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Luke 5:1-11

Devotions for Monday 1st March

In this wonderful and enigmatic story, the stage is set for all that is to come in Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. So far in Luke, we have read about Jesus’ teaching (4:14-19), His miracles of healing and deliverance (4:35,39-41), and the crowds who followed Him and sought His ministry (4:40,42f.). Here, we encounter some of Jesus’ first disciples, and they complete the general picture of Jesus’ early ministry around Galilee. All the coming stories in Luke feature teaching, miracles, the disciples and the crowds. Everything becomes more complex when the Pharisees appear, and the picture changes completely when Jesus heads for Jerusalem, but this is for the future.

It is not clear when the incident in this passage took place, but it was certainly early in Jesus’ ministry. There are similar stories found in Matthew (4:18-22) and Mark (1:16-20), and John tells us a similar story about what happened when Jesus found the disciples after His resurrection (John 21:4-8), but each story is different. We will look at this later in the study when ‘going deeper’, but because Jesus’ early ministry took place largely around the shores of Lake Galilee, the various Gospel stories clearly reflect different people’s recollections of treasured, wonderful times with Jesus. Luke’s purpose in telling this story is to describe Jesus’ authority and power, and explain how this contributed towards the call of Peter, James and John. These three consistently appear in the Gospels as Jesus’ ‘inner circle’ of friends.

The beginning of the story is unspecific (‘It so happened ...’, 5:1). Luke does not say that it took place immediately after the Sabbath day in Luke 4, so it may have been some time later. Nevertheless, people certainly knew about Jesus, and they had gathered expectantly to hear Him teach (5:1). Jesus also knew the fishermen well enough to ask to be taken out from the shore to teach, and He knew Simon from when He had healed his mother-in-law (4:38,39). This is significant, because after teaching the crowd, the spotlight turned on Simon Peter and his fellow fishermen, James and John (5:10). Jesus called them with the famous words ‘from now on you will be catching people’ (5:10), and they left everything to follow Him (5:11). In this powerful story, Jesus reveals something very important about His own ministry and that of those who follow Him. His stated intent is to change people’s lives, and the rest of Luke’s Gospel fleshes out what this means.

This miracle highlights Jesus authority and power. In contrast to the pressure previously placed on Him by the crowds (see 4:42-44), Jesus is now in command of the situation, and without fuss, He finds a way to teach the crowd without placing Himself, or anyone else, in danger. Yet this is only a prelude to what was to come. Jesus’ real interest lay in individual people, and he challenged Simon, a hardened fisherman, to go and catch fish. Simon’s reply (5:5) was polite but not enthusiastic, because he was faced with a dilemma. Should he trust his own judgement, or place his trust in the man who had earlier healed his mother-in-law? Should he let Jesus have power and authority over his life and his work? Simon Peter then demonstrated something of the true faith that Jesus was looking for, when he opted, however begrudgingly, for obedience to Jesus’ authority rather than his own judgement. Peter let down the nets once again (5:6), and miraculously, he succeeded in catching a large haul of fish, and from this point onwards, Jesus was able to build on Simon Peter’s faith. The miracle was life changing, as are all miracles for those to whom they happen.

When Peter brought his great catch to shore, the miracle had done its job and drawn Peter’s attention to the authority of the one who commanded it, and he fell down before Jesus in worship. Jesus began as Peter’s ‘master’ (5:5), someone whose authority was respected, but He ended up as Peter’s ‘Lord’ (5:8), whose authority was welcomed and accepted. This is how Simon Peter and his partners began their journey of faith, it changed their lives, and it eventually changed the world.

Going Deeper

The Bible study goes deeper to look at these issues:

How does this passage connect with similar stories in the other Gospels?
Why does Jesus perform this miracle and what purpose does it serve?
What does this story tell us about Peter, his call and his commission?

1 It so happened that while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret with the crowd pressing in on Him to hear the word of God, 2 He saw two boats moored at the water’s edge. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put the boat out a small way from the shore. Then He sat down and began to teach the crowds from the boat.

4 When He had finished speaking, Jesus said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5 Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked hard all night and taken nothing, but if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ 6 When they had done this, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break 7 and they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come to their assistance. They came and filled both boats, to the point of sinking! 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down on his knees before Jesus and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed 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.

Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him.

Deliver us, O Lord, from everything that clouds our understanding of You. We know we cannot see you in Your glory and Your majesty until the end of time; but may we never be satisfied until we have explored every means to know You more and know You better. Give us a thirst for You and for Your will that is never quenched until we see You in glory either on this earth or in the heavens. We praise You, Glorious Lord. AMEN

Let us allow the Lord to change us for the better;

Let us yield everything to Him and be His servants.

Let us repent before Him of every unworthy thought;

Let us deal with the issues that divide us without delay;

Let us forgive those who have hurt us unconditionally;

Let us give Satan no opportunity to control our feelings.

Let us listen to each other and abandon all selfishness;

Let us accept that Christ loves us showing no partiality;

Let us put love into action as we face life’s challenges;

Let us find peace where the world cannot see it, in You.

Let us be happy in our faith and radiate the Spirit’s joy!

Let us rejoice that He is coming again, for He is!

Prayer ideas

Ask the Lord to give you a better understanding of how you treat others. Seek His help to grow in love.

On-going prayers

Pray for Christian Aid agencies Pray for any agencies you support. Look up some of the work they do and any prayer guides they give
Pray urgently for the country of Chile after the earthquake there
Pray about food distribution, and pray for those who starve

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