From Fishing Nets to Purpose

Luke 5:1 – 11

 

Have you ever had something happen in your life that, from your perspective, changed your life forever? In my own 39 years of life I can pick out a few of those moments.

 

Some of them were deeply profound, like when my parents got divorced, which led to me spending my teenage years being raised by my dad. That certainly had a massive impact on my life because that led me to pursue a life and career in the dairy industry.

 

Other experiences were heartbreakingly sad, like the deaths of my step mother-in-law and my father. It’s more than just missing them, which makes our memories of them bittersweet. But knowing that my younger kids and any other kids we have will never get to meet them still makes us choke up a little bit. Some moments were scary, like my time in the hospital coming face to face with my own mortality for the first time ever at almost 35 years old.

 

But some moments were, and will be, such wonderful and happy blessings like the birth of our children. I also think of the first time I realized that I had some pretty strong feelings for a certain green-eyed girl with a big smile that I spent my 19^th birthday with. I still don’t know how I managed to reel her in.

 

I would venture to guess that many of you have had those kinds of moments too. Births, deaths, times of transition, medical close calls, and for some, there have been devastating times that have caused you to find something deep within you that you would have never known was there.

 

When we look back, especially on the difficult, challenging, and life altering experiences we have, we may not always be thankful for the events in our lives themselves, but we are often thankful and grateful for the lessons we learned that were life changing.

 

Truly, the most life altering experience for me was one that began one night in my house and culminated in a hospital bed a few years later. It was when I finally stopped running from Jesus and turned to Him. I had grown up in church, so Jesus wasn’t a stranger to me.

But beginning at a low point in my life and when, after a few years and a dramatic medical crisis, finally submitting fully to God’s will I saw Jesus the Savior I so desperately needed, and still need. I saw Jesus as the Master whose desire to change, lead, and rule my life was greater than my stubbornness to do things on my own, and greater than my sin.

 

I finally saw Jesus as my Lord whom I was called to follow and serve, and it was then that I set off on the life changing path God had always planned for me from before He created me. It hasn’t always been easy, and it has its fair share of bumps in the road because I’m still human, but it’s been so worth it. I hope you’ve had an experience like that of your own in your life, but perhaps without the medial crisis.

 

This morning we’re going to continue in the Gospel of Luke, beginning chapter 5 today, and we’re going to look at the experience that changed the lives of Peter, his brother Andrew, and their business partners James and John. Our passage today reveals to us a mighty God, a Savior that we must follow, and the mission that He calls every follower to. Let’s read God’s Word. Luke 5:1 – 11.

 

Having introduced Simon Peter in Capernaum in chapter 4, chapter 5 begins with the story of how Peter was called from the fishing industry to following Jesus, how he went from catching fish to catching men and women. Our passage begins with “On one occasion,” which literally means, “Now it happened that…”

 

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus; to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, which is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Notice two things here, the crowd was there to hear the very word of God. This is the first use of that expression in the Gospel of Luke, and as the later uses of the phrase reveal to us, the word of God refers to the gospel message.

 

And the other thing to notice is that the crowd was pressing in on him to hear it. The people couldn’t get enough of Jesus. They witnessed His signs, His mighty works of healing and deliverance from demonic possession, and they were amazed at the authority in His teaching.

 

 They were hungry for more of Jesus’ words, His life giving words, the very words of God incarnate Himself. The people may not have realized the reality of what they were hearing, but they were drawn to it.

Jesus almost automatically drew a crowd wherever He went. Over in John 6, when Jesus responded to another crowd, this one of grumbling Jews, Jesus said to them, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” God draws to Jesus whomever He wills, no once can come to Him unless God wills it.

 

So, here is Jesus, getting pressed in on by the crowd by the lake, with seemingly no where to go. And He sees two boats by the lake, and the fishermen were out of them on the shore, washing their nets. These guys were not part of the crowd. As we see a little later in our passage, they had just come in from fishing all night.

 

They were washing their nets, minding their own business and trying to hurry up and go home. These guys must’ve been so engrossed in finishing that night’s work to not have been a part of that crowd pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God.

 

Now, I’m not a fisherman, despite being the son of folks who immigrated from the Azores islands where fishing is a huge part of life. Fishing is certainly not my passion, but it seems fun, at least recreational fishing does. But I have been a bystander a couple of times when commercial fishermen, like these guys in our passage today, have been unloading their cargo and cleaning up from a night of fishing.

 

While on a marriage retreat in Napa, my lovely wife and I went to lunch in Bodega Bay and as we walked across the parking lot, we saw commercial fishermen unloading their catch, and they looked tired. Kind of how I imagine Peter and company were too.

 

But Jesus, had other plans. He gets into one of the boats, Simon Peter’s boat, and asks Him to push off a little from shore. And Peter obliges. He’s likely tired from fishing all night, and he probably wasn’t done washing his nets, but he obliges Jesus and pushes off a little from the land.

 

And then Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat. We’re not explicitly told what He taught the people, though we can guess that since the word of God is the gospel message, that must be what Jesus continued to teach the people. But we’re not told, because that’s not the point to this story.

 

After He finished speaking to the people, Jesus turns to Simon Peter and says to him, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” This time Simon opens his mouth and speaks, he answers Jesus, saying, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!”

 

We know from the rest of the Bible that Peter becomes the spokesperson of the disciples, because he often speaks first without thinking. Peter is one of the most relatable men in the Bible because he has a habit of opening his mouth and inserting his foot. But can you imagine Peter here?

 

He just spent all night fishing and caught nothing, so he’s exhausted and likely frustrated. Then while he’s cleaning his nets, Jesus gets in his boat and asks him to push off. So now Peter is tired, frustrated, and he has to listen to Jesus teach the crowd from the boat when a moment ago Peter was just minding his own business.

 

You know, they say hindsight is 20/20. Knowing what I know now I would have ditched my cows and gone to listen to Jesus teaching the crowd on the shore. I imagine the same is true for Peter, in fact based on Peter’s reaction at seeing the risen Jesus on the shore in John 21 I know the same is true for Peter.

 

But here, Peter still has a lot of growth to experience, a lot of transformation to undergo. He at least gets one thing right; he refers to Jesus as Master. The title Master for Jesus was a favorite of Luke’s and was used only by him in the NT. While the title “teacher” was used for Jesus only by strangers in Luke, “Master” was used only by Jesus’ followers and better reveals His authority and Might.

 

By Peter referring to Jesus as Master, we see why he’s obedient when Jesus gets in his boat and has him push off from shore. So when Jesus then tells Peter to push off into deep water and let his nets down for a catch, Peter’s response isn’t one of disobedience but rather it is very matter of fact.

 

Jesus, says Peter, you’re a carpenter but we’re fishermen and we know this lake. We just spent all night fishing and caught nothing. Peter says they toiled, meaning they worked hard all night for nothing. But, regardless, Peter agreed to do something that at face value appears foolish.

 

Peter wasn’t wrong when he pointed out the foolishness of letting his nets down into the water. The fish were down deep, away from the surface because it was daylight. The fishermen don’t fish at night for fun, they fish at night because that’s when the fish are near the surface feeding.

 

Peter nonetheless obeys Jesus, the Master, and says, “But at your word I will let down the nets.” Man, if only we all obeyed God’s words like that. How many times in our lives do we hear God calling us to do something and we make excuses? How many times do we look at a direction in life that God is leading us towards, and we respond to Him by saying I don’t think this is gonna work?

 

Let me tell you, I’ve done it many times in my life. I didn’t recognize it for many years, but God was calling me to be a teacher, and I ran hard the other way. Even after receiving Jesus, believing in His name in my heart and not just my head, I still didn’t obey His word all the time. He had to allow me to face death in a hospital bed with no where else to go before I would finally listen.

 

I never would’ve imagined in any aspect of my life, let alone after finally submitting to God, that I would have anything to do with the town of Delhi. Being from Hilmar I was biased, so when God called me to serve Him in this town, I had to wrestle with it, I had to ask Him, “are you sure?”

 

It really is humbling to realize and accept that God truly knows better than any of us. Coming here has been one of those life changing moments, not just for me but for my family too.

 

God’s thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and His ways are higher than my ways, and He knew what He was doing when He called me here to serve Him by pastoring in this town, in this church, in this congregation full of such wonderful, loving, hardworking, faithful people. It continues to be a blessing to be a part of this family here.

 

At His word I came here, and at His word Peter let down the nets. He may have thought it was foolishness, but nonetheless he obeyed Jesus’ word. And when He had done this, they caught such a massive number of fish that their nets were breaking. You see, Peter and Jesus weren’t alone on that boat; the other Gospel’s tell us that Peter’s brother Andrew was their too. Though this story is about Peter, there are more people witnessing this than just him.

So big was the haul of fish that they had to call James and John in the other boat for help. And when they got there, they filled both boats so full of fish that the boats began to sink! I always wondered how big these boats were, and wouldn’t you know it, we have an idea.

 

In 1986, the remains of this boat were found buried in the mud of the Sea of Galilee during a severe drought that caused the water level to recede. The boat is roughly 27ft long, 7.5ft wide, & 4.3ft tall.

 

It was designed for a crew of five, but was big enough to carry up to fifteen people. There is no evidence that this is the boat, but this boat does date back to the 1^st century AD, and gives us a wonderful glimpse into this scene in the Gospel of Luke.

 

Right there, knee deep in fish a boat so full it’s sinking, Simon Peter experiences his life changing moment. When he saw how great that catch of fish was, he suddenly realized who he was standing before. Peter was experiencing a theophany, the presence of God. Jesus wasn’t just the Master, He is Lord.

 

This catch of fish revealed to Peter that Jesus is God, the one, as John wrote in his Gospel, who through all things were made, the very Word of God. Jesus commands all creation, he drives out demons, he rebukes fevers and heals any and all illnesses, he calms storms, and he even tells fish to come up from the deep and get into the net.

 

Immediately Peter responds in the only way one should respond in the presence of the Holy God, but falling down at Jesus’ knees. You see the boat, now imagine Peter at Jesus’ knees, in a posture of worship, but instead of worship he says something jarring.

 

He cries out to Jesus, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Jesus is not just Master anymore, Peter sees Him for who He is, Lord. And headstrong Peter, foot in mouth Peter demonstrates quite a self-awareness of himself. He tells Jesus to get away from him because he’s a sinful man. It wasn’t just the nets that were breaking, but Peter.

 

Peter knows that he is not worthy to be in the presence of Jesus. Peter knows how broken and fallen he is. He knows that he should not be in the presences of the Holy One of God. His cry here is along the lines of, forgive me Lord, have mercy on me.

Peter essentially says to Jesus, what is a Holy One like you doing with a sinner like me? As such, Peter was experiencing a healthy dose of fear being a sinner in the presence of the Holy God. Peter’s experience echoes that of the prophet Isaiah.

 

Isaiah had a vision and found himself in the throne room of God, and when he realized that he was in the presence of God Almighty, he too cried out, “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!”

 

When Isaiah saw God, he immediately cried out because he knew he was sinful man, not worthy to be in God’s presence but rather to die for laying eyes on the Holy God. Peter, is quite literally in the same boat, with the same fear. We could all do with a healthy dose of that fear and reverence to God.

 

The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon reflected on his own sinfulness in his sermon titled “All-Sufficiency Magnified,” from 4/15/1860 saying, “I have felt that if God does not send me to hell, He ought to do it; I have felt that I could never complain of His justice, but should be duty bound to wrap my face in my mantle, and say, ‘He is a God of truth, and I am a rebel who deserves His wrath.’”^[1]

 

Because of our sinful nature we all deserve God’s wrath. I am reminded daily that I myself am no better than Peter, Isaiah, or Spurgeon. I too am a sinful man whom the Lord God ought to forsake, to depart from, but instead He chose to embrace me, and to wash me, and to make me clean by the blood of Christ so that I could be in His presence. He does that for everyone who receives salvation by believing in the name of Jesus Christ. Amazing grace indeed.

 

Witnessing Peter at Jesus’ knees, afraid to be the presence of the Holy One of God, is Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. They too were astonished at mighty work Jesus had done with this miraculous catch of fish. They all witnessed this life altering moment in history, in their lives.

 

And Jesus, well Jesus doesn’t teleport off the boat. He doesn’t condemn Peter for his sinfulness. No, like every other theophany in the Bible, Jesus responds to Peter saying, “Don’t be afraid.” Don’t be afraid Peter, because I can deal with your sinfulness.

 

Jesus wasn’t turned away by Peter’s sinfulness, rather Jesus knew He was going to atone for it by His own blood in a few years. So He tells Peter, don’t be afraid, I will take care of your sinfulness and I have a purpose for you Peter. Jesus says, from now on you will be catching men.

 

By reassuring him, Jesus tells Peter that it’s ok that he’s a sinful man, it’s ok that he didn’t realize that Jesus could command the fish into the nets because despite Peter’s failings, Jesus is going to teach Peter how live and how to catch the people that Jesus draws to Himself. I really love how Matthew records this moment in his Gospel. In Matthew 4:19 Jesus says it this way, “Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

 

And that’s precisely what they did. Our passage ends on this note, “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” They left their business, James and John left their father, Peter left behind a family, they left behind this massive catch of fish that was probably worth a lot of money (I’m sure Zebedee appreciated not having to share the profits).

 

They left everything of their old lives behind after this life changing encounter with Jesus, and they followed him. Through great heights, and dark valleys, they followed Him. Peter witnessed firsthand many of the great and mighty works of Jesus, and on the night that Jesus was betrayed Peter denied Christ three times. Yet he follows Jesus, to the death. Church history tells that, with the exception of John, they all followed Jesus to their deaths as martyrs.

 

Because Jesus is Lord, you can trust Him with every area of your life and follow Him fully to know and fulfill His purpose for your life.

 

You see, back in Isaiah when Isaiah despaired for his life because of his sinfulness God sent a seraphim with a burning hot coal to touch it on Isaiah’s mouth. As Isaiah wrote, “And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”

After that, Isaiah heard the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah answered, “Here I am! Send me.”

 

God wasn’t turned away by Isaiah’s sinfulness; he removed it from him. In the same way, Jesus wasn’t turned away by Peter’s sinfulness, He ultimately atoned for it Himself, and had a purpose for Peter.

 

Peter and the other disciples there left everything, and followed Jesus, and then grew His church. Peter’s first sermon in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost led to 3,000 souls being saved. Peter caught more men than fish.

 

In the same way God isn’t turned away by your sinfulness, by your brokenness, by your weakness, by your humanity. He takes you, and He transforms you over the course of your life into the likeness of Christ Jesus. And in that process God leads you in fulfilling His purpose for you.

 

Jesus transforms sinners into disciples who will in turn make more disciples, demonstrating that His call is for everyone, regardless of their past. Our recognition of our brokenness and inadequacies is the first step towards answering Jesus’ call to follow Him and become active participants in His mission.

 

Jesus invites us from our failures into a journey of purpose, transforming us from sinners into faithful disciples who participate in His mission. True transformation begins when we recognize Jesus not just as Master but as Lord, respond to His call with obedience—even when it seems foolish—and leave behind our old lives to follow Him into the purpose He has prepared for us.

 

Let today be the day you respond to Jesus not just as Master but as Lord—step out in faith, obey His call even when it challenges your comfort or logic, and boldly leave behind whatever holds you back so you can follow Him into the life-changing purpose He has for you.

 

Trust that Jesus will lead and empower you to fulfill your God given purpose. Step out in faith by trusting in the name of Jesus—believe that He died to forgive your sins, and rest in the assurance that your true identity is now a beloved, born-again child of God in Christ, no longer defined by the guilt of your past, and embrace being His disciple.

 

 

Obey God’s call on your life, no matter how illogical it may seem or uncomfortable it may make you. If no one has told you this, I’m sorry, but if you’re a Christian, if you’re a believer, then you are a disciple. And since you are a disciple, you are called to make more disciples. Obedience to God is one mark of a disciple.

 

This passage is as much about the glory, might, and holiness of Christ being revealed and proclaimed by Peter’s response as it as a passage about discipleship and evangelism. Obey God’s call to live out the gospel and to share the gospel.

 

And do not be afraid to leave behind what holds you back. Let nothing get in the way of you following Jesus. Let nothing get in the way of you leading others to Jesus.

 

Let nothing keep you from following Him into the life-changing purpose He has for you. I promise, no matter how hard it may be, it is worth it. Jesus is worth following, He didn’t just prove that by this catch of fish, He proved that by the entirety of Scripture, and He’s proven that by the work He’s already done in your life.

 

Your purpose in life is found in following Jesus. So follow Jesus boldly—trust Him, obey His call, and leave behind whatever holds you back to embrace the purpose He has for your life.

 

Let’s pray.

 

[1] --- C.H. Spurgeon, Sermon No. 306