At Your Word

Expository Outlines from Luke 6. The Call to the Disciples (Luke 5:1–11)

I. THE PLACE—vv. 1–2.

INTRODUCTION

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We tend to trust what our eyes see

If only Eddy had KNOWN the identity of the man in the house

If only he had comprehended the blessing the man was bestowing

TRUST- It is often difficult to trust others. It is without a doubt one of the most challenging aspects in any relationship.

We are taught in military service to TRUST but VERIFY

We tend to see negatives a lot easier than we do positives.

Trust requires a degree of vulnerability- it demands loyalty in spite of skepticism.

Trusting another individual may not feel safe.

Many of us have had bad, bad experiences in life.

We start out as a child with a great deal of implicit trust- we trust our parents, our teachers, our friends, our neighbors.

As we grow older, however, some relationships betray our trust and we begin to trust less.

Children are often so trusting th

It takes more and more as we go along to earn our trust.

With enough hurtful experiences we decide not to trust anyone.

It takes a special individual to gain our trust:

Knowing all of this I am amazed with people who choose occupations that require TRUST.

Doctors/nurses

The top five most dangerous occupations in the United States according to a 2017 report by researchers from 24/7 Wall Street are:

Pastors/Chaplains

Pastors/Chaplains

1. Fishers and related fishing workers

-After analyzing the results, they determined fishers and related fishing workers, who make about $28,310 annually, had the most dangerous jobs. They counted 41 fatal and 120 nonfatal injuries in 2017, with transportation incidents being the most common fatal accident.

2. Logging workers

3. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers

4. Roofers

5. Structural iron and steel workers

It blows me away that commercial fisherman can have so much faith as to dare the open water.

Peter was a commercial fisherman

A commercial fisherman who was to become a man of faith.

Today we are going to see how one miniscule act of faith- taking Jesus at his word, revealed Jesus’ deity and exposed Peter’s sinfulness.

Today we are going to see how his tiny act of faith in taking Jesus at his word created a tidal wave of change in his life and our world.

(CIT) When we TRUST- Jesus VERIFIES

The issue most of us face is we don’t want to trust Jesus

We do not take Jesus at his word-

We are spectators on the fringe of the crowd

We hear Jesus’ teaching from a distance and it all sounds good and wholesome but our lives are never changed.

All we ever want to see is the miraculous from God- we want to see an amazing healing, or gain financial stability with a house and new cars or be blessed with a fantastic relationship

We want to be given a good show as long as that show does not require we come from OUT of the audience

Jesus called Peter OUT of the audience to follow him permanently

Jesus is calling each one of YOU OUT of the crowd

He wants you to trust HIM permanently, to follow him doggedly and never look back because (CIT)As we TRUST- Jesus will VERIFY

BACKGROUND

Before we get into our text this morning let me lay out the major players in the scene:

Peter- We have Peter who is a commercial fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He is a sailor of sailors. Imagine a salty Chief Petty Officer and you may get a good image of Peter.

James & John- These were Peter’s business partners. Again, sailors and fishing was their occupation.

Jesus- At the time Peter, James & John would have know Jesus to be a religious teacher, a rabbi and someone to be respected but not much more than that.

The Crowd- Individuals who wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle, obtain a healing or simply to hear Jesus’ teaching. They were not seeking a personal relationship necessarily with Jesus.

READ LUKE 5:1-11

NARRATIVE

English Standard Version Chapter 5

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

THE PLACE—vv. 1–3.

Verse 1

Jesus is found teaching a crowd at the water’s edge by the lake of Gennesaret- better known as the Sea of Galilee

It was called Gennesaret because of the nearby plains of Gennesaret.

The lake is approximately 13 miles from north to south and 8 miles from east to west and covers and area of 64 square miles.

It was surrounded in ancient times by numerous cities including Tiberias, Magdala, Capernaum and Bethsaida as well as fifteen active harbors.

It is located in a basin 680 feet below sea level and is the lowest freshwater lake on earth.

The sea of Galilee has always been and continues to be an important body of water for commercial fishing in Israel.

Thus it was not uncommon for the lake to attract a large populace at the water’s edge.

The crowd that had gathered to listen to Jesus was pressing in upon him.

Personal Story: I can relate with the dilemma of trying to speak to a crowd who is pressing inward.

I recall being in Ixuachaton, Guatemala on a mission trip.

The people were so poor and desperate that when we started trying to give out beads to make bracelets the crowd nearly tore us apart.

We could not communicate with the mob because they were right on top of us

Jesus deals with a similar predicament.

He is speaking and teaching but the crowd just keeps moving forward

More than likely they felt that if Jesus was going to perform a healing or some miracle it would be with those nearest him- so they kept shoving and pushing to get to the front.

In many ways we behave the same way- we are desperate for the miracles of Jesus but not to follow the teachings of Jesus

We press forward because we think if we are aggressive enough I will get what I want but what I want is NOT Jesus-

Verse 2

A daily chore of the fisherman was washing their nets- cleaning and prepping them for the next day.

Fisherman are hardworking people

Although they were tired and had worked all night they took time to finish the job right.

The fact that they were washing the nets indicates they were done fishing.

It was probably daytime as they would fish at night.

The best results came at night- as one dive master once told me, “most things in the ocean are nocturnal”.

Verse 3

Jesus notices two boats and gets into one of them

He needs some distance between himself and the crowd- while they are pushing and shoving they cannot focus

He found a means to slow down the mob so they could apprehend what he was trying to teach them.

Jesus was wise in going out onto the water as it is an excellent conductor of sound.

He could speak and the resonance from the water would almost act as an amplifier

Peter obliged the request of the master and would have clearly heard the teaching from the boat.

The boat may have looked as such:

Show slide of boat

It was not uncommon for rabbi’s to sit down and teach a crowd

However, I love the fact that Jesus is not teaching in the middle of a snyagogue

He was out amongst the people- he was around SAILORS- and vendors and normal average everyday people.

Jesus’ teaching is for EVERYONE-It was true then and it is still as true today!

English Standard Version Chapter 5

4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

THE TRUST-- vv 4-5

Peter was an experienced, salty fisherman.

There were three types of nets fisherman used in ancient Israel:

Dragnet- the oldest type of net. It is a long wall of net and about 10 feet wide. The net has floats on the top and sinkers on the bottom. it is spread out about 100 yards off shore and then hauled back in capturing fish as it is pulled ashore.

Cast-net- a circular net like a parachute with weights around the outer edge to make the net sink into the water. It is used by a single fisherman who arranges it on his arm and then casts the net into the water with his opposing arm. The net spreads out like a parachute and falls into the water trapping fish.

Trammel-net- the only kind of the three still in use today on the Sea of Galilee. It is a compound net consisting of three layers of nets connected together. There are two exterior walls that have large mesh. The middle layer is a net made of much smaller mesh, about and inch or an inch and a half square. Trammel nets are about a hundred feet long but are always attached together in a series.

Fishing with a trammel net in ancient times was always done during the night when the fish could not see the threads of the net.

Modern fisherman have nylon nets which can be used during the day.

The trammel net is most likely the type Jesus refers to in this passage of scripture.

Another vital piece of information to understand is that fisherman would fish at night.

It was the most productive time because most sea creatures are nocturnal.

The catches would be far more plentiful at night rather than in the daytime.

Smart fisherman would work at night NOT during the daytime hours.

Now, Peter explains to Jesus that he and his team of experienced fisherman had worked all night but caught nothing.

Peter explains to Jesus that he and his team of experienced fisherman had worked all night but caught nothing.

It was now daytime, the MOST unproductive fishing time of all.

Not only that but they were using a trammel net and the fish would be able to see the threads of the net.

Knowing all of this information as a professional fisherman and sailor and having explained all this to Jesus (the carpenter) Peter chooses to accept Jesus at his word.

And here we come to the heart of this passage of scripture where Peter states, “But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Peter was an “at your word” kind of follower.

(CIT) Peter TRUSTED and Jesus VERIFIES

What did Jesus verify? His identity as Son of God.

Jesus was calling Peter OUT of the audience, OUT of the boat he had been floating around in unproductive

But first he had to have Peter’s ATTENTION

He gets Peter’s attention in a most PERSONAL WAY

-He gains his attention in a way that is so personal and meaningful to Peter that Peter cannot deny Jesus’ identity

Does Jesus have YOUR attention?

English Standard Version Chapter 5

6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink

THE RESULT—vv 6-7

This was perhaps the absolutely MOST precise and PERSONAL message Jesus could have delivered to Peter.

describes an initial encounter whereas Jesus called Peter to follow him.

It appears that Peter followed at that time but then continued his occupation as a commercial fisherman.

Peter may have initially struggled with the identity and Godhood of Jesus-not alot unlike many of us today.

But what happens next AFTER Peter tells Jesus, “But at your word...” is something so improbable and unexplainable to Peter that Jesus identity is no longer a question in his mind

(CIT) When we TRUST Jesus will VERIFY

Peter had no clue what the morning held.

The

He was probably weary of a hard nights work with no result.

He may have been hungry and concerned about how he would provide food for his loved ones.

And just as these thoughts raced across his mind the Master jumps into his boat and asks him to put out into the water.

Even as he is lowering the nets he may have been calculating how long it would take him to clean empty nets

When in an instant NOTHING MADE SENSE!

The nets were BREAKING with the overload of fish

The boat was sinking under the weight of Jesus’ BLESSING!

The results of taking Jesus AT HIS WORD was a blessing BEYOND what Peter’s nets could CONTAIN and EVEN BEYOND what his boat could HOLD!

Jesus is CALLING YOU!

HE IS SAYING- COME, FOLLOW ME!!!

Stop living with broken dreams

Stop just existing from one day to the next-

He tells Peter,”Let down your nets for a catch”

IN THAT SMALL ACT OF OBEDIENCE PETER WAS NOT CONCERNED WITH THE FISH HE HAD CAUGHT IN THE NETS- HE HAD CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF GOD, HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY AND IT TERRIFIED HIM.

JESUS IS CALLING YOU IN THE MOST PERSONAL AND SPECIFIC WAY POSSIBLE

English Standard Version Chapter 5

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that 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 be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

THE RESPONSE—vv 8-11

Two responses are recorded in these last verses

The response of Peter to the inconceivable catch of fish

And Jesus’ response to Peter

Peter’s Response

There is no doubt Peter is terrified at the fact that he is face to face with God Almighty in the person of Jesus Christ.

The catch was the eye-opening moment when Peter realized who he was dealing with.

His words hearken to an Old Testament scripture in which says, “ 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Why was Peter so distraught?

Peter was a Jew (so was Jesus) and I have to believe that their understanding of Yahweh (God) was a very transcendent one

Meaning that God was exceedingly exalted over and above mankind

Yahweh was entirely pure and sinless and sin in his presence would not be tolerated

Peter had SIN in his life- he states it himself saying “I am a sinful man...”

He falls to his knees which is a position of worship and begs Jesus to depart

It was most likely nmot that Peter did not want to follow Jesus but he may have thought it would take a purer man than himself.

Yet, Jesus CALLS Peter

Jesus’ Response