January 26, 2025
Luke 5:1-11
“Overcoming”
JESUS CALLS THE FIRST DISCIPLES
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting 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. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled 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. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Here is how we ended last week:
Wherever the Word of Christ is spoken and shared, lost lives are liberated.
Jesus frees us from sin and fear. Jesus frees us for worship and loving others. Swept up in grace and mercy, we will never be swept away in sin and judgment. That is God’ purpose for our lives.
Make no mistake. Jesus is sovereign Lord and King. He is for you.
Trust him. Be brave in his name, until he returns or until he calls you home.
We believe that God wants to grow His church and is growing His church here at 5290 Milwaukee Road. What that growth looks like, only God knows. All we know is God invites us to be a part of it. And don’t misunderstand. We are not deserving of any blessing we receive. We have earned nothing we have. It is all a work of God.
As we heard in today’s passage, our job is to simply and clearly share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Here’s the main point of catching fish:
JESUS DOES NOT SIMPLY OFFER SINNERS FORGIVENESS BUT RECRUITS THEM TO GAIN OTHER SINNERS.
That is our privilege. It’s not only about us. It’s about more people passing from death to life…from darkness to light…from the power of Satan to the power of God…and from unbelief to belief. And this happens as we love each other, love our community, and express our love for God through our worship.
Now, here’s something important to keep in mind. Churches can grow without those things. There are churches that offer, what they call, “seeker-sensitive” services. But worship is not for seekers. Worship is for
believers. There are churches that have sermon series based on popular movies. There are churches with fog machines. There are churches offering free coffee from their café for first time visitors. Many churches embrace cultural trends, especially the woke agenda, as a way to be relevant and contemporary. Many churches undersell our sinfulness while overselling prosperity. These are all examples of an appealing mass of messy messaging. Churches can grow with these things. But it’s not the best kind of growth. And it most definitely is not Biblical growth.
Let’ fast forward to verse ten to see a point captured by Luke through his choice of words. Verse ten, again:
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
What did Simon and James and John do for a living? They were fishermen. Now, as I understand it, sometimes people who fish do catch-and-release. Not for these three. They were fishing for fish to sell to people to eat so they could provide for their families. Fish are caught, and then they die, so they can be eaten. And they are delicious. I remember once, when at a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan, where Lori and I were visiting our youngest son, he and I ordered a whole roasted fish. It was delicious. We each had an eyeball, which was one of the best parts. Most fish are caught to be eaten. Instead of an “Amen,” how about a “Yum?”
Anyway, Luke makes Jesus’ point crystal clear when he uses the Greek word, zogreo, which is a compound word. “Catching” = alive+capture. Jesus captures sinners and grows them into mature disciples who spread his message of love to all lost people.
Make no mistake. Jesus does not flee from sinners. He seeks them out. And sinners don’t find Jesus. He finds them:
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 5:27 – “After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”
Luke 19:9 – “And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.’”
Notice especially the last passage. We don’t come to Jesus. We don’t make
a decision to be saved. Jesus saves us. He is the initiator. We don’t go
looking for Jesus…he finds us, while we are lost, still in our sin.
Here’s what we understand from verse ten. While fishing is fatal to fish, Jesus fishing for us is life-giving. And he invites us to become part of the process. How great is that?
The whole point of that simple, short verse…verse ten…is that those captured are treated mercifully and restored to life. Again, how great is that? God invites us to become part of His process. Not with gimmicks but through the simple sharing of the Good News.
Let’s now break Luke 5 down into the specifics of its parts.
First, as we hear in verse four, when Jesus says it, we do it. “And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’”
Here’s the context. They had been fishing all night. No luck. They were
done and exhausted. They had cleaned their nets. But verse four is a
command. Simon’s response is best read as a half-hearted, “Whatever.”
Have we ever been there? Have we ever been so tired of toiling away that we’re not too thrilled at the idea of doing more? I think sometimes pastors and people in churches get to feeling that way because they think the burden of calling lost sinners is all on them. They think they have to be clever and creative. They think they have to be up on the most current growth practices and management tools. Luke five tells us that’s not all there is to it.
Listen to John 14:1-7:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
What do you hear? A promise and a command. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. There is no other way to eternal life. It’s not a suggestion. It’s not one eventuality among a choice of other eventualities leading to salvation. Nope. The truth we have been given to share is absolute. No one comes to Jesus Christ unless he or she is drawn by the Father. So Jesus tells us to put out our nets…to share the Good News…which we gladly do. Amen? There is no other way by which people can be saved.
We hear the second point in verse eight:
“But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”
This is a beautiful moment. It’s a place where we all need to be. What has happened is a miracle. Simon recognizes that he is in the presence of One who is holy. Peter is overwhelmed by the power and majesty of Jesus Christ. And so he confesses his unworthiness. How is someone so distant from the Holiness of God entitled to God’s favor? Are you with me on that? When you know how unworthy you are of God’s grace and mercy, you will be thunderstruck upon hearing of it.
Listen to these two examples from the Old Testament:
Isaiah 6:5 – “And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’”
Ezekiel 1:28 - “Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
The third point in the text is to teach the Word of God. That’s how people come to embrace the Good News. By hearing it.
What did we do for our Christmas Eve worship? We sang and we heard
from God’s Word. The Word of God is the greatest word there is. The Word of God isn’t some hook by which to lure people in. It’s not some jingle through which to plant an idea in a customer’s head. Here’s how Isaiah 55 captures it:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Here’s something to remember:
THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUTH THAT AIMS TO CLAIM A PERSON’S RATIONAL MIND AND WIN A PERSON’S AUTHENTIC AFFECTIONS.
John Piper
Sharing the truth of the gospel is truth, not a gimmick or a technique. That is what Jesus did. As verse three reminds us, Jesus sat down in the boat and he taught.
Teaching involves a lot of explaining. Do you know why that is important? Because we live in a culture that doesn’t know much about God or the Bible. Most people don’t know the God-centered nature of sin. They don’t know what is offensive to God. They don’t know about God’s glory. They don’t know who Jesus is and what he did on the cross. They don’t know the Biblical promise of heaven. They have no knowledge of what eternal separation from God means. That’s why our primary purpose must be to teach the Bible and model Biblical love for a messed up culture.
Why do so many people fall prey to the prosperity gospel? Why do so many people fall under the spell of New Age thinking? Why do so many people embrace a culture of death, whether it’s abortion or assisted suicide? Because they do not know the Word of God. We teach because Jesus taught. And because Jesus commands us to teach:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of
the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
Finally, as we’ve said before, we are to treasure Christ above all others. Following Jesus is not the path to privilege, success, and a higher standard
of living. No, not at all. We cannot have it all. And we don’t need it all. We
don’t need it all.
Let’s join our voices in affirming that God gives us all we need:
GOD BLESSES US TO TEACH THE WORD OF GOD, OBEY THE COMMANDS OF JESUS, HUMBLE OURSELVES, AND TREASURE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, ABOVE ALL OTHERS.
SOLI DEO GLORIA…
To the Glory of God Alone
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