Miracles Of Jesus: Fishin' With The Lord Series

Miracles of Jesus: Fishin’ With The Lord

Luke 5:1-11

INTRODUCTION...

This miracle of Jesus comes at a time when Jesus is still calling the disciples to follow Him. In fact, this miracle happens before Matthew is even called to join the 12 disciples (he is called in Luke 5:27-32). So the disciples are just beginning their walks with Him. The disciples are just beginning to learn all about Jesus. As usual for Jesus, verse 1 tells us that a crowd had gathered around Him and they were “listening to the Word of God.”

Let’s listen to the Word of God this morning.

READ LUKE 5:1-11

These verses of Luke 5 tell us that Jesus was at the Lake of Galilee. We do not know what He was doing exactly, but we know He ended up teaching people while there. Jesus sees a boat that belongs to a friend and sets out in the boat so that He can address the people and they can hear Him. After Jesus teaches the people, the real exciting things begin to happen.

Jesus meets the friend as He returns with his boat. The man is Simon, we know him better as Simon Peter or Peter. Peter was a fisherman and his fishing time was over. I can imagine that he was quite tired as were the other fishermen that he worked with. In fact, verse 2 the Bible tells us that the fisherman had cleaned their nets and so we know that more fishing was not in the plan.

Jesus speaks to Simon Peter in verse 4, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Here we have the beginning of the miracle. Jesus tells Simon Peter to fish. Simon Peter tells Jesus something very significant.

#1 = he and the other fishermen had already worked hard all night

#2 = he and the other fishermen had caught nothing

Why are these things significant? Well, the first thing that Simon Peter tells Jesus is that he and his companions had already spent a great deal of energy trying to catch fish. They had already worked hard all night and they knew what they were doing. The second thing that Simon Peter tells Jesus is that they did not catch any fish. It just isn’t a good day fishing. These men were professional fishermen and it was not the day to catch fish.

These two things, though, are not the only things that Simon Peter said to Jesus. Simon Peter also said, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Was Jesus a fisherman? No, of course not, we know that Jesus was a carpenter by trade. So why listen to Jesus?

Anyway, Simon Peter and his buddies, whom we later find out are James and John the sons of Zebedee and probably his own brother Andrew, set out in their boat. I am thinking that it took a while because Jesus told the men to set out for “deep water” and cast out their nets. I can imagine that Simon Peter and the others thought that they were having Déjà vu, as though they had just done this, and they had! So why listen to Jesus?

Verse 6 tells us that when they let down their nets they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. Now that is a lot of fish! At the end of the ordeal of getting the net into the boat, two boats were absolutely so full that the boats began to sink. Lots and lots of fish. They could make all kinds of fish: fish steaks, fish kabobs, fried fish, baked fish, any kind of fish they wanted. I do not think that Simon or Andrew or James or John had ever seen a catch like this (verse 9). It was amazing! It was a miracle!

I pose this question to you… it is the same question I have been asking all along actually… So why listen to Jesus? What is it about Jesus that prompted crowds of people to gather and listen to Him? What is it about Jesus that prompted Simon Peter and the others to set out in their boats at His word?

The answer comes in verses 5 and 8 with how Peter addresses Jesus. In verse 5, Peter addresses Jesus as “Master” and in verse 8 Peter addresses Jesus as “Lord.” The answer to why Peter listened to Jesus was because Jesus was the Master and Lord of His life.

Jesus tackles this issue elsewhere in Scripture:

Luke 6:46-49: "Why do you call me, ’Lord Lord’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”