Luke 5:1-11 Series

As is typical of my messages I do not have a written closing. Your crowd differs from my crowd so therefore the closing would probably need to be different anyway. Be blessed!

Gospel of Luke 5:1-11

We are in a message series on the Gospel of Luke

The word “gospel” literally means “good news”

So, you could say that this series is about “The good news of Luke”

What exactly is this good news?

Simply put, it’s the life story of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most influential person who has ever existed

Even if you’re not a Christian, or even a particularly religious person, you cannot deny this fact

No one life has affected the whole of humanity more than Jesus Christ

Since He has affected the world so deeply you would think that all of us would know a lot about Him, but unfortunately that is not true

Many claim to know about Jesus, but in reality few people really do

The Gospel of Luke details the events of Jesus’ life from His birth to His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection

Luke is written by a Gentile to a Gentile audience

Since the vast majority of us listening to this message are Gentiles I think it’s very appropriate that we study this Gospel

Let’s jump right into our passage for today in Luke chapter 5

We are still in the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry

He’s been baptized in the Jordan river, tempted by the devil in the desert, and rejected in His hometown

He’s performed a couple of miracles and is now getting ready to really launch His public ministry

Luke 5:1-11 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So 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. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

There are 3 Key things happening in this passage of Scripture

1 – Jesus was ministering to both the crowd and the individual

Jesus was teaching along the shores of Lake Gennesaret – which is another name for the Sea of Galilee

There was apparently quite a crowd following Him and they were crowding around Him

As Jesus was teaching the crowd He saw two boats along the shore line and got into the one owned by Simon – who was later called Peter ( I will probably call him Peter from here out)

He asked Simon to “put out a little from shore” and when Simon did Jesus began teaching the crowds from the water

Why did Jesus do this?

I think there are two reasons

First of all it was a practical reason – the crowd was pushing in on Him and this allowed Jesus a little breathing room to teach

I know we have a few teachers here today – I am a teacher myself at both a high school and a community college – and I think they would all agree with me that it’s a lot more difficult to teach when people are surrounding you on all sides

When I teach I like to have my students in front of me where I can see them all – I hate having to turn in several directions to make sure I can see and be heard

Plus it’s tough to concentrate when people are pressing in on every side

Being on the water allowed Jesus to look in one direction without having people press in on Him, plus there are plenty of places on the shores of lake Gennesaret where the shape of the shoreline makes a natural amphitheater