Luke 5:1-11

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Challenging Men (Luke 5:1-11)

5 While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. 2And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon'S, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. 5And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. 6And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets wre breaking, 7they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus-' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men. 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Luke 5:1-3 Teaching: The great popularity of Jesus made people continually hound Him for healing or some other great miracle. Luke notes that crowds followed Jesus down to the shore of the lake of Gennesaret and there pressed upon Him.

Gennesaret is a Hebrew name meaning, princely garden. It is also the name of a very fertile plain three miles long and one-half mile wide on the northwestern shore of the lake. Luke very accurately calls it a lake. It is also known as the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias, and in the Old Testament as the Sea of Chinnereth, (meaning, harpshaped). It is a fresh-water lake resting 680 feet below sea level surrounded by mountains so that it resembles a huge bowl. The lake swarmed with fish of many different verities. Barclay notes that in it were found shoals of fish covering as much as an acre. The lake is about 13 miles long and 9 miles wide at its widest point. In Christ's day nine cities of 15,000 or more stood on its shores. It was the scene of much of Jesus-' Galilean ministries. It is noted for its sudden and violent storms caused by cold air sweeping down from the vast northern plateaus and converging with the tropical humidity of the lake 680 feet below sea level.
The crowds pushing and pressing made it impossible for Jesus to find a place to stand where all could see and hear Him. He saw two empty fishing boats. The fishermen were out on the shore washing their nets after a long night of fishing and catching nothing. Jesus stepped into one of the boats; it belonged to Simon Peter (the other boat probably belonged to John and James). This is not the first time Jesus met these Galilean fishermen.
He asked Peter to push the boat out into the lake a little way. Then Jesus sat down and began to teach. The Greek imperfect verb edidasken means Jesus kept on teaching the people. Luke does not record what Jesus said. But apparently what He taught had some connection to the great miracle which followed immediately. He must have taught things which pointed to His identity as the Messiah, for when He ceased speaking words He began teaching by sign and portent what He wanted to communicate: He is Lord! He desires that men leave all and follow Him!

Luke 5:4-7 Testing: Luke, the world traveler, notes that Jesus used the word epanagage a definite Greek nautical term meaning, put to sea, set sail, launch forth, (cf. Luke 8:22; Acts 13:13; Acts 16:11; Acts 18:21, etc.). Jesus instructed the fishermen to row out to the deep (Gr. bathos) part of the lake which could be as much as 150 ft. deep and let down their nets. Here is a landlubber telling experienced fishermen how to fish!

Fishing was one of the three major industries of Galilee (along with agriculture and sheep-herding). Fishermen had an honorable place in society. They had a reputation of being seriously religious. There had been fishermen in Israel beyond the memory of man. Job, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Habakkuk all speak of fishermen and their work. The tools of their trade, the back-breaking toil and the many fruitless hours, demanded strong, rough, tough, fearless, patient men. The daily experiences of fishermen taught them to be hard-headed realists. These character traits coupled with a lack of formal higher education would make them unlikely candidates for positions of leadership in the estimation of most people. Yet these are the very men Jesus chose to be apostles! The humble heart of a servant is fundamentally more significant to Jesus than all the erudition and charm in the world. The Israelites chose their first king on the basis of charm and not character (1 Samuel 8:1-22; 1 Samuel 9:1-27) and the results were tragic!

It was, therefore, a real test of their character when Jesus commanded, ... let down your nets for a catch. Peter answered, Master (Gr. epistata, meaning one who has the right to command, or captain) we toiled all night and took nothing! Peter uses the Greek word kopiasantes which means to labor strenuously until one is weary and sore. Peter was tired. But Peter acknowledged the authority of Jesus to demand his trust even in the face of what seemed impossible, and at the word of Jesus let down the net once more that day.

How had Peter arrived at this relationship with Jesus? Peter and Andrew, James and John had been directed to Jesus by John the Baptist a year (or more) previous to this encounter (John 1:35 ff). From that first encounter near the time of Jesus-' baptism (December 26 A.D.), they followed Him, heard His teaching and saw many of His miracles for about a year. These fishermen saw Him make water into wine (John 2:1-25) and cleanse the Temple; do many miracles in Judea (John 3:2); preach to Nicodemus and the woman at the well (John 3:1-36; John 4:1-54); and perhaps they witnessed the healing of the Capernaum nobleman's son (John 4:1-54). After that they apparently returned to their fishing businesses on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus conducted His early Galilean ministry (Luke 4:1-44). Peter's acknowledgement of Jesus-' captaincy was not an emotional, spur-of-the-moment whimit was based on solid evidence which he had witnessed with his own eyes and ears.

Obedience to the word of Jesus brought into their nets such a huge quantity of fish the nets began to tear and come apart (Gr. dierresseto). They had to motion (Gr. kateneusan, nodding the head vigorously) to their partners to come help. Galilean fishermen had to form partnerships to have the capital to buy equipment and to carry out the extremely difficult labor. In speaking of such teamwork Luke uses two words, metochois (partners Luke 5:7) and koinonoi (sharers Luke 5:10); literally the words would be have with and participate with respectively. The boats were filled so full they were sinking, In verse six the literal description of the catch is, they enclosed a multitude of fishes, a much.

Luke 5:8-11 Turning: Although Peter had undoubtedly witnessed miracles by Jesus before (see above), this miracle on his own home grounds, involving his own vocation, his own boat and his own close associates, had profound impact on the deepest recesses of his personality. Here was One who had demonstrated supernatural sovereignty over matters which touched the most intimate aspects of Peter's life. Surely He was Lord! Peter was a realist, but he was also a man of deep feeling and religious devotion. Recognizing Jesus as Lord implicated Peter as a sinful man in the presence of Deity! Peter knew what Isaiah knew (Isaiah 6:1 ff)God is absolutely holy, man is unholy and in need of forgiveness. This was a turning point in Peter's life! Jesus had never before challenged anyone to leave all and follow Him, but He was about to do so.

Matthew and Mark record that Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. Luke adds these words of Jesus, Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men. Jesus used the Greek word zogron which means literally, capturing alive. The word is used in reference to the devil's capturing people (2 Timothy 2:26). Apparently the emphasis is on securing and saving the lives of men for one purpose or another. Jesus wants men captured alive for Him that He may give them eternal blessedness. The devil wants to trap men alive to take them with him to eternal torment (Revelation 20:10). These fishermen added up all the evidence they had of who Jesus was and made the most momentous decision of their lives. They left everything else in second place and made Him and His will first in their lives. They went with Him to assist Him in His divine mission. They turned from being fishermen to become fishers of men.

The great Fisherman, Christ; His disciples, fishers; the world of men pictured as fish; these were favorite images of Christian artists and writers of the first centuries of the church. One of the earliest extant Christian hymns written by Clement of Alexandria (155-215 A.D.) dwells on such images:

Fisher of men, the blest,
Out of the world's unrest,
Out of sin's troubled sea,
Taking us, Lord, to thee;
Out of the waves of strife
With bait of blissful life;
Drawing thy nets to shore,
With choicest fish, good store.

The picture of the fish carved on so many tombs in the catacombs of Rome preserves this image until this very day.

Applebury's Comments

Fishers of Men
Scripture

Luke 5:1-11 Now it came to pass, while the multitude pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and he saw two boats standing by the lake: but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon'S, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat. 4 And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answered and said, Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets. 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking; 7 and they beckoned unto their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus-' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken; 10 and so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed him.

Comments

multitudes pressed upon him.The crowds, in their eagerness to hear Jesus, followed Him everywhere. He felt the pressure of the multitudes as they crowded around Him. The people of Nazareth marveled at the words of grace that came from His lips, but they were unable to accept them because they thought of Him only as Joseph's son. Elsewhere the eager multitudes listened to Him until the jealous Pharisees and their scribes planted doubt in their minds. This persistent opposition came to a climax at the trial of Jesus. The very people whom Jesus had so often befriended were stirred up by the leaders and led to cry out, Let Him be crucified.

standing by the lake of Gennesaret.Jesus often taught in the formal setting of the synagogue; but, for the most part, He taught in informal situations like this one. He was standing by the lake when the crowds came up to Him and urged Him to speak the word of God to them.

Luke uses Lake Gennesaret for Sea of Galilee. Accuracy is a characteristic of his writings. Gennesaret is derived from the name of the plain that drains into the Sea of Galilee. It is probably a corrupted form of the name Chinnereth. Another name was Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1), derived from the city of Tiberias which Herod Antipas built in honor of Tiberias Caesar. It was located on the southwest shore of the Sea. Its Old Testament name was Chinnerethperhaps because the shape of the lake reminded people of a harp (Numbers 34:11), or it may have come from the ancient city of the same name (Joshua 19:35).

he saw two boats.Matthew reminds us that Peter and Andrew were casting their nets when Jesus first spoke to them (Matthew 4:18).

Luke takes up the account after they had left the boats and continues it as they washed the nets. Each writer emphasizes the point that is necessary for the purpose of his writing.
Some assume from the differences in the accounts that there were two different events. If there were, it does not affect the lesson presented in the Gospel record. Jesus used the miracle as an occasion to teach His disciples about becoming fishers of men. From henceforth, He said, You shall catch men,

Put out into the deep.Peter knew that Jesus had the right to issue such a command, for Andrew had introduced him to Jesus the Messiah (John 1:40-43). He had seen the miracle when Jesus healed his wife's mother. And now, although it was against his experience and judgment as a fisherman, he was willing to obey the order.

Master.Jesus is often called Lord, Teacher, Rabbi; but Luke adds another term, Master. It is similar in meaning to Rabbi or teacher, but it adds to that title the right to command. They were in Peter's boat, but he recognized Jesus-' right to give the orders.

I will let down the nets.A remarkable demonstration of confidence in Jesus! But Jesus was not just interested in their catching fish; He was preparing them for the lesson He was about to teach about their becoming fishers of men.

Depart from me.Simon was so impressed by the miracle that he fell down at Jesus-' knees and said to Him, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Just how clear his understanding of the deity of Jesus was at this point, we are not able to tell. But there was something in the miracle, together with all that he had seen done by Jesus before this time, that made him recognize his own sinfulness and the exalted position of the One whom he had just called Master. Now he addresses Him as Lord.

Peter should have asked the Lord to forgive his sin; but it may be that he was not aware of this possibility at the time. Such mistakes are bound to occur when men attempt to tell the Lord what to do instead of following the example of Saul of Tarsus who said, What shall I do, Lord? (Acts 22:10).

For he was amazed.Astonishment seized Peter and the others with him when they saw the miracle take place before their eyes. They had caught so many fish that their nets were breaking; being fishermen, they knew that a miracle had taken place. At the close of Jesus-' ministry, a similar miracle occurred to prove that He had risen from the dead. Peter at that time also spoke out and said to the others, It is the Lord (John 21:7).

partners.James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were partners with Simon. When they saw the miracle, Peter and those in the boat with him beckoned to their partners to come and help them. The word for partner suggests sharing with others in a common task. This partnership is something in which all who are engaged in winning men to Christ can share.

thou shalt catch men.The word catch suggests taking alive; but this is not the thing stressed in Jesus-' remark. He was contrasting catching fish with catching men, that is, preaching the gospel by which men are taken for Christ. The net is the captivating message of good news of salvation through Christ, and the place of operation is the world. The resurrection of Christ is a basic issue of that message (Romans 10:9-10). The miraculous catch of fish at Tiberias convinced the apostles that the Lord had risen. It ought to help those who now seek evidence on which to base their faith.

they left all and followed him.It was no part-time task to which Jesus called them. They were to leave all and give all that they might be ready to go into all the world as fishers of men.