The Catch that meant nothing

Luke 5:1-11

English Standard Version Chapter 5

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”1 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, ethey left everything and followed him.

5:10-11 Jesus reassures Peter. Do not be afraid means ‘Stop being fearful’ rather than ‘Don’t get scared’. It calms an existing fear. Peter was evidently awe-struck, as his whole reaction shows. Henceforth introduces a new set of circumstances. A turning-point has been reached. From now on things will be different with Peter. The nature of the new life to which Jesus is calling him comes out in the final words: You will be catching men. The tense is continuous, signifying a habitual practice. And Peter will no longer be concerned with fish but with people. Catching is, of course, used in a different sense, catching for life not for death (zōgreō means ‘catch alive’, ‘catch for life’). When the fishing party got to land they left everything (cf. 18:28–30). They left the greatest catch they had seen in all their lives. That catch was not as important as what it showed them about Jesus, so they followed him. They became disciples in the fullest sense.1

1 Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 134.