Luke 5:1-11
1 Now it happened
that while the crowd was pressing around Him (remember they wanted Him to stay) and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the
2 and He saw two
boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them
and were washing their nets.
They were washing their nets because they were done fishing. It was daytime, and they fished at night. During the hot days, the fish would go down to the cooler bottom of the lake. At night, they would come up to the surface to feed.
3 And 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.
4 When He had
finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let
down your nets for a catch."
These are professional fishermen. Peter has partners, and more than one boat. The command that the Lord gives him goes against everything he knows about fishing – and he knows a lot! It’s totally contrary to every sound principle of fishing. But what does Peter do? He obeys!
5 Simon answered and
said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do
as You say and let down the nets."
The word master is the Greek word EPISTATES. It means an official who has the authority to command. Peter recognizes the authority of Jesus to use his boat however He desires.
The principle here is that when the Lord directs, we are to simply obey His authority. Often the direction may not make sense to you, but we are not to reason why or question, but simply to obey.
Based on the original language, a better translation would be “but upon Your word, I will let down my nets.” Peter is standing ready to obey, even though he knows it is contrary to everything he has ever learned about catching fish.
6 When they had done
this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
7 so 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.
Notice how the Lord provides – way above and beyond what they expected! When we orient to the authority of our Lord and allow Him to use whatever we have for His glory, then great things will happen! When the Lord provides, He always does it with abundance – our cup runs over!
8 But
when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go
away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"
9 For amazement had
seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had
taken;
Peter and his partners were completely overwhelmed by what Jesus had done. Peter basically says, “I’m not worthy!”
10 and 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."
Notice the compassion of Jesus. Do not fear!
Sometimes there is big difference between knowing what God wants you to do, and actually doing it. Our responsibility is to take the things we know from God’s word, and step out in faith and do them, even if they seem contrary to what we know. Because when we do, God will provide for us far beyond what we can imagine.