1 One day while Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee, many people were pressing all around him to hear the word of God. 2 Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Jesus got into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, and asked him to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down and continued to teach the people from the boat.
4 When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and put your nets in the water to catch some fish.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” 6 When the fishermen did as Jesus told them, they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. 7 They called to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they were almost sinking.
8 When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” 9 He and the other fishermen were amazed at the many fish they caught, as were 10 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” 11 When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
Read Luke 5:1-11 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While the gospel of John shares with us Jesus’ first encounter with some of the men who would ultimately become Jesus’ closest disciples, Luke’s gospel includes the details that prompted these four early disciples to leave everything to follow Jesus.
In this event, we see an amazing example of faith in the midst of doubt from the man who would become the most famous disciple of them all: Simon Peter.
The event begins one morning as Jesus is teaching by the lake. In my mind’s eye, the crowd was getting a little big, and the people kept crowding closer and closer to hear Jesus, and the space between Jesus and the water kept getting smaller and smaller.
Seeing a couple of boats and recognizing their owners, Jesus walks over and asks to use one of the boats to teach from. Jesus finishes His sermon while in the boat, and Simon (also known as Peter) and Andrew continue cleaning their nets from inside the boat.
After finishing the sermon, Jesus turns to the men and says, “Take the boat into deep water, and put your nets in the water to catch some fish.” (v. 4)
Here is where Peter gives us an amazing response – even before accepting the call to be a disciple. He answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” (v. 5)
It is like Peter is telling Jesus, “Hey, I’m the expert fisherman and you are the expert preacher. I didn’t catch anything last night during the prime fishing time. I don’t want to offend you, so I’ll try again, but if your plan doesn’t work, then perhaps you should just stick to preaching while I stick to fishing.”
But while Peter was doubtful of Jesus’ plan, he decided to try it out. By casting their nets into the water, these two early disciples displayed a willingness to test Jesus’ words with their actions. The result was the opposite of what they expected, and their catch was so large that it took multiple boats to drag it to shore.
Simon Peter was willing to act even though he was doubtful of the outcome. This shows way more faith than we might realize. Too many people today reject God’s plan because it doesn’t make sense in their mind, or because they don’t have all the answers for their questions. These people choose to skip testing Jesus because they are certain it wouldn’t work.
Peter’s decision in the boat is exactly like our decision is today: Do we test Jesus, even if we are almost certain of the results, or do we simply not put forth the effort and never know if things would have been different?
The call of these four disciples by the lake shows us that it is worth testing Jesus’ teaching, and seeing for ourselves – from our own experience – if following Jesus is worth it.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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