This morning we continue to follow along as Dr. Luke, the physician and historian, weaves the facts of the life and times of our Lord and Savior, the Messiah, Christ the Lord. Luke has spent considerable time presenting the facts concerning Jesus humanity, that is that He is truly human. He has spent considerable time presenting the facts concerning Jesus divinity, that is that He is truly divine, truly God. Two weeks ago we following along with Jesus as He spent the Sabbath Day in the synagogue, as was His custom, proclaiming to His hometown people, family and friends that He is the Messiah, the one about whom what He read was speaking. And we saw how Jesus was rejected, run out of town and how they tried to kill Him. Last week we followed along as Jesus continued to preach and teach and witnessed His casting out the demon from the man as well as heal Peter’s mother-in-law and healing many others. This morning Luke brings us to the beginning of another day and another proof of Jesus’ identity. One thing that I ask as we go through our text for today, the same thing I ask every time we go through a text, is that we watch the “who” is doing the “what.”
Getting into our text; the account begins with verse one, “1On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on 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” (v. 1-3). The first thing we notice in this text is how the people wanted so much to hear Jesus. The people were crowding around him in order to listen to the Word of God. At first this may sound like no big deal, because we know that Jesus is gaining popularity, but when we think about it we realize that it is a big deal because, this shows that the Word of God has the power of the Holy Spirit working through it, and we know that Jesus works through His Word to draw us all to Himself, that is why it is called a means of grace.
It is a wonderful thing to see that Jesus was always ready to preach, to share the good news of salvation by grace through faith with the people. We often read in the Bible how Jesus went off to be alone to pray, but He was always ready to give up His time in order to preach the good news. In our text we see that He finds the best possible place from which to preach, so that everyone can hear. The best possible place is out in the water, a little out from the shore so that everyone sitting on the shore can hear as well as see.
As we move on in our text we see one of the signs, or miracles, that show us that Jesus is truly God, that He is the Messiah whom He professed to be. “4And when he had finished 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 large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7They 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” (v. 4-7).
Our text tells us that Jesus is speaking to Peter. To put this into perspective we might say that Jesus, the preacher is speaking to Peter, the professional fisherman. Jesus knows about proclaiming the Word of God to people. Peter knows about catching fish, it is what he does for a living, at least what he did do until now.
Jesus tells Peter to “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” First, notice that Jesus does not say that you might get a catch, but “for a catch.” Now, Peter answers with an explanation, not really an objection. He tells Jesus that they have fished all night, in the choice spot, knowing what they are doing, because they are professionals. How would you like it if I came to your work and tried to tell you how to do your job. Your first thought would be, “This guy does not know what he is talking about. I have been doing this all my life and I know what I am doing.” But rather than make a scene, because I am your pastor, you simply try to explain to me that you really do know what you are doing, but if it will make me happy you will try it my way. Notice that Peter never loses his sense of respect for Jesus. He recognizes Him as the Master, the teacher, “But at [Jesus’] word,” he casts out the nets.
If you took my advise at you work, I know that you will not get the same results as Peter did, because I am obviously not Jesus. Peter followed Jesus suggestion and he had great results. Peter and his partners had a great catch of fish. This catch of fish was a miracle of Jesus, showing His authority over all of creation. Now, there are some people who would like to explain this event, not wanting to admit that it was a miracle, but as I see it that desire for an explanation is simply a way for some people wanting to be smarter than God. If you can explain God away then you do not need to worry about Him. In essence, you become your own god. We know that Jesus performed a miracle. This miracle showed His divinity, His authority over creation. And if you were wondering, this is not the same miracle that is recorded at the end of John’s Gospel. This miracle came at the beginning of His ministry, the other came after His resurrection. However, both miracles are meant to show Jesus as who He is, true God, true man, Savior of the world.
Continuing on in our text we next hear Peter’s confession. “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 and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that 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; from now on you will be catching men’” (v. 8-10a). Peter’s confession had two parts, first that Jesus is Lord and second he confessed his own sin. The effect that Jesus had on Peter is the same effect He has on us. When we realize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord, how can we do anything else except confess our sins and look to Him for forgiveness, because He is the one who earned our forgiveness by His death on the cross. How fitting it is then that at the beginning of our Divine service on Sunday mornings, we confess our sins and hear those most beautiful words, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Not only was Peter effected, so were James and John who were astonished, in awe, of what they had just witnessed. How else could they be? Here they were, professional fishermen, who knew their trade quite well. They had fished hard all night, when they knew was the best time to fish. They had fished in what they knew to be the best place to fish and had come up empty. Now, this professional teacher comes along, who probably knows as much about fishing as they do about teaching and tells them how to catch fish. And He is right.
Immediately, as these thoughts are going through their heads, Jesus calls them to follow Him as His disciples as we read “And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (v. 10b-aa). It would seem that they did not know how to catch fish, how would they be able to catch people? They could not see how Jesus performed the miracle He just did, yet they are to believe it, because they did see it. Jesus’ words of “don’t be afraid,” might include words to say that even if they do not see the work their words will do, as fisher’s of men, that God will work through them as they speak His Word, to bring others to faith. In other words, they are not to depend on themselves in their endeavor to be fisher’s of men, because God will give the catch, just like Jesus did with the catch of fish. Remember, earlier, I ask you to listen for who is doing what. Jesus is the one directing the catch of fish. Jesus is the one calling the disciples to follow Him. Jesus is the one giving them the faith and strength to go out and do whatever He asks them to do. Jesus is the one who is doing the what, the doing, the everything and it is this way in all aspects of our own lives too. Jesus is the one who is always doing everything for us, and in and through us.
The effect of the immediate call of Jesus was that Peter, James and John left everything and followed Him. Applying this to our lives we might ask ourselves, do we leave everything to follow Jesus? Now, before we waste too much time trying to justify ourselves, let me assure you, the Lord does not ask us to leave everything to follow Him, although He would like us to strive, with the help of the Holy Spirit to leave the sinfulness of this world.
So, what does this text mean for us today? First of all it means that we understand the difference between an immediate call by God and a mediate call from God. Although God can call people immediately, His usual way of working with us in this world today is to call us mediately. In other words, to call us immediately would mean that God comes to us Himself and speaks to us, the way Jesus came and called His disciples. That is not God’s usual way of working with us today. God’s usual way of working with us to day is through means. You remember, God works through the means of grace to bring us to faith and to keep us in our faith. God calls us today mediately that is through means. He calls us through the means of His Word and His Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
God calls us to faith through His Word and then He calls us to live lives of faith and witness. But He does not just leave us to our own devices. Just like He taught the Apostles and His disciples while He was here on earth, so He continues to teach us and give us the ability to live lives of faith and witness.
And more, God gives us His authority and the promise that He will be with us. You know, each week we have the privilege to come to Divine Service and be given all God’s good gifts and blessings. Gifts and blessing earned by His perfect life, perfect suffering, perfect death and resurrection for us, in our place. Every day most of us, I would suppose, have a Bible we can read. We are most certainly blessed. However, I wonder how many of us take these blessings for granted. We live in a relatively free country where we can worship as we choose. That is not the way it is in most of the rest of the world. There are many people with many stories of what persecution has come to them or to their family and friends because of their faith. My prayer, every day, for each of you is that you might be renewed in your faith, that you might be reinvigorated in your faith, that you might be encouraged to get excited, enough to move you to greater works of service to the Lord in His kingdom.
Our text for this morning is a wonderful reminder to each one of us that we are, each one, individually known, called and bought back by God. He knows us and He has called us. He calls us to faith through His Word and through His sacraments. He calls us to be strengthened in our faith through these same means, His Word and Sacraments. He calls us to daily repent and be given His forgiveness, earned by His suffering and death on the cross. He calls us to be His disciples meaning that we are to get excited about our faith and live our faith with an urgency so that others might see our faith, so that others might come to know our Savior, so that as many people as possible might have eternal life. Yes, He calls us all to be fishers of men! To God be the glory. Amen.
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