Let’s Go Fishing
Luke 5: 1-11
As you all know I am a fisherman. It is in my blood. My father taught me and my two brothers to fish when we were very young. I remember one time we were fishing from a dock in the Little Sandy River. Dad had just bought a new rod and reel and my brother Mike being the oldest who was about 10 years old, begged my father to let him use it. Dad gave in and let him.
Now it was not long until my little brother Keith caught a small fish. Mike got so excited when he saw the fish, that he threw the new rod and reel in the water while turning to take the fish off the hook. When the smoked cleared and we realized what had just happened…….Well let’s just say, we decided to go swimming for awhile.
By the way, I have a question for you.
Q. What is the difference between a hunter and a fisherman?
A. A hunter lies in wait and a fisherman waits and lies.
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Well, our scripture today is not about a boy throwing his pole in the water nor is it about the one that got away.
Luke’s fish story is about catching a lot more than just one fish. It happens on the Sea of Galilee not the Little Sandy. The Sea is a beautiful body of water and is still full of fish today. It is really a fresh-water lake, 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. Because it is 680 feet below sea level, it has almost a tropical climate. Nowadays the area around the sea is sparsely populated, but in Jesus’ day, there were nine towns clustered around the Sea, none with less than 15,000 population.
Jesus noticed two boats down by the shore, one owned by Simon Peter. Jesus asked if he could use a boat as a speaker’s platform from which to teach the crowds of people. Verse 4 tells us that when Jesus finished teaching and pronounced the benediction, he said to Simon, "Let’s go fishing."