Help Wanted

Luke 4:42 – 5:11

The last couple of verses in Luke 4 tie in well with main passage for today, so we will go back and pick them up.  We saw Jesus as He began to establish both His identity and authority.  He did that through displays of divine power over the spiritual world by casting out a demon and in healing.   Not only did he heal Peter’s mother-in-law, but the next verse says that everyone who had a sick loved one was bringing him or her to Jesus and Jesus healed them all. 

This mass of hurting humanity didn’t come until after sundown.  It was the Sabbath day when Jesus did this and the people, still bound under the legalistic laws of the Jews didn’t want to break any Sabbath day ordinances.  So they waited until the sun set.  According to Jewish reckoning the old day ends and the new one begins at sunset.  So as soon as the sun went down it was no longer the Sabbath and people could haul the sick to Jesus for healing. 

And that is where our story picks up.  Our main text will be Luke 5:1-11, but lets start with Luke 4:40-44:

We have no idea how late into the night Jesus worked healing people but you get the impression that it took a while.  Verse 40 says ‘all who had any sick with various diseases.’  That would probably be a lot of people.  And Jesus dealt with each one individually.  So it seems reasonable to conclude that Jesus didn’t get to bed until late.  But a late night didn’t stop Jesus from doing what He knew was very important.  Verse 42 simply states that when day came Jesus went off to a lonely place.  But the Gospel of Mark gives a little more detail.  Mark 1:35 says, “And early in the morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.”

Jesus was a busy guy.  He had places to go and things to do.  Numerous people wanted His attention.  His day timer was packed.  His palm pilot was constantly beeping at Him.  Yet Jesus knew that no matter how busy He was He could not neglect the high priority of prayer and time with His Father. 

Let me ask you a question.  When your life gets hectic and demands are coming at you from every direction what gets pushed out of your schedule?  What gets left undone or shoved back into that pile of “I’ll get to it later” stuff?  If we are following the example of Jesus it won’t be those things necessary to build and maintain a good relationship with God.

When the people found Jesus they found Him praying.  They didn’t want Him to leave and I can’t blame them.  But Jesus knew there were many more people in other cities that needed to hear the good news of the gospel, so He kept to His plan to proclaim the message throughout Judea.  And that moves us into chapter 5 where we find Jesus once again preaching. 

By this time multitudes were coming to hear him.  The small synagogues could not contain the people and Jesus didn’t want to limit the sharing of the good news to just one day a week.  So now He is out preaching in the countryside.  In this case near the shore of the Sea of Galilee, which was also called, as Luke does here, lake Gennesaret.

The crowd is huge and it begins pressing in towards Jesus so to be able to better preach to the multitude Jesus looks for another pulpit.  Look at verses 2 and 3:

2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

This is not the first time Jesus and Peter had met.   Peter had been listening to Jesus since He began His public ministry.  Jesus had been in Peter’s home and even healed his mother-in-law.  So the two were friends.  And when Jesus requested the use of his boat to preach out of Peter had no problem with that. 

It must have been relatively early in the morning because Peter and the crew were busy washing their nets.  Fishing on the Sea of Galilee was a night job.  After working all night crews would come in, take care of the fish first, then mend and wash the nets to get them all ready for the next night’s work. 

A small fishing boat would have been about 25 to 30 feet long and fairly wide for stability.  It probably had a small cabin area and a hold for keeping the fish.  They were usually manned by a crew of about 6 men.  I would have made an excellent place for Jesus to preach from as the crowd could have sat on the gently sloping shore and heard Jesus from just about any position.

We don’t know how long Jesus preached but by the time He was done Peter and the crews were finished with their work as well.  And that is when Jesus gives a seemingly odd command to Peter,

4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

You can tell that Peter is less than thrilled about this idea from his initial response:

5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.

Are you kidding?  Go out again?  We just got done fishing all night and didn’t catch a thing.  We’re tired and hungry.  What do you mean go out again? 

Besides that, it didn’t make good sense to go fishing now.  Peter might have been tempted to think something like this: “Jesus, thanks for the suggestion but you don’t really know what you are talking about here.  You were raised and trained as a carpenter.  Now you are a Rabbi walking around the countryside teaching people.  You don’t know the ins and the outs of the fishing business.  I, on the other hand, am a fisherman.  I was raised on the Sea of Galilee.  I learned the trade from my father.  Been doing it since I was a little boy.  I know all the tricks.  And I can tell you that going out in the bright sunlight, to the deep water no less, is not good fishing technique." 

But Jesus didn’t make a suggestion.  He gave a command, “Put out in the deep water and let your nets down for a catch.”  I think in Peter’s reply we can catch a hint of faith and doubt, of trust and misgivings.  His fisherman’s expertise raised doubts and whispered to him that following Jesus’ plan would be crazy.  His soul, illuminated by faith was urging him to trust Jesus and obey. 

I think perhaps many of us experience a bit of that struggle now and then.  In one area or another we feel like we are the expert and we know the way things should be done.  How about you?  What is your area of expertise that makes it difficult to follow God’s plan?  Could it be dealing with a problem at work?  Or maybe it is in the way you will handle your emotions?  Perhaps it is how to deal with a rebellious child or maybe unbelieving parents.  It could be in handling finances.  Maybe, like Peter it is in the best way to run your business. 

And you struggle a little bit.  There are some doubts in your mind about the wisdom of what Jesus has instructed.  Does He really know what He is talking about in your situation?  After all, the Bible was written an awfully long time ago.  Things have changed in the world, haven’t they?  There may be some doubts, but like Peter we need to let that little bit of faith win out.  Peter said to Jesus, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at your bidding I will let down the nets.” 

So they loaded up the boat and headed out to deep water.  Of sense to Peter, but Jesus knew all along what He was going to do:

6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

Can you imagine all the whooping and hollering that must have been going on?  I mean that is a load of fish.  One time in Canada I was fishing with my brother-in-law Craig and his son Josh.  We went back into one little bay and happened to get in the middle of a feeding frenzy of 4 to 6 pound Northern Pikes.  Literally every single cast we were catching fish.  We started tossing them in the live well and pretty soon it was overflowing.  Every time we would open the door to toss another one in two or three of them would flip out on the boat floor.  We shouted and laughed till our voices were hoarse and reeled fish in until our arms ached.  It was a hoot. 

But that was nothing compared to the catch Peter made.  These were large commercial fishing nets and they were so full the nets started to rip and tear.  He dumped fish in his boat and the partners boat so fast that he didn’t realize how heavy he was getting.  Pretty soon someone notices and says, “Man the boats are sinking, we’ve got to stop.” 

That caused Peter to slow down a second and think about what he just witnessed.  Slowly it dawned on him there was no natural explanation for this catch of fish.  I’m sure he had good days of fishing before.  No doubt he had caught large schools in his nets.  But there was nothing even close to this spectacular catch of fish.  There was no other explanation than a miracle.

And in that realization Peter also comprehended the truth that Jesus was no ordinary man.  Only the divine could have this power over nature.

8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,

I don’t believe Peter fully understood who Jesus was yet, but he did know that he was in the presence of a man of God.  Not just a godly man, you know, a good person.  But this was a man with the power of God at His disposal.  This was obviously a person who in some special way represented God, spoke for God and acted with the power of God.  Jesus was super human, that is, beyond human.

We all have the benefit of knowing the whole story.  We’ve read the book and know who Jesus is.  Peter didn’t know about the virgin birth.  He didn’t know about the angels proclaiming good news to men when Jesus was born.  He did not know that this was actually God in human flesh standing before him. 

But this miracle did convince him that Jesus was from God.  And so he fell at His feet, which is a position of worship and subservience, and he cried out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!”  Now what did Peter mean by that?  Was he telling Jesus ‘get off of my boat?’   Was he saying ‘get away from me I don’t want to have anything to do with you?’  I don’t think so.

This was Peter understanding that he was not worthy to be in the presence of Jesus.  What would Jesus, this obviously divine man, have to do with a sinner like Peter?  This was Peter saying, “I don’t belong.  I’m not good enough.  Jesus, you shouldn’t have anything to do with me because I am nothing but a rotten, lousy, good for nothing sinner.”   In the presence of the holy God of the universe, sinful man trembles.

But do you know what the most wonderful thing about this account is?  The most wonderful thing is that Jesus did not grant that request.  Peter cried out depart from me, but instead of leaving Jesus picked him up and said, “Do not fear.”  

10 ...Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men."

Jesus could comfort Peter because Jesus came to save sinners.  And when a person recognizes their sinfulness and turns to Jesus, those are the people Jesus opens His arms to and receives.  On another occasion Jesus said, “All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out…For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life.” 

Jesus could tell Peter not to fear because Jesus, instead of holding Himself aloof from sinners came to die for sinners.  And not only did Jesus comfort Peter but He also helped Peter to realize this was a critical turning point in His life.  Jesus was going to take an unworthy sinner and instead of casting him out of His sight, He would turn him into an instrument for use in the Father’s kingdom.  For that privilege Peter and his companions would do anything,

11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Today Jesus is doing that same work.  What makes you feel unworthy before the Lord?  Is it your past sins?  Some personal failure?  Maybe a current struggle that you are having?  I want you to understand that Jesus says to you, “Do not fear.”  He shed His blood so that every failure could be swept away by His grace.  And now He is in the process of transforming every person that throws himself at His feet. 

The process takes time.  This was just the beginning of Jesus’ work with Peter.  Peter would stumble and fall, sometimes quite horribly.  But the promise of Jesus never faltered.  Jesus takes unworthy sinners like Peter, like me and like you and He transforms us to be useful members of God’s kingdom. 

 You may cry out, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man or woman.”  But instead of leaving Jesus opens up His arms to receive you and tells you, “Do not fear."