Jesus Calls Simon (Luke 5:1-11)

Introduction

With the INVITATION, WELCOME and CHALLENGE, Jesus’ kingdom story issued a CALL to his hearers to be his helpers and associates. Jesus CALLED all to be loyal to him and to live as characters in his kingdom story, implying that they live as renewed people who came out of exile. However, he also CALLED some to literally follow him with specific tasks to help him accomplish his agenda. These few that were CALLED to literally follow Jesus were given the responsibility to be his agents and extend his work of announcement. This was a call to a life of purpose but also significant political danger.

This week, we see Jesus encounter Simon. Through a miraculous catch of fish, he CALLED him to become a “fisher of men”. Jesus called Peter to join him in his kingdom pronouncement. Jesus gave Simon a mission, therefore through this encounter he became a missionary. Jesus gave him a commission…a vocation…that would change the direction of his life. He was to become a “co-worker” with Jesus in spreading the message, that through Jesus Christ God was ultimately reconciling the world to himself.

Text (Luke 5:1-11)

The New International Version Chapter 5

5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

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

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

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

From the crowd’s perspective - Explain the Story:

It had started as a neat bit of resourcefulness on Jesus’ part. It seems that he’d begun to teach a group by the shore. The people came for “the word of God,” which they fully expect to hear from Jesus. But the crowd got bigger and bigger and there simply wasn’t room. So he improvised. Along the lakeshore close to Capernaum there is a sequence of steep inlets, a zigzagging shoreline with each inlet forming a natural amphitheatre. Israeli scientists have verified that this bay can transmit a human voice effortlessly to several thousand people on shore. Jesus was simply exploiting the geography of the area and the ready availability of a boat. Jesus climbs into Peter’s boat and requests services. Granted, the reader of Luke’s Gospel knows that Peter “owes one” to Jesus, who had just healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Lk 4:38–39). Returning favors is an integral part of many societies in general and Middle Eastern culture in particular. Peter cannot refuse. But Jesus is not merely collecting on social obligations. He has a more important agenda.

Having commandeered the boat, with the fishermen listening to his every word, Jesus is “fishing” from a fisherman’s boat. When the teaching session concludes, he puts them on the spot. The reader/listener expects Jesus to thank Peter, ask to be taken back to shore and proceed on his way. Amazingly, Jesus (the inland carpenter) gives orders to the professional fisherman on how and where to catch fish! What a preposterous suggestion. Peter was exhausted. He and his partners had fished all night and caught nothing. They worked at night for one simple reason—the fish in the Sea of Galilee (and elsewhere) feed at night. In the daytime they hide under rocks. On this occasion the men had worked all night for nothing; the last thing they would normally do would be to start again by daylight. But Jesus told them to, so they did. He made that sort of impression on people, even hard-working, no-nonsense fishermen.

The rest, as they say, is history. A huge catch. Quick messages for help to the other boat. A struggle to get boats and fish back to land before they all went under with the weight. And then the moment of truth. Peter finds himself right out of his league. Jesus promises that the same sort of thing will happen, only now it will be people, not fish. The word catching in this scene means “to catch alive.” As fish are caught, they die. But Peter will now be catching people, alive. From that same boat Jesus had just “caught people alive.” Peter can do the same. Jesus was not only calling Peter to become a “fisher of people” but was acting out the very ministry he was commending. In the boat Peter was catching fish from the lake. At the same time Jesus was “a fisher of people” as he “landed” Peter and his fishing associates. It was a large miraculous catch. And the fishermen become followers, they became partners, they became co-workers in Jesus’ kingdom pronouncement mission. We are reading Luke’s gospel today because Jesus kept his promise to Peter, despite Peter’s initial reluctance and subsequent failures.

Transitional Phrase: Now, what can we learn about this CALL by Jesus? Let’s consider what we can learn about Jesus’ call to join him in his kingdom mission by zooming in on the character Simon Peter.

From Simon’s perspective – Explain the Calling:

Become Simon for a few moments; pause and ponder what you normally do, day after day, and then imagine Jesus suddenly appearing, asking for your help with his own work, and then telling you to do something in your own line of country which seems pointless, a waste of time and effort. You do it, grumbling perhaps under your breath; and suddenly everything clicks into place, everything succeeds on a scale you’d never dreamed of. What’s going on? How did it happen? Feel the sense of awe, terror even, as you come to terms with the power of Jesus. Then you feel that sense of terror increase as he turns to you with what looks like a question in his eyes, though it proves to be a command. ‘You and I are going to be working together from now on,’ he says. And you realize you have no choice. If this man isn’t worth following, nobody is.

The Summons of Jesus is:

1) Received by Grace

When Peter saw (v. 8) through the miracle to the Lord behind it. Peter “fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man’ ” (v. 8). Jesus is now more than “Master,” epistatēs, “Boss” (v. 5); he is “Lord” (v. 8; Gk. kyrios) and rightly confessed as such. “Lord” has been employed thirty times in the Third Gospel so far, all with reference to the Lord God. Luke surely intends readers to hear “Lord” as a divine title, confessing both Peter’s sin and his faith. Peter’s confession need not imply a mortal sin obstructing his faith, but rather, like the prophet Isaiah (Isa 6:5), the inevitable awareness of abject unworthiness in the presence of the Holy. If Torah is one’s standard of righteousness, one may, like the psalmist, confidently declare, “I have led a blameless life; test me, Lord, and try me, for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love” (Ps 26:1–2). One cannot enter the holy and glorious presence of God, however, nor can one hear the word of Jesus in all its grace and truth without being convicted of one’s utter ungodliness. From his response “Lord, I am a sinful man”, it is quite clear that he did not earn the right to become a co-worker with Jesus, but rather received it by Grace.

Jesus’ 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. The omniscience of Jesus is demonstrated in his knowing people’s thoughts (Mark 2:8) and seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree from far away (John 1:48), and knowing “from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him” (John 6:64). Because Jesus had this attribute of omniscience, he must have known about Simon’s shortcomings, yet he extends his call to him.

2) Sustained by Grace

In this account we see how Jesus called Peter to become a helper in his mission. This was the start of his calling as a “missionary”. From this side of history, we know that Peter would mess up repeatedly:

· Often spoke without thinking; was brash and impulsive,

o He rebuked Jesus for speaking about going to the cross and suffering (which proved to be a stumbling block)

· Ultimately denied Jesus three times during his trial (Luke 22:54-62).

However, we also know that Jesus would reinstate Peter (John 21:15-19). (Then he said to him, “Follow me!”)

After Jesus’ ascension, Peter would accomplish some amazing things for God and his kingdom, however he would make more mistakes (Gal. 2:11-21) (Found it hard to treat Gentile Christians as equals). And I am sure that he needed to be forgiven on numerous other times after this.

The Call received from Jesus not only comes by Grace, but is also sustained by Grace.

3) Extends graciously

The CALL of Peter and the disciples is particularly significant for us today. Jesus only CALLED 12 apostles to physically follow him and join him on his proclamation mission, which was intentional, because they represented the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus was thinking in terms of the eschatological restoration of Israel, which would lead to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God. However, after the resurrection the CALL to join Jesus on his mission of kingdom pronouncement has been extended to every one of his followers, not just to a selected few (John 20:19-22; Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18). Therefore, the encounter of Peter mirrors or illustrates the call Jesus gives every one of us.

His call to Simon and the others—that they should now help him in catching people—came precisely in order that the good news would go out wider and wider, reaching as many as possible. Ultimately, there are no bystanders in the kingdom of God.

Application: Consequently, our vocation as Christians is to join Jesus on his kingdom mission, regardless of the type of job we have. We are CALLED, like Peter, to be missionaries where God has placed us, that is, in our places of work and the neighbourhoods we live. We are commissioned by a Heavenly King, to be “fishers of men”. We are sent, just as the Father sent the Son. In other words, we are to be a continuation of Jesus’ kingdom pronouncement mission.

Transitional Phrase: Now that we’ve seen who Jesus Calls, lets consider what that looks like.

From Jesus’ perspective - Illustrate the Calling:

Evangelism (Goes to where the people are)

This account does not take place in a synagogue with a hushed crowd listening to an eloquent exposition of a favorite psalm. Instead, the crowd presses around Jesus on a smelly landing with tired fishermen nearby cleaning their empty nets after a long, fruitless night. Jesus enters the world of the people rather than expecting them to step out of that world and come to him.

But he didn’t go out there just to engage with them (that was part of it), but he went there to share the gospel of the Kingdom with them. In Luke, Jesus alone preaches the word of God, whereas in Acts the church, in the name and power of Jesus, proclaims the word of God. The word of God is something humanity learns from verbal proclamation rather than from intuition; hence, the word is the object of proclamation (Acts 13:5; 17:13), evangelism (Acts 8:4; 15:35), speech (Acts 4:31; 16:6), teaching (Acts 16:6; 18:11), and hearing (5:1; 8:21; Acts 13:44; 19:10). When the word of God is accepted (Acts 11:1; 15:36; 17:13), it causes growth (Acts 6:7; 12:24). The proclamation of God’s word requires hearers, and when it finds hearers, it produces a relational bond between them and Jesus. The word of God is the place where God manifests himself as the gracious God who is bodily present in the person of Jesus.

Application: One aspect of our Vocation to join Jesus in his mission of kingdom proclamation is to preach word of God in the name and power of Jesus. It is to tell (verbally) the world of God’s redemptive story as revealed through the Scriptures and as climaxed in the words, works, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Transitional Phrase: But notice, he doesn’t just proclaim the word of God, he is concerned with taking others along on the mission.

Discipleship (Takes other along on the mission)

The request for assistance is from within the earthy reality of Peter’s work-a-day world, his boat and his rowing skills. Jesus chooses to use the boat as a platform and needs Peter to move and control that boat while he addresses the crowd. In a large lake, rowboats do not remain in place in the water, they drift. Jesus genuinely needs Peter to control that drift if the boat is to be effective as a pulpit. Considerable rowing skill is necessary. Jesus begins Peter’s journey of discipleship not by calling him away from his profession, but by challenging him to bolder practice of it. Jesus does not assert his lordship at Peter’s weakest point but at his strongest point—his professional expertise as a fisherman!

Jesus isolates Peter from the peer pressure of his community before trying to reach him. In this way it is possible for Peter to expose himself on a deep level rather than responding to Jesus in the light of his perceptions of the community’s expectations. Confident and secure within his own professional world, Peter was able to listen to Jesus speak the Word of God to those assembled on the shore. Indeed, he had no choice but to listen as he remained on the edge of the interaction between Jesus and his audience. In the process Jesus changed Peter’s familiar surroundings into a life-transforming meeting between them. There was no crowd surrounding Peter in the boat. Jesus saw to it that community peer pressure was left behind on the shore.

Application: Someone once said, if evangelism is the ABC’s of the great commission, then discipleship is the D to Z. Jesus models both in this encounter. You cannot talk about the one without the other.

Conclusion

· Be Encouraged, the Call of God is

o By grace

o Sustained by grace

o Extended graciously

· And, as illustrated by Jesus involves:

o Evangelism

o Discipleship