); and δύο πλοιάρια (A C* al f; ‍Synopsis‍). Schürmann, Abschiedsrede, 130, apparently accepts the positioning of δύο after the noun here as a mark of Lucan style, and also reads πλοιάρια (from Mk. 3:9; cf. Jn. 6:22-24;  21:8‍**‍), but the consequent reading πλοιάρια δύο has no significant external support. The uncertainty in the position of δύο may suggest that it is a gloss; in any case the argument from Lucan style is too weak to settle its position. The evidence for πλοιάρια is superior to that for πλοῖα; it is an open question whether an original πλοιάρια has been assimilated to the form used later in the story, or whether Luke used the same term throughout, but Jn. 21:3, 6, 8 shows that both forms could be used side by side. On the whole, δύο πλοιάρια has the best claims to be original. The use of ἑστῶτα παρὰ τὴν λίμνην to describe the boats moored at the shore is slightly inelegant after its use in a different sense in v. 1 and may reflect use of a source (Dietrich, 29). ἁλιεύς, ‘fisherman’, occurs only in this story (Mt. 4:18f.; Mk. 1:16f.‍**‍; note the spelling, ‍BD‍ 29). ἀποβαίνω is correct for ‘to disembark’ (Jn. 21:9). After the night’s fishing the nets would be washed out and then hung up to dry; δίκτυον occurs only in this story and its parallels; for πλύνω see Rev. 7:14;  22:14‍**‍. In Mark’s account James and John are described as repairing the nets, an activity which would be carried out at the same time as washing (but which would be less consistent with being immediately able to fish at Jesus’ command). Simon and Andrew, however, are there described as casting their nets in the sea. Whereas in Lk., the men have just completed a nocturnal task with a seine or drag net in deep water, in Mk. they are using a casting net, which was operated during the daytime from the shore or by a person standing in shallow water, and which was used by poorer fishermen who did not have a boat (Lohmeyer, 32 n. 3). After a fruitless night’s work, the fishermen might well try their luck with the casting net.

(3) Since the pressure of the crowd prevented Jesus from speaking to them from the shore, he seized the opportunity to use one of the boats as a pulpit. For ἐμβαίνω, ‘to embark’, cf. 8:22, 37; Mk. 4:1; Acts 21:6. For εἷς as an indefinite pronoun, equivalent to τις, see Black, 104-106. The mention of Simon as the owner of the boat prepares the way for the miracle. For the use of the possessive genitive with εἶναι see ‍MH‍ III, 231. ἐπανάγω is ‘to put out to sea’ (5:4), also ‘to return’. In the boat Jesus adopts the sitting posture of a Jewish teacher (4:20). ‍Diglot‍ has ἐδίδασκεν before ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου (p4 vid A C (W) Θ pl; ‍TR‍), on the grounds that scribes altered the dominant word order (verb first; see Kilpatrick, 198), but this reading may be a simplification of the more difficult order (Alford, I, 482).

Luke presumably regarded the crowd as dispersing before the following miracle. It is hard to tell whether the story has been so condensed that it contains a number of apparent inconcinnities, or whether two or more sources have been joined together.

(4) When he had finished his teaching (cf. 11:1), Jesus commanded Simon, as the captain of the boat, to sail out into deep water (βάθος‍*‍); there the men were to lower the nets for a catch. For χαλάω, see 5:5; Mk. 2:5; Acts 9:25;  27:17, 30; 2 Cor. 11:33‍*‍. ἄγρα is ‘catch’ or ‘act of catching’ (5:9‍**‍). The second command is in the plural, since the task would involve all aboard the boat. There is no mention here or later of Andrew (Mk. 1:16f.), although James and John are mentioned later. All the attention is concentrated on Simon.

(5) Simon addresses Jesus as ἐπιστάτης (8:24, diff. Mk. 4:38, διδάσκαλος; 8:45, diff. Mk. 5:31 (no equivalent); 9:33, diff. Mk. 9:5, ῥαββί; 9:49, diff. Mk. 9:38 διδάσκαλος; 17:13‍**‍). This word is used only by disciples or near-disciples. It replaces ῥαββί, which Luke avoids completely, and appears to be an equivalent for it (‍SB‍ II, 157; A. Oepke, ‍TDNT‍ II, 622f.; cf. O. Glombitza, ‘Die Titel διδάσκαλος und ἐπιστάτης für Jesus bei Lukas’, ‍ZNW‍ 49, 1958, 275-278). It also replaces διδάσκαλος, which Luke allows to stand on the lips of non-disciples (7:40 note). While the use in Marcan sections is redactional, this does not mean that Luke has introduced it here and 17:13 without some basis in his sources. Here too it may reflect an original ῥαββί. Dietrich, 38-43, holds that it is used in the context of a group placing itself under a master, and thinks that it reflects a communal consciousness on the part of the disciples — but this would be due to Luke’s assessment of their consciousness rather than to primitive source material. In any case, the word signifies an attitude of obedience, which is heightened by the fact that despite a fruitless and wearisome night’s fishing trip Simon is prepared to lower the nets. κοπιάω is ‘to toil wearisomely’ (12:27‍*‍; Acts 20:35). διά with genitive is used of a period of time. ἐπί has the sense ‘on the strength of’ (cf. Stuhlmueller, 133). The paradox would be heightened for readers who knew that fishing in deep water was unlikely to produce a good catch during daytime.

(6) When the nets were lowered they enclosed (συγκλείω, Rom. 11:32; Gal. 3:22f.‍**‍) a great quantity of fish (cf. 6:17; 23:27; Acts 14:1;  17:4). See especially Jn. 21:6. In consequence, the nets were in danger of bursting — a detail meant to establish the size of the catch. For διαρρήσσω see 8:29; Acts 14:14; Mk. 14:63 par. Mt. 26:65‍**‍; διερρήσσετο is an imperfect with inceptive force (not aorist, pace Schürmann, I, 269 n. 48); the variant διερρήγνυτο may be due to Atticising tendencies.

(7) It is not clear whether the other boat is thought of as being still moored by the shore or already out at sea, but probably the former situation is envisaged. Simon’s boat will have been not far from the shore, so that the men in it could easily beckon (κατανεύω‍**‍) to their colleagues to come and help them. μέτοχος is used of partners in business (elsewhere in the NT it has a theological sense; Heb. 1:9;  3:1; 14; 6:4; 12:8‍**‍). For the use of συλλαμβάνω cf. Phil. 4:3; in 5:9 (cf. 22:54) it means ‘to catch’ (cf. also 1:24, ‘to conceive’). ἦλθαν has a first aorist ending. The amount of fish landed was so great that the boats were in danger of sinking (βυθίζω, 1 Tim. 6:9‍**‍; the present infinitive has an inceptive sense).

(8) As the story approaches its climax, Simon is given his full name (Σίμων Πέτρος, Mt. 16:16; 2 Pet. 1:1; Jn., frequently). Elsewhere Luke uses the form ‘Simon … called Peter’ (6:14; Acts 10:5, 18, 32, 11:13), and retains Σίμων by itself in 5:10; 22:31; 24:34. The omission of Πέτρος here by D W f13 it sys is probably a simplification, but is accepted by Klostermann, 69, and J. K. Elliott, ‘Κηφᾶς: Σίμων Πέτρος: ὁ Πέτρος: An Examination of New Testament Usage’, ‍Nov.T‍ 14, 1972, 241-256, especially 245f.; the latter argues that the combination is otherwise unattested in Lk. and may have been due to the influence of Jn. 21:2, 3, 7, 11 (cf. Bailey, 14 who thinks that Luke’s story comes from a Johannine Easter tradition, and that the full name is, therefore, original here). But it is questionable whether scribes would have made this connection and more probable that any influence between Jn. and Lk. took place during the growth of the traditions. The presence of the name here may simply lay stress on the person of Simon (Dietrich, 44f.) or reflect the consciousness that Simon’s call and his naming by Jesus were connected (Grundmann, 128), or draw attention to the identity of Simon with Peter, the leader of the Twelve.

Simon’s reaction is to fall at the knees of Jesus. Leaney, 122, would take Ἰησοῦ as a dative and translate, ‘he fell on his knees before Jesus’, but this is improbable. Such humility is appropriate before a person addressed as κύριος, which here presumably has a deeper meaning than ἐπιστάτης and is not simply equivalent to ‘Sir’ (6:46 note). But no precise connotation (e.g. of divinity) can necessarily be attached to it. For the late position of the vocative see 9:61; 19:8, 18; Acts 26:7; ‍BD‍ 474. Before Jesus, Simon is conscious of his sinfulness, and therefore he bids Jesus to go away; both ἀνήρ and ἐξέρχομαι ἀπό may be Lucan, but ἁμαρτωλός is probably from his source (Schürmann, I, 270 n. 53).

Critics have objected that Simon could scarcely have fallen before Jesus’ feet in a sinking boat, and that Jesus could not be expected to go away from a boat at sea; hence the scene must have taken place on the land (cf. Jn. 21). Pesch, Fischfang, 71f., 116f., argues that in the pre-Lucan form of the story (which did not include the motif of Jesus preaching from the boat) Jesus was not in the boat, and the disciples came to land (v. 11a, transferred from its original position at 5:7/8) before Simon fell at Jesus’ feet. Luke himself is responsible for the difficulty by moving v. 11a to its present position when he joined the two narratives. This is perhaps the best solution of a difficulty which arises from taking Luke’s ordering of the narrative too seriously. In any case, however, the difficulties of Luke’s story can be exaggerated: the boat did not in fact sink, and Simon’s command was metaphorical (cf. Grundmann, 128).

More important is the question whether the saying belongs to a post-resurrection scene, since (it is argued) Simon’s confession presupposes a concrete sin, namely his denial of Jesus. But while ἁμαρτωλός is often used of persons guilty of open, scandalous behaviour (5:30; 19:7), it can be used also in a more general moral sense (13:2; 24:7). What Simon expressed was the sense of unworthiness (Mt. 8:8; Job 42:5f.) and fear (Jdg. 6:22;  13:22; 1 Ki. 17:18; Is. 6:5) which men should feel in the presence of the divine (cf. 18:13; Dietrich, 49-51; Rengstorf, 74). The revelation of Jesus’ divine power in this epiphany sufficed to demonstrate to Simon that he was in the presence of the Holy One (cf. 4:34) and to make him aware of his own inadequacy. A post-resurrection setting is not required.

(9) Simon’s reaction is further explained as being due to θάμβος (4:36), wonder combined with fear, perhaps containing recognition of the presence of the divine (Schürmann, I, 270). περιέχω is ‘to seize’ (‘to stand’, 1 Pet. 2:6‍**‍). The wonder was shared by his companions in the boat as they realised that the size of their catch had no rational explanation. ὧν (p75 B D pc bo) is by relative attraction for ὁύς; it may be a simplification for ᾗ (‍Synopsis‍; ‍Diglot‍).

(10) ὁμοίως (3:11) is a Lucan connective. It has the effect of separating James and John from the companions of Simon in v. 9. The order of the names is the reverse of that attested elsewhere in Lk. and suggests use of a source; this could well be Mk. 1:19 (cf. 10:35). The impression is that Luke has added their names to a story in which they did not appear. This view is not without difficulty (see Dietrich, 63-76, who thinks that the use of κοινωνός‍*‍ puts them in a different category from the μέτοχοι in v. 7). It may be that Luke regards them as being in the second boat, but it is also possible that they were not in the boat at all but were spectators from the shore (cf. Mk. 1:19f.). The difficulties again arise from the compression and joining of the narratives. Schürmann, I, 272f., thinks that they did not figure in the original miracle story, and that all references to the second boat are Lucan additions to the original form of the story (see, however, Pesch, Fischfang, 80f.).

Despite the mention of them, however, the interest is still centred on Simon, and in effect v. 10b links directly to v. 8. Jesus addresses him with the μὴ φοβοῦ that characterises epiphany scenes (1:13) and which here has the function of a declaration of forgiveness. Luke has not taken over δεῦτε ὁπίσω μου from Mk., but it has an equivalent in the narrative in v. 11. There follows a prophecy which has the effect of a command. Jesus will not in fact depart from the sinner but calls him into the close association of discipleship as he prophesies that from this point onwards he will begin a new life, taking not fish but men. ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν is Lucan and stresses (like σήμερον) the new stage that begins in a man’s life when he meets Jesus; to be sure, Simon’s new activity does not begin in its full sense immediately, but already he is called to prepare for this task. ζωγρέω is ‘to take alive’ (2 Tim. 2:26‍**‍), and was used in the LXX for saving persons alive from danger (Nu. 31:15, 18; Dt. 20:16; et al.). Hengel, Nachfolge, 85-87, suggests that the Lucan and Marcan formulations here are translation-variants for ṣayyāḏ, which can mean both ‘to fish’ and ‘to hunt’. But the thought of hunting is not present here. Luke’s wording appears rather to avoid the negative implications that might be detected in ‘fishing for men’, and hence to be secondary to the Marcan form (Pesch, Fischfang, 74f.; R. Pesch‍*‍). On the theme see W. H. Wuellner, The Meaning of ‘Fishers of Men’, Philadelphia, 1967.

(11) Although the command is addressed only to Simon in Lk., Luke retains the fact that it was in reality addressed to his companions also. The subject is, however, left indeterminate, and it is not clear whether only James and John are regarded as answering it. When they have brought the boats to shore (κατάγω, Acts 27:3;  28:12), they leave everything behind (5:28; 14:33; 18:22, 28; 21:3f.; cf. Acts 2:45;  4:34;  5:1ff.; Mk. 12:44; Mt. 13:44f.) and follow Jesus, i.e. become his disciples (5:27f.; 9:23, 49, 57, 59, 61; 18:22, 28, 43; G. Kittel, ‍TDNT‍ I, 210-216). What is thus described summarily must have been a more complex process, although it is not necessary to speculate that the huge catch of fish was intended by Jesus to be a means of support for the fishermen’s dependants during their absence (Geldenhuys, 182). Luke does not lay particular stress on the thought of giving up all to follow Jesus (Mk. 1:18, 20): the accent is on v. 10 with its call to mission.

One of my earliest memories is going down one Saturday afternoon to the McVicar’s Theater in Chicago with my father and seeing a movie called Bring ‘em Back Alive, starring the fabulous Frank Buck. I never forgot that movie, and I am still in awe of Frank Buck. Very few of us would venture into the jungle even to shoot wild beasts, but this man went into the wilds of Africa to capture animals alive: to bring back elephants, tigers, and lions for our zoos and circuses. It boggled my mind.

Since I’ve been a pastor in Seattle, some members of our congregation similarly boggle my mind. Let me tell you about one. She is a tiny woman who lives in the University district. As part of her ministry she walks its unsafe streets in the night hours and frequently has her purse snatched. In it, the thief finds a note saying, “My dear friend, you must be in great trouble if you needed to steal this purse. I am sorry for you and I love you and I believe God loves you and wants to help you. So do I. Here is my address and phone number. Please come and see me.” I consider her a present-day Frank Buck—out there at night in a dangerous area stalking the biggest game of all.

In these verses from chapter 5 we find Jesus proposing this kind of big game hunting, or to be more exact, fishing. He says, “From now on you will catch men” (v. 10). The story begins with the crowds pressing around Jesus eager to hear the Good News. Aware that crowding was becoming a problem, Jesus notices two boats by the Lake of Galilee (or, more accurately, the Lake of Gennesaret). He gets into Simon’s boat and asks him to shove off a bit. And then He sits down to preach which, as we said earlier, was the custom in the synagogue. It’s a custom we might consider emulating. I often think about that when I see TV preachers talk about the grace and love of God with much frantic waving and shouting and grimacing. I wish they’d try that sitting down. You’ve got to stand up for bombast, and the Jews must have realized that.

Have you ever wondered about Jesus’ preaching style? I have a hunch there was much back-and-forth dialogue, with questions, pauses, and then, from time to time, a parable right out of the present (e.g., “As we all came down here this morning, did you notice that shepherd with his flock of sheep? Doesn’t that remind you of God?”)

Charles Finney, a converted lawyer and founder of Oberlin College, always drew large crowds, who came from great distances on foot or by horse and buggy to hear him preach. One man had come two hundred miles, and a reporter asked him why. He said, “Charles Finney talks about the things other men preach about.” I think Jesus talked about God with such reality He didn’t need to preach in the usual sense—no three-point sermons.

Finishing His sermon, Jesus said to Peter, “Let’s go fishing.” Did you ever get stuck with the preacher on Sunday afternoon? Perhaps it was your turn to take him or her to lunch and you found yourself frantically trying to think of some way to comment on the sermon. Peter and his friends had no such problem. As soon as this sermon from the boat was concluded, Jesus said, “Let’s go fishing.” He didn’t change His suit or get out of His black robe. He fished in the same clothes He preached in.

Peter’s reaction to this suggestion is interesting. When Jesus wanted to use Peter’s boat for a pulpit, that was no problem. He was glad to shove off. When Jesus wants to use Peter’s boat for fishing, Peter protests. We can hear him saying, “Wait a minute, now. We’ve been fishing all night. We caught nothing. In the morning, the sun’s slanting rays hit the water and scare the fish. It’s foolish to go out now.” He is implying that while Jesus knows about preaching, he—Peter—knows about fishing!

Have you ever felt that way—that Jesus knows about spiritual things, the kingdom of heaven, God, prayer, but when it comes to practical affairs, running your business or your home, that’s where you’re the expert? Peter had that problem. He was skeptical about Jesus’ helpfulness on a fishing trip. But he agreed to give it a try, and off they went. The results were astounding—one of the big fish stories of all time. We’ve all heard lots of those. I heard one about a lady who went on a fishing trip with her husband. Describing it to her neighbor, she said, “I did everything wrong. I was too noisy. I used the wrong bait. I reeled in too soon, and—I caught more fish than he did.”

I’m sure that ever after, Peter enjoyed telling this particular fish story. I happen to believe that Jesus wants to make Himself negotiable to us in terms we can understand. How better could He have impressed Peter than with a record catch of fish? Peter may have been enthralled or intrigued by Jesus’ teaching, but his attention must have been caught by Jesus’ expertise and visible results in a field where Peter was a specialist.

I am reminded of a friend from the first church I served in New York State. He was the chief engineer at a laboratory that produces sound equipment. At a small prayer group meeting one night Sidney told us this story: “This week a strange thing happened. We produced two hundred amplifiers for a custom order, and when they came off our assembly line not a single one of them worked. We checked all the blueprints, all the parts, and could find nothing wrong. I went back into my office. I closed the door and I got on my knees and said, ‘Lord, what’s wrong with these amplifiers?’ And while I was still kneeling the idea came to cross two particular wires. It didn’t make sense to do so, but I went back and tried it. It worked. All those sets were delivered in perfect working order because Jesus demonstrated He knew even more about electronics than I did.” It sounds miraculous, and many of us can report on similar miracles. Even though miracles are not the basis for our belief in God, He can use them to get our attention.

Some scholars have suggested the story here in Luke is simply an allegory. They tell us it really means that Peter would some day be catching great crowds of new converts. I don’t believe it. I believe those were real fish. We’re all too inclined to allegorize and spiritualize the Bible. I think Jesus revealed His power to Peter in the most relevant way possible.

Peter’s reaction was to fall to his knees and worship Jesus. At last Peter realized that Jesus was the Messiah. Peter, who had heard Jesus preaching and teaching, was convinced by the miracle of the fish. He understood at that point that Jesus was more than a great teacher or preacher. And yet there are still those who insist that Jesus is just one among many spiritual greats. They are uninformed, to say the least. C. S. Lewis deals with this brilliantly in Mere Christianity. Lewis says that anybody who claims that he is God (“He who has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9) is one of three things: he is a charlatan and a crook who is deliberately deceiving people, a loony who ought to be in an asylum, or—he is who he says he is and we fall at his feet and call him Lord. As a teacher, Jesus was not saying much that was new or unusual. Many of the rabbis of His time were saying similar things about life and ethics. Only Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

Peter was overwhelmed by who Jesus actually was, and he fell down, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (v. 8). And Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” In response to Jesus’ challenge those fishermen left everything and followed Him. It was a remarkable response to such an open-ended call. There was no time limit. Were they to follow Him for a week, a month, a year? They left everything—even the biggest catch of their lives. They left their boats and their families and they followed, and, as far as we know, not one ever went back.

They could not have known what they were called to at that point, but they might have had some understanding of what they were called from—perhaps from tedium or monotony. G. K. Chesterton said that Jesus Christ saves us from the degrading necessity of being the child of our time. We don’t have to be the product of whatever time this is. We can be something original and different.

While there is an infinite variety of those things we are called from, we are all called to the same thing. We are called to big game hunting. We are called to go out and take people alive. The translation “to catch” is not really accurate. The actual Greek word Jesus used means “to take alive, as taking animals alive for a zoo or circus.” It’s a much more attractive image. In point of fact, nobody wants to be caught. Too much evangelism is conducted that way. We maneuver people into signing a decision card or accepting “the plan of salvation.” Jesus was promising those early disciples that they would be taking people alive for the kingdom, and that’s exciting business. The verb tense used here describes an ongoing process. It’s not like deer-hunting, where you catch your limit for the season and quit until the next year. The taking people alive that Jesus speaks of is continuous and never-ending.

Sometimes we think there are two kinds of Christians: those who catch the animals for the zoo and those who come and look at them. It’s not so. If we follow Jesus, He tells us we will be involved in big-game hunting. What could be more thrilling than to begin to stalk those who don’t know Jesus and help them discover who He is in order that they might be saved from boredom or immorality or addiction or whatever their destiny would be apart from Him? Have you ever wondered what you are going to do with the rest of your life? We have a job beyond just church work. When Louis Evans, Sr., was pastor at Hollywood Presbyterian Church, he had a parishioner who was a new convert, a railroad engineer. One day this man asked Dr. Evans if there was a job for him in the church. Dr. Evans explained that they already had a surplus of ushers, teachers, and officers. But he did have a job for him. “Is your fireman a Christian?” Dr. Evans asked. “If he’s not, that’s your job.”

Even preachers are called to this kind of big-game hunting. Samuel Shoemaker, well-known Episcopal preacher, now deceased, once told me about a vow he had made as a young priest in New York City. He understood that taking people alive for Jesus was central to the Christian’s vocation, and he promised the Lord that he would never let a day go by when he wasn’t “fishing for souls.” Sometimes he’d come home after a long day’s work of calling and sermon preparation. He’d be getting undressed for bed and realize that he hadn’t talked to one person about the Lord that day. He’d put his clothes back on and go back on the street stalking big game. I think that story reveals the underlying dynamic of this one man’s widespread and fruitful ministry.

The church is not a spectator society in which we go to the zoo. We’re all supposed to be out catching the animals, whoever we are. Jesus began with Peter, a rough fisherman, not a spiritual type. And he continues to call all sorts and conditions of people. Harold Hill, author of the book How to Live like a King’s Kid, is an old friend of mine and one of the all-time big-game hunters. I once shared a cab with Harold on a trip to the Bermuda airport, a long drive from one end of the island to the other. Harold sat in front with the driver, talking the whole time about Jesus—the miracles, the excitement, the adventure. The cabby just kept driving, grunting occasionally. When we arrived at the airport, Harold turned to him, “Friend, can you think of any reason why you shouldn’t turn your life over to Jesus?” The cabby couldn’t, and right there in the cab we prayed with him about a new beginning.

There is no rule book for this kind of big-game hunting. One prerequisite is to love Jesus and to love the people you’re talking to. Then pray for good things to overwhelm them. This is pre-evangelism. If their sick child is healed or their marriage is saved or if they catch enough fish, Jesus will have their attention. Then you can suggest they might want to meet the miracle worker Himself.

What to do with the rest of your life? The challenge is to spend it as a big-game hunter, taking people alive for Jesus. Don’t settle for less.

Ver. 1.—And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God. His fame as a great Teacher was evidently now firmly established. If it were known that he intended speaking in public, a crowd of listeners would gather quickly round him, whether in the synagogues, or by the lake-shore, or in the market-place. He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret. On this occasion, as he taught by the quiet lake waters, the throng was so great that he borrowed the fishing-boat of one of his friends, and, just pushing out from the shore, spoke to the multitude from the little craft as it rocked on the wavelets of the lake. Dean Stanley calls it “the most sacred sheet of water which the earth contains.” The rabbinical derivation is interesting: “Gannesarim, garden of princes;” but it is more probable that Gennesaret is but a reproduction of the old Hebrew name Chinneroth (Josh. 12:3), so called from its harplike shape. It is a beautiful sheet of water, twelve or thirteen miles long and nearly seven broad at one portion of the lake. The Jordan flows through it. In our Lord’s time it was surrounded by the richest and most populous district of the Holy Land; large and flourishing towns were built along its shores. Capernaum, as has been said, was the junction of the great roads leading from Syria and the far East to the Mediterranean on the west, and Jerusalem and Egypt on the south. The lake was famous for its fish, and was crowded with all descriptions of craft. The whole scene is now changed. Scarcely a rude boat is ever seen on the blue silent waters. Desolate ruins fringe the deserted shores, with here and there a crumbling mud village, inhabited by the poorest and least enterprising of peasants, so sadly changed is this beautiful and wealthy district, which the rabbis used to love to speak of as the one among the seven seas of Canaan which God had reserved for himself.

Ver. 3.—And he sat down, as in the synagogue of Capernaum—the usual attitude of the Jewish preachers.

Ver. 4.—And let down your nets for a draught. Not necessarily a miraculous draught; it was probably a supernatural knowledge which the Lord had of a shoal of fish to be found in the spot indicated by him to the fishermen. Tristram (‘Natural History of the Bible’) says, “The thickness of the shoals of fish is almost incredible to any one who has not witnessed them. They often cover an area of more than an acre, and when the fish move slowly forward in a mass, and are rising out of the water, they are packed so close together that it appears as if a heavy rain was beating down on the surface of the water.”

Ver. 5.—Master. The word in the original so rendered is not Rabbi, as in the other Gospels, but ἐπίστατα, Teacher. The Jewish term would not have been understood by the Gentile reader for whom the story was especially intended.

Ver. 6.—And their net brake. Augustine beautifully compares the broken and torn net to the Church that now is, full of divisions and rents; the net unrent and untorn will be the Church of the future, which will know no schisms.

Ver. 10.—Fear not. A feeling of intense overpowering awe on a sudden came on Simon after listening to the words and seeing this last act of power which so closely affected him. The very fish of his native lake, then, were subject to this strange holy Man! This was no mortal, thought the fisherman, and he fell at the Master’s feet. “Finding as it does its parallel in almost all manifestations of a Divine or even an angelic presence, it (this awful fear) must be owned to contain a mighty, because an instructive, witness for the sinfulness of man’s nature, out of which it comes to pass that any near revelation from the heavenly world fills the children of men, even the holiest among them, with terror and amazement, yea, sometimes with the expectation of death itself” (Archbishop Trench, ‘Introduction to the Epistles to the Seven Churches’). The same “Fear not” (“Be not afraid ”) was uttered on like occasions to Isaiah (6:7), to Daniel (10:12), and several times during the earthly ministry was said to the disciples, and for the last time the reassuring words were spoken by the Redeemer after the Ascenston to his own dear follower, John, who could not bear the sight of the glorious majesty of his risen Lord. Thou shalt catch men. The imagery contained in these words of the Master to his fishermen-followers was, of course, drawn from the late scene. Their failure in catching fish, their Teacher’s marvellous success, the net bursting with the great catch of silvery fish; the Lord’s strange prophetic words which accompanied their call to his service,—all would in after-years often come up before the disciples in their hours of alternating failure and success in the mighty task he had set them to do. The great Fisherman, Christ; his imitators and servants, fishers; the world of men pictured as fish,—were ever favourite images for the pencil, the graving tool, and the pen of the Christian artist and writer of the first ages of the faith. One of the earliest extant hymns, for instance, of the Church, by Clement of Alexandria, dwells on the image. The words are addressed to Christ—

“Fisher of men, the blest,

Out of the world’s unrest,

Out of sin’s troubled sea,

Taking us, Lord, to thee;

Out of the waves of strife

With bait of blissful life;

Drawing thy nets to shore,

With choicest fish, good store.”

(Hymn of Clement of Alexandria.)

The favourite Christian monogram of the fish, carved on so many tombs in the Cata-combs, belongs to the same imagery—the

ιησους χριστος θεου υιος σωτηρ

ι      χ       θ    υ    ς

Jesus Is Lord: Luke 5:1–6:19

Commitment (Luke 5:1–11). All had been amazed at Jesus’ teaching and His power. Yet most still hesitated, waiting for more evidence or for some sign before they committed themselves to Him. But some did not hesitate. They made the choice immediately—and with that choice made the confession commitment must involve.

One day as Jesus was teaching near the shore of Lake Gennesaret (a name for the Sea of Galilee), He was pressured by the crowds that thronged around Him. He got in the boat of a fisherman, and continued His teaching from it. When Jesus was done, He told the owner, Simon (who was later called Peter), to push out into deep water and let down his nets.

By all odds this would be a futile action. The fishermen of Palestine worked at night, when the schools of fish worked in toward shore to feed on the swarms of minnows in the shallower, warmer waters. But Simon did as Jesus told him. And an enormous shoal of fish swarmed into the nets! The nets even began to break with the weight. When a second boat joined them, both were so filled with fish they nearly sank.

This was evidence enough for Peter. He fell on his knees before Jesus, and instead of thanking Christ he begged, “Keep away from me, Lord, for I’m only a sinful man” (v. 8, ph).

Staggered by the haul of fish, Simon had been jolted into recognizing Jesus as Lord. There were no questions left in the mind of this simple fisherman.

It may seem strange that reports of the greater miracles of healing and expelling demons had not moved Simon earlier. Sometimes it is the simplest things that bring a person to realize that Jesus Christ is Lord. But by whatever agency, how vital it is that each of us realizes, as Peter did, just who Jesus is.

Seeing Jesus as Lord raised in Simon’s mind a vivid picture of himself. Beside Jesus, Peter was revealed as “only a sinful man.” Perhaps if you and I were to compare ourselves with other people, we might have some cause to boast. But when we compare ourselves to Jesus, we see our sin revealed in the light of His perfect purity. Simon, knowing himself, confessed his lack of life and goodness, and his need.

This confession of sin and failure seems so hard to make, until we have made it. Then we discover that, once we have admitted we are sinners, we are freed. For once we see ourselves as sinners we become more ready to hear the healing words of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men” (v. 10).

We who are sinners need not fear God. He forgives us, and transforms us as well. What Jesus told Peter is something He says to each of us who come to Him acknowledging our sin: from now on, life will be different!

Peter and his two companions left everything there on the beach—including the great catch of fish—and followed Jesus. All that had been important to them before was now willingly set aside. In the fulfillment found in relationship with Jesus Christ, all of life truly was becoming new.

5:1–16 POWER OVER HUMANITY

Jesus demonstrated his power to catch people by showing his power to catch fish. Another name for the “Sea of Galilee” (5:1) is the “Lake of Gennesaret” (see introductory map). The name “Gennesaret” was taken from the name of the large plain that lies along the northwest shore of the lake. This time, instead of demons (4:34), a disciple acknowledged Jesus as Lord (5:8). It was God’s power that enabled Jesus to catch people for his kingdom—a power that would be more fully revealed in Acts 2.

I.          Calling Laborers (5:1–11)

Peter, Andrew, James, and John had met Jesus a year before (John 1:35–42), had followed Him a short time, and then had returned to their fishing business. In v. 10 Jesus called His disciples to leave everything and follow Him permanently as His helpers. It is likely that there were seven fishermen in the disciple band (see John 21:2). Fishermen know how to work together, they do not give up easily, they have courage, and they labor diligently. These are ideal qualities for disciples of Jesus Christ. The fact that the men were planning to go out again after washing their nets is proof that they were not dismayed by a night of failure.

Peter was humbled, not by his night of failure but by his astounding success; this is a mark of real character. If success humbles you, then failure will build you up. If success puffs you up, then failure will destroy you. By faith, the men left all and followed Christ. They had been catching living fish and, when they caught them, the fish died. Now they would catch dead fish—sinners—and the fish would live!

5:1–11 “Launch out into the deep.” When Jesus borrowed the boat of a fisherman named Peter to use as a “pulpit,” he learned that Peter and the other fishermen were having a bad day of fishing. He gave them advice that led to a massive catch. Confronted by this miracle, Peter recognized Christ’s deity and his own sinfulness, and he, along with James and John, left the fishing trade to follow Jesus and “fish for people” (5:10). [Matt. 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; John 1:35–42 records Jesus’ earlier encounter with Peter and Andrew]

Luke 5:1

Pressed upon him (ἐπικεισθαι [epikeisthai]). Luke in this paragraph (5:1–11; Mark 1:16–20; Matt. 4:18–22) does not follow the chronology of Mark as he usually does. It seems reasonably clear that the renewed call of the four fishermen came before the first tour of Galilee in Luke 4:42–44. It is here assumed that Luke is describing in his own way the incident given in Mark and Matthew above. Luke singles out Simon in a graphic way. This verb ἐπικεισθαι [epikeisthai] is an old one and means to λιε ὐπον [lie upon], rest upon as of a stone on the tomb (John 11:38) or of fish on the burning coals (John 21:9). So it is used of a tempest (Acts 27:20) and of the urgent demands for Christ’s crucifixion (Luke 23:23). Here it vividly pictures the eager crowds around Jesus. Ἐν τῳ ἐπικεισθαι [En tōi epikeisthai] is a favourite idiom with Luke as we have already seen, ἐν [en] with the articular infinitive in the locative case. That (και [kai]). Και [Kai] does not technically mean the declarative conjunction “that,” but it is a fair rendering of the somewhat awkward idiom of Luke to a certain extent imitating the Hebrew use of wav [wāw; ו]. Was standing (ἠν ἑστως [ēn hestōs]). Periphrastic second past perfect of ἱστημι [histēmi] which here is equal to a practical imperfect. By the lake (παρα την λιμνην [para tēn limnēn]). The use of the accusative with παρα [para], alongside, after a verb of rest used to be called the pregnant use, came and was standing. But that is no longer necessary, for the accusative as the case of extension is the oldest of the cases and in later Greek regains many of the earlier uses of the other cases employed for more precise distinctions. See the same idiom in verse 2. We need not here stress the notion of extension. “With characteristic accuracy Luke never calls it a sea, while the others never call it a lake” (Plummer).

Luke 5:2

Two boats (πλοια δυο [ploia duo]). Some MSS. have πλοιαρια [ploiaria], little boats, but πλοια [ploia] was used of boats of various sizes, even of ships like νηες [nēes]. The fishermen (οἱ ἁλεεις [hoi haleeis]). It is an old Homeric word that has come back to common use in the Koiné. It means “sea-folk” from ἁλς [hals], sea. Were washing (ἐπλυνον [eplunon]). Imperfect active, though some MSS. have aorist ἐπλυναν [eplunan]. Vincent comments on Luke’s use of five verbs for washing: this one for cleaning, ἀπομασσω [apomassō] for wiping the dust from one’s feet (10:11), ἐκμασσω [ekmassō] of the sinful woman wiping Christ’s feet with her hair (7:38, 44), ἀπολουω [apolouō] of washing away sins (symbolically, of course) as in Acts 22:16, and λουω [louō] of washing the body of Dorcas (Acts 9:37) and the stripes of the prisoners (Acts 16:33). On “nets” see on Matt. 4:20; Mark 1:18.

Luke 5:3

To put out a little (ἐπαναγαγειν ὀλιγον [epanagagein oligon]). Second aorist infinitive of the double compound verb ἐπ-αν-αγω [ep-an-agō], found in Xenophon and late Greek writers generally. Only twice in the N.T. In Matt. 21:18 in the sense of leading back or returning and here in the sense of leading a ship up upon the sea, to put out to sea, a nautical term. Taught (ἐδικασκεν [edikasken]). Imperfect active, picturing Jesus teaching from the boat in which he was seated and so safe from the jam of the crowd. “Christ uses Peter’s boat as a pulpit whence to throw the net of the Gospel over His hearers” (Plummer).

Luke 5:4

Had left speaking (ἐπαυσατο λαλων [epausato lalōn]). He ceased speaking (aorist middle indicative and present active participle, regular Greek idiom). Put out into the deep (ἐπαναγαγε εἰς το βαθος [epanagage eis to bathos]). The same double compound verb as in verse 3, only here second aorist active imperative second person singular. Let down (χαλασατε [chalasate]). Peter was master of the craft and so he was addressed first. First aorist active imperative second person plural. Here the whole crew are addressed. The verb is the regular nautical term for lowering cargo or boats (Acts 27:17, 30). But it was used for lowering anything from a higher place (Mark 2:4; Acts 9:25; II Cor. 11:33). For a catch (εἰς ἀγραν [eis agran]).  This purpose was the startling thing that stirred up Simon.

Luke 5:5

Master (ἐπιστατα [epistata]). Used only by Luke in the N.T. and always in addresses to Christ (8:24, 45; 9:33, 49; 17:13). Common in the older writers for superintendent or overseer (one standing over another). This word recognizes Christ’s authority. We toiled (κοπιασαντες [kopiasantes]). This verb is from κοπος [kopos] (ὠορκ, τοιλ [ōork, toil]) and occurs from Aristophanes on. It used to be said that the notion of weariness in toil appears only in the LXX and the N.T. But Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, pp. 312f.) cites examples from inscriptions on tombstones quite in harmony with the use in the N.T. Peter’s protest calls attention also to the whole night of fruitless toil. But at thy word (ἐπι δε τῳ ῥηματι σου [epi de tōi rhēmati sou]). On the base of ἐπι [epi]. Acquiescence to show his obedience to Christ as “Master,” but with no confidence whatsoever in the wisdom of this particular command. Besides, fishing in this lake was Peter’s business and he really claimed superior knowledge on this occasion to that of Jesus.

Luke 5:6

They inclosed (συνεκλεισαν [sunekleisan]). Effective aorist active indicative with perfective compound συν [sun]. They shut together. Were breaking (διερησσετο [dierēsseto]). Imperfect passive singular (δικτυα [diktua] being neuter plural). This is the late form of the old verb διαρηγνυμι [diarēgnumi]. The nets were actually tearing in two (δια- [dia-]) and so they would lose all the fish.

Luke 5:7

They beckoned (κατενευσαν [kateneusan]). Possibly they were too far away for a call to be understood. Simon alone had been ordered to put out into the deep. So they used signs. Unto their partners (τοις μετεχοις [tois metechois]). This word μετοχος [metochos], from μετεχω [metechō], to have with, means participation with one in common blessings (Heb. 3:1, 14; 6:4; 12:8). While κοινωνος [koinōnos] (verse 10 here of James and John also) has the notion of personal fellowship, partnership. Both terms are here employed of the two pairs of brothers who have a business company under Simon’s lead. Help them (συλλαβεσθαι [sullabesthai]). Second aorist middle infinitive. Take hold together with and so to help. Paul uses it in Phil. 4:3. It is an old word that was sometimes employed for seizing a prisoner (Luke 22:54) and for conception (con-capio) by a woman (Luke 1:24). So that they began to sink (ὡστε βυθιζεσθαι αὐτα [hōste buthizesthai auta]). Consecutive use of ὡστε [hōste] and the infinitive (present tense, inchoative use, beginning to sink). An old verb from βυθος [buthos]. In the N.T. only here and I Tim. 6:9.

Luke 5:8

Fell down at Jesus’ knees (προσεπεσεν τοις γονασιν Ἰησου [prosepesen tois gonasin Iēsou]). Just like Peter, from extreme self-confidence and pride (verse 5) to abject humilation. But his impulse here was right and sincere. His confession was true. He was a sinful man.

Luke 5:9

For he was amazed (θαμβος γαρ περιεσχεν [thambos gar perieschen]). Literally, For a wonder held him round. Aorist active indicative. It held Peter fast and all the rest.

Luke 5:10

Thou shalt catch men (ἐσῃ ζωγρων [esēi zōgrōn]). Periphrastic future indicative, emphasizing the linear idea. The old verb Ζωγρεω [Zōgreō] means to catch alive, not to kill. So then Peter is to be a catcher of men, not of fish, and to catch them alive and for life, not dead and for death. The great Pentecost will one day prove that Christ’s prophecy will come true. Much must happen before that great day. But Jesus foresees the possibilities in Simon and he joyfully undertakes the task of making a fisher of men out of this poor fisher of fish.

Luke 5:11

They left all, and followed him (ἀφεντες παντα ἠκολουθησαν [aphentes panta ēkolouthēsan]). Then and there. They had already become his disciples. Now they leave their business for active service of Christ. The conduct of this group of business men should make other business men to pause and see if Jesus is calling them to do likewise.

1. Pressed (ἐπικεῖσθαι). Lit., were laid upon.

To hear. The A. V. is correct according to the reading τοῦ ἀκούειν, which it follows. The true reading is καὶ ἀκούειν, and heard. So Rev.

He stood (αὐτὸς ἦν ἑστὼς). The pronoun distinguishes him from the crowd which pressed upon him: he on his part stood. Render the participle and finite verb as Rev., was standing.

Lake (λίμνην). An illustration of the more classical style of Luke as compared with Matthew and Mark. They and John also use θάλασσα, sea. See on Matt. 4:18.

2. Ships (πλοῖα). Used of vessels in general. Some texts read πλοιάρια, a diminutive form, meaning little boats.

Were washing. From the sand and pebbles accumulated during the night’s work. Luke uses four different words for washing or cleansing: πλύνω, here, see also Apoc. 7:14; ἀπομάσσω, of wiping the dust from the feet, only at ch. 10:11; ἐκμάσσω, of the woman wiping Christ’s feet with her hair, ch. 7:38, 44; ἀπολούω, of washing away sins, Acts 22:16; λούω, of washing the prisoners’ stripes and the body of Dorcas, Acts 16:33; 9:37. The reading ἀποπλύνω is rejected by the best texts, so that ἀπομάσσω is the only one peculiar to Luke. All the words were common in medical language.

3. Thrust out (ἐπαναγαγεῖν). Rev., put out. The special nautical word for putting out to sea.

Taught (ἐδίδασκεν). The imperfect. He continued the teaching he had begun on the shore.

4. Launch out. Rev., put out. The singular number, addressed to Peter as master of the craft.

Let down (χαλάσατε). The plural, addressed to the whole of the boat’s crew. Originally, to slacken or loosen, as a bowstring or the reins of horses; hence to let sink as a net. Also of unbarring a door. Metaphorically, to be indulgent, to pardon. The word occurs in the New Testament seven times, and five of these in Luke. He uses it of letting down Paul in a basket at Damascus (Acts 9:25); of striking a ship’s sails, and of letting down a boat into the sea (Acts 27:17, 30). Matthew, Mark, and John use βάλλω or ἀμφιβάλλω, for casting a net (Matt. 4:18; 13:47; Mark 1:16; John 21:6), which appears also in the compound noun for a casting-net (ἀμφίβληστρον, see on Matt. 4:18). The word used by Luke was in common use in medical writings, to denote relaxation of the limbs; loosening of bandages; abatement of sickness; letting herbs down into a vessel to be steeped.

5. Master (ἐπιστάτα). Used by Luke only, and always with reference to Jesus. He never uses Rabbi, as John especially. Wyc., commander.

Toiled (κοπιάσαντες). From κόπος, suffering, weariness; and therefore indicating exhausting toil.

At thy word (ἐπί). Relying on: on the ground of.

The net (δίκτυον). A general term for a net, whether forfish or fowl. See on Matt. 4:18. Some, as Rev., read τὰ δίκτυα, the nets.

Brake (διεῤῥήγνυτο). Some texts read διερήσσετο, from the later form of the verb. The difference is unimportant. The A. V. fails to give the force of the imperfect, were breaking, as Rev.; or even better, possibly, began to break. Trench suggests were at the point to break. The word occurs also at ch. 8:29; Acts 14:14, and only twice beside in the New Testament. Luke alone uses the two compounds περιῤῥήγνυμι, of rending off clothes (Acts 16:22), and προσρήγνυμι, to beat violently (ch. 6:48, 49). See on those passages. All the words occur in medical writings.

7. They beckoned (κατένευσαν). The word originally means to nod assent, and so, generally, to make a sign. They made signs because of the distance of the other boat; hardly, as has been suggested, because they were too much amazed to speak.

Help (συλλαβέσθαι). Lit., take hold with. Compare Philip. 4:3.

Began to sink (βυθίζεσθαι). Only here and I Tim. 6:9, of drowning men in destruction. From βυθός, the depth. Wyc., they were almost drenched.

8. Fell down at Jesus’ knees. Compare Sophocles, “Oedipus at Colonus,” 1605:

“Zeus from the dark depths thundered, and the girls

Heard it, and shuddering, at their father’s knees

Falling, they wept.”

9. He was astonished (θάμβος περιέσχεν αὐτὸν). Lit., amazement encompassed him. See on 1 Pet. 2:6.

The draught (τῇ ἄγρᾳ). The word is used both of the act of catching and of that which is caught. In ver. 4 it has the former sense: “let down your net for catching:” here, the latter, the catch or haul.

10. Partners (κοινωνοὶ). In ver. 7 the word rendered partners is μέτοχοι; from μετά, with, and ἔχω, to have. The word here denotes a closer association, a common interest. The kindred noun, κοινωνία, fellowship, is used of the fellowship of believers with Christ (1 Cor. 1:9); the communion of the body and blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16); the communion of the Holy Ghost (2 Cor. 13:14). The persons referred to in ver. 7 might have been only hired workmen (Mark 1:20), temporarily associated with the principals.

Thou shalt catch (ἔσῃ ζωγρῶν). Lit., thou shalt be catching, the participle and finite verb denoting that this is to be his habitual calling. Both Matthew and Mark make the promise to be addressed to Peter and his companions; Luke to Peter alone. The verb ζωγρέω, to catch, is compounded of ζωός, living, and ἀγρεύω, to catch or take. Hence, lit., to take alive: in war, to take captive, instead of killing. Thus Homer, when Menelaus threatens the prostrate Adrastus:

“Adrastus clasped the warrior’s knees and said,

O son of Atreus, take me prisoner” (ζώγρει)

Iliad, vi, 45, 6; compare Iliad, x., 378.

So Herodotus: “The Persians took Sardis, and captured Croesus himself alive” (ἔζώγρησαν). — I., 86.

There is certainly a reason for the use of this term, as indicating that Christ’s ministers are called to win men to life. Compare 2 Tim. 2:26, where, according to the best supported rendering, the servant of God is represented as taking men alive out of the power of Satan, to be preserved unto the will of God; i.e., as instruments of his will (compare A. V. and Rev.). The word thus contains in itself an answer to the sneering remark of the Apostate Julian, that Christ aptly termed his apostles fishers; “for, as the fisherman draws out the fish from waters where they were free and happy, to an element in which they cannot breathe, but must presently perish, so did these.”

     1. Lake of Gennesaret. Another name for the lake of Galilee. It is a large body of water, about thirteen miles long and eight miles wide, surrounded by hills. In our Lord’s day the region around it was heavily populated, and there were numerous cities on its shores. Capernaum and Bethsaida (to the north) were centers of the fishing industry. 2. Washing their nets. Cleaning the nets was the regular morning’s work after a night of fishing. 3. He entered into one of the ships. The lake front provided an auditorium, for there was gently rising land along the shore, and the acoustics were good. In order that he might not be crowded, Jesus borrowed Simon Peter’s boat for a pulpit.

     4. Let down your nets for a draught. The fish came nearer the surface at night to feed; in the daytime they went down to the cooler waters deep in the lake. 5. Nevertheless at thy word. Though Peter’s experience as a fisherman made him quite sure that they would catch nothing, his words show faith in Jesus. He was ready to believe the Master’s word even in matters in which Jesus would not naturally be considered an expert. 6. Their net brake. Literally, their nets began to break. The catch of fish was so large that neither the nets nor the boats could hold it.

     8. Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. This proof that Jesus knew even more about fishing than Peter did, and the gift of fish, which more than compensated for the futile work of the preceding night, made the disciple see himself in a new light. In contrast with Jesus, whose deity was indicated by this miracle, Peter realized that he was sinful, and felt unworthy to have Jesus with him. 10. Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Simon and his partners, James and John, had already become disciples of Jesus, but had continued with their business. Now Jesus called them to special service, and they left all to follow him.

1.      6Important Words

English | Greek

boat  break  catch  caught  deep  down  edge  enclosed  finished  fish  fishermen  Gennesaret  gotten  lake  land  let  nets  partners  put  quantity  saw  signaled  Simon  their  washing  Zebedee  ...