Today is Saturday, and it’s been moving fast. It’s almost over, and I haven’t posted the Lenten entry yet. This will be as complete as I can make it, but things have been moving quickly today.
Yesterday we closed out Luke chapter 4. I hadn’t intended this to be moving through Luke as it is, but the opening passages of Luke chapter 5 just seem right, so here we go.
1Now 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;
Luke 5:1 (NASB95)
“…the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God….” They came to hear God’s word. Not the music. Not the fog machine. Not the spectacle of the building. Not the ornate stained glass. Not the anecdotes of the preacher. They came to hear what God had to say.
Jesus, the Son of God who performed healing miracles, drove out demons, and did wonderous things, wasn’t talking about that. He was speaking the Word of God to the masses. Not His words, but the Father’s words. That’s important. This is the beginning of His public ministry, and He started it by relating what God said about things.
God’s Word is just as important today. God doesn’t change. His Word doesn’t change. What God thinks about what Man does, doesn’t change. God’s Word changes us. We don’t change His Word.
2and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.
3And 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.
Luke 5:2–3 (NASB95)
There was such a crowd that he pushed out into the water so they could see Him, and He could see them all. From there, He preached God’s Word. That means Jesus spoke from the Old Testament, telling people things they already knew. The New Testament doesn’t exist yet because that is what we have now telling us about Jesus and His life, as well as the early church after Him. That’s important. What Jesus preached out of the Old Testament isn’t as important as the fact that He did preach it from there. Why? Because what is contained in those pages is just as relevant now as then.
We know that because Jesus used it for His preaching. He didn’t ignore it. He taught from it. Yes, Jesus also said many other things which comprise the New Testament, but just as He said then, the things He said weren’t new. He merely told them what they already knew in a new way. In other words, he didn’t do away with the Old Testament. He just fulfilled it.
17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 5:17–18 (NASB95)
This begins Jesus’ public preaching of the “prophets and the law,” the Old Testament. He is going to begin doing amazing things, gathering and healing people, telling them uncomfortable truths about themselves, the world, and what is to come. Those uncomfortable truths continue to this day. They should have a profound impact on us. How profound? As profound an impact as they had on the people who heard Him in His day.
4When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
5Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”
Luke 5:4–5 (NASB95)
Simon was very tired. Fishing from row boats with hand nets, as they did in those days, is extremely physical work. It was done under the elements, either hot sun or rain or at night. In this case, we know it was night because Simon says they “worked hard all night and caught nothing.” That statement “caught nothing” is also profound. It means they had neither food for the day nor storage for the days to come nor trade at market. We don’t know how dire or plentiful their storage was then, but catching nothing is not a good thing. I envision Simon’s mood as dejected with a short temper. However, Simon’s reaction is important here: "…but I will do as You say….”
Simon is obedient.
Simon worked all night, but when Jesus asked him to do something, he did it. He told Jesus they’d worked all night but not as a complaint as a statement of fact, then did what he was asked to do. Simon expected to get nothing because that’s what they got during the night on their own.
6When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
7so 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.
Luke 5:6–7 (NASB95)
Simon’s obedience to Jesus’ call is rewarded. So much reward that his boat began to sink, and he needed help. So much bounty that the other boats began to sink as well. We are not told this, but we can assume that everyone present was able to hear Jesus preach. We also don’t know on what subject Jesus preached that day. What we do know is how Simon and his friends reacted after hearing Jesus preach, being obedient to His instructions, and seeing the reward from that obedience.
8But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
9For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;
Luke 5:8–9 (NASB95)
Simon recognizes the elevated nature Jesus occupies. He might not realize he is in the presence of God made flesh yet, but he does understand this man who spoke and then commanded them has power. Simon also recognizes that Jesus is a man of God, and he, Simon Peter, is unworthy of being in His presence.
Jesus ignores all that sinfulness from Simon’s life. In fact, He ignores all that past sinfulness in James and John’s life as well. How do we know that? Because Jesus immediately calls them to follow Him, and they do.
10and 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.”
11When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
Luke 5:10–11 (NASB95)
Let’s recap this chain of events. Jesus preaches God’s Word. The fishermen hear the preaching. Jesus calls on the fishermen to do something for him. The fishermen respond in obedience. The fishermen witness something astonishing they did not expect and/or thought impossible. The fishermen confess they are sinful. Jesus doesn’t care about their former sins and calls on them to follow Him. The fishermen follow Jesus without a moment’s hesitation or care for anything they left behind.
“…they left everything and followed Him.” They left everything. This happened immediately. No going home to get stuff, tell the folks about the really cool guy they met while fishing, saying goodbye, and leaving. They just pulled the boats ashore and left with Him.
Consider what those men must have seen that day. They just walked away from their former lives without a backward glance. What powerful message did Jesus preach that day? What wondrous words did He say that, coupled with the bounty of the catch, compelled these three men to change their lives forever? What would it take for you to walk away from your family and the life that you have at this moment without a backward glance? That is one powerful message. That is the message of Jesus Christ. That is the message we need to reflect to the world around us. Are we up to that task? That last question fills me with doubt and worry.