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Luke 5:1–11 brings us to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where the crowds are pressing around Jesus to hear the Word of God. Simon Peter and the other fishermen have finished a fruitless night of work and are washing their nets when Jesus steps into Simon’s boat and asks him to push out from the shore. But this is important: Peter is not meeting Jesus for the first time. Andrew had already brought his brother to Jesus after John the Baptist declared Him to be the Lamb of God, and Peter had also seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law in Capernaum. Jesus had already been working in Peter’s life. Peter had been watching, listening and learning. Now the call was going to become much more personal.
When Jesus finishes teaching the crowd, He tells Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter is an experienced fisherman. He knows the lake, and he knows they have already worked through the night without catching anything. Everything in his experience gives him a reason to question the instruction. Yet his response is the heart of the passage: “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” There is a lesson here for every believer. Our experience, plans and understanding may tell us one thing, but when Christ has spoken, the faithful response is obedience. Peter lets down the net, and suddenly there are so many fish that the net begins to break and both boats are filled almost to the point of sinking.
Yet the greatest thing happening in this passage is not the catch of fish. When Peter sees what has happened, he falls before Jesus and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Peter sees something of who Christ is, and in that light he also sees himself more clearly. His response is one of humility. But Christ does not reject him. Jesus tells him, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” Peter says, in effect, “I am not worthy to be near You,” while Jesus responds by calling him nearer: Come and follow Me. There is tremendous hope in that. We come to Christ aware of our sin and our need, and through the cross of Calvary He gives us what we could never produce ourselves. He receives us as we are, but His purpose is never to leave us as we are.
The passage also challenges the way we think about ministry and the work of God. We naturally want plans, procedures and programmes, and some of these can certainly be useful. But they cannot accomplish what only God can do. We cannot argue somebody into faith or manufacture spiritual conversion through better methods. Jesus tells us in John 6:44 that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him. Our responsibility is to faithfully speak the Word; the work of changing the heart belongs to God. As you emphasise in the teaching, we proclaim the living Word that reveals Christ, and we allow the Spirit of God to do His work.
That leaves us with both a challenge and an encouragement. When Peter, James and John bring the boats back to land, they forsake everything and follow Jesus. They do not try to package the miraculous catch into a technique for catching more fish. The miracle has pointed them beyond the gift to the One who gave it. Christ calls Peter, begins changing him, and gives his life a new purpose. The same Lord still calls people today. Wherever we are when He calls us, we can bring ourselves to Him — our failure, sin, inadequacy and all. But we should also expect Him to change us. In Christ we become a new creation, made for the good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We keep coming to His Word, learning who He is, and allowing that Word to shape us into the people He has called us to be.
