Luke 5: 1-11 - The Calling of the First Disciples

 

1. Building the Faith resulting from Miracles

Jesus had gotten onto Simon’s boat, which was put out a little from shore, in order to teach the crowds, presumably gathered at the shoreline. Therefore, we can safely assume that Simon was the nearest possible audience, and has heard everything Jesus taught, since the boat ought to be a small and simple fishing boat, and not some big ship. Even so, Jesus did not call Simon to follow Him right after He was finished with the teaching.

He showed Simon a miracle first.

Jesus told Simon to cast the net, and Simon’s first reply was that they had worked hard all night and have not caught anything. His response is a natural one, as a result of his experience, which had been fruitless. Actually, what should make Simon more incredulous was that the boat was just a little from shore, and the water would not be very deep. Hence, logically, even if there were fish, there should be few. However, Simon did an amazing act of obedience when he said to Jesus, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

In his obedience, he landed a catch so big that the nets began to break, and so heavy that the two boats containing the fish almost sank. When he obeyed, he instantly moved into fruitfulness, even though he was merely doing something that he always had been doing.

Sometimes when we evangelize, we operate based on opportunities presented to us. We invite our friends to church only when there seems to be some big occasion worthy of inviting, like some big harvest event on Good Friday, or Christmas. Or we keep casting the net over and over, but nothing really happens, and we get discouraged. It is odd that Simon said that he had been working hard all night, because few species of fish are active at night. Maybe like Simon, we have been working at all the wrong timings. Perhaps what we need is to operate more on faith, and listen to Jesus when he tells us “Now is the time to let down the nets”, and that may be just the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Upon seeing the miracle, Simon then received more faith and followed Jesus. Once we start operating by faith when we evangelize, and see results, we will be encouraged and have our faith strengthened to be empowered to do far more.

 

2. Bury the Fishing-rod Mentality

It may seem like common-sense that in order to catch more fish, you use a net, and we see the mention of nets occasionally in the bible. However, some of us still possess the fishing-rod mentality - in order to catch one fish, we fix on what we think is the most suitable bait, cast the line, and wait. And wait. But sometimes, the fish just doesn’t bite.

We are often guilty of this, because naturally there are people who we hold dear to us, who matter a lot to us. However, as we do this, we often neglect or forget the other people around us, who we may not be as close to, but they need the gospel just as much as our loved ones. Sometimes we sacrifice the net, in order to cast the fishing rod. Worse still, some of us may use the fishing rod as an excuse – that we are specially working on certain people, and hence did not approach others we do not know well enough. Jesus didn’t say “Go and make disciples of your friends and family” for sure.

Sometimes we stick to the fishing rod for a variety of reasons. We may not wish to step out of our comfort zone. After all, once you cast the rod, you merely wait for the fish to bite, and at most do some work reeling in thereafter. Maybe we are hesitant thinking about what fish will get caught in the net when we haul it in. Sometimes we judge the people around us, be it character or how ready to receive Christ we deem them to be, and most of the time, our analysis is flawed. Often, it is the person who looks less likely to become a Christian than those we feel is close to the kingdom. After all, we cannot read the minds or hearts of others. Another possibility would be our own lack of faith to believe that we need a net, because we doubt the catch would be that big.

We need to bury the mentality in any case, and change our paradigm – cast the net far and wide, and be prepared and committed to take every fish that comes in. If we want to bring 12 people to the Miracle Catch, then we’d better invite at least 50 or something.

 

3. Boldly Follow the Messiah

As a fisherman, Simon ought to be exhilarated when he brought in a huge catch as described in the passage above. It was a catch so big that the nets were bursting, and had to be placed into two boats, which began to sink with all the weight of the fish.

The first reaction Simon had was that of fear, because he recognized that the man standing before him was the Lord, and he knew he himself was a sinner. God shows us miracles sometimes in order to remind us of His existence; God especially uses signs and wonders on pre-believers because often, that is what it takes for them to believe.

That is the purpose; the blessing (of the catch) was merely auxiliary. The miracle was to boost the faith of Simon, so that he would respond to the Lord’s call. The main purpose is always the same – to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. What Simon had to do, even after the huge catch, was to put down his nets (an act of surrender), leave everything behind (forsaking the gifts), and follow Jesus (following the giver of the gifts).

God sometimes still asks the same things of us, even if we are believers. As the Lord blesses us in ministry, we must always remember that following Jesus is the most important thing, and we must have the heart of surrender that we can put down our nets and catch anytime the Lord calls us to follow Him to another place, another calling, or another ministry perhaps.

 

Further Reflections