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Luke Lesson 13 (2009)

FROM NOW ON YOU WILL CATCH MEN

(The calling of Simon Peter)
Luke 5:1-11
Key Verse: 5:10b

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’”

A gay man was dying of AIDS. Without disclosing his illness, he invited a minister to lunch. Halfway through their meal, the man paused. He looked the minister in the eye, and blurted out, “I am dying of AIDS.” Then, with tears in his eyes, the minister reached across the table and touched the man’s arm. “I am sorry. I am truly sorry,” he said. Later, the man submitted his life to Jesus. He said this to the minister, “Do you want to know why I have decided to receive Jesus? When I told you I was dying of AIDS, I was watching your body language. I wondered if you would quickly lean back, away from my face. Or if you would surreptitiously move your glass and your plate…instead of rejecting me, you reached out and touched me. Your eyes filled with tears…you accepted me. Then and there I decided that your God is the God I want to meet when I die.” This is a very moving story.

According to Rev. Rick Warren, there are two basic reasons people don’t know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The first reason is that they have never met a Christian. The second is that they have already met a Christian. What does this mean? It means that in evangelism, our influence is crucial, more than even words can be. Luke chapter 5 describes several events in which Jesus encountered various kinds of people in Galilean ministry, starting with several fishermen, Simon Peter and his partners – James and John (1-11), a man with leprosy (12-16), a paralytic and the Pharisees (17-26) and Levi, the tax collector (27-32). The events in chapter 5 are snapshots that show how Jesus carried out his evangelism in Galilee. With each incident, something touched the hearts of these people before they decided to follow Jesus. What is it that touched them the most? What is the core of Jesus’ ministry? It’s not just his words. It’s his compassion. In today’s passage, Jesus calls Simon Peter to evangelism. The way Jesus called Simon Peter was very surprising. After his teaching of the crowd, Jesus went fishing with Simon and helped him catch a great number of fish. Simon was so amazed at the great catch that he knelt down before Jesus and confessed, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” Let’s think about what “From now on you will catch men” meant to Simon, and what it means to us.

Look at verses 1-3. One day Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret and the great crowd of people gathered around him. Jesus taught them the word of God. While most people were listening to Jesus’ wonderful teaching, there were several guys who didn’t seem to be too interested in what he was saying. They were fishermen who were too busy washing their nets after long night of struggling. In fact, according to verse 5, they had worked all night but hadn’t caught anything. How do you feel when you realize that you have wasted a whole night of work? They were frustrated, tired and sad. Perhaps, Andrew said to his friend, James, “James, I am in trouble. I promised my wife to buy her a Valentine’s Day gift if I caught a lot of fish. But now she is going to bug me all day long!” James replied, “Tell me about it. My wife thinks that I am just lazy.” After cleaning their nets, they probably wanted to drop by a local bar and have several beers to relieve their frustration before they went back home. They were hardworking and ordinary guys who were trying to survive day to day.

Jesus’ attention went to these fishermen, particularly to one person, Simon. Unlike Matthew and Mark who mentioned Andrew, James and John altogether (Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20), Luke focuses on one person, Simon, omitting any reference to Andrew. It’s because Luke is more focused on Jesus’ interest in single individuals whom he touched. Look at verse 3. “He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.” Apparently, Simon sat very close to Jesus and was able to hear what Jesus was teaching. Since Luke does not mention the content of Jesus’ teaching, we can use our imagination to figure out what Jesus might have taught them. Perhaps, he said to them, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” (Lk 6:20-21) Simon must have thought, “Well, I don’t feel blessed when I am poor! What did he mean by that? ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God?’ Am I really blessed? This country preacher doesn’t make sense!”

Look at verse 4. When Jesus had finished speaking, knowing what Simon was thinking at that time and still sitting in the boat, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” He meant, “Simon, let’s go fishing. I know you are an expert fisherman. But this time, follow my directions. ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. See what happens.’” What was Simon’s response to Jesus’ instructions? Simon could have rejected Jesus’ instruction by saying, “Excuse me, sir. I know you are a good carpenter and wonderful preacher. But what do you know about fishing? I am a licensed and experienced fisherman.” Look at verse 5. “Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Probably, at that time Simon was very tired. He must also have been feeling sensitive about his failure. So it must have been even harder for him to swallow his pride when a country preacher told him what to do about fishing. Yet, he could humbly follow Jesus’ instruction because he still had respect for Jesus. In fact, we might even say that Simon had respect not just for Jesus but for other human beings. This was a great human quality in Simon to be a leader for others. A leader who doesn’t have basic respect for other human beings cannot be a true leader. Some people might consider listening to other’s advice or instructions humiliating. But that’s not true at all. Simon, who was an expert fisherman, still had humility and respect to learn fishing even from a carpenter. He had a learning mind.

Look at verses 6 and 7. When Simon and his partners followed Jesus’ instructions, what happened was totally unexpected and sensational. They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they had to signal their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Simon had never caught that many fish in his entire career. He and all his partners were amazed at the amount of fish in the catch on that day. It was not a coincidence but a miracle of God, which should have been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Luke didn’t say what happened to all these fish. Instead, he again turns his attention to Simon’s response to this miracle.

Look at verses 8-10a. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. He didn’t say, “Thank you, Lord, for making me rich! You are great!” Instead, he said something very unusual, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” We don’t know exactly where this came from, but something in this incident really touched Simon deep inside. That’s why he said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” We are not sure whether or not Simon realized that Jesus was God. But we can say that Simon experienced divinity in Jesus that made him say what he said. “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Have you ever felt God’s divine touch in your life? It could be through a miraculous healing, a success in business or school study, God’s answer to your prayers, or any event that you cannot explain, except through God’s miracle. Miracles happen all the time even though we are not often aware of it. It is true that miracles are not the basis for our belief in God. But God can use them to get our attention. Obviously, through this miracle, Jesus got Simon’s attention.
What did Simon mean when he said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”? At this time, Simon called Jesus “Lord” not “Master” realizing that Jesus was more than a master, a great teacher or a preacher. He also said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” We don’t know what kind of sinner he was talking about, since we don’t know much about Simon. I wish Luke described him more clearly, something like “I am a selfish sinner, or I am a proud sinner, or I am an unclean sinner.” But he didn’t. He just said, “I am a sinful man.” Perhaps, he meant that he was just an ordinary sinner who is not worthy of Jesus to make such a personal acquaintance with him. So with great respect and awe, he asked Jesus to depart, saying “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man !”

In the year that King Uzziah died, young Isaiah was called on to enter the temple of God in Jerusalem. There he saw the vision of the Lord, who was seated on a throne, with angels calling to one another. (Isaiah 6:3) At the sound of their voices the doorposts and threshholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me !” Isaiah cried. “I am ruined ! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” One of the angels flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the alter. With it he touched Isaiah’ mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:7-8) Young Isaiah had a very powerful and dramatic experience in God’s presence.

Saint Paul had a similar experience. His conversion was also a dramatic one. He confessed, “Here is trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” (I Timothy 1:15-16) But not everybody has to have such a dramatic experience. God’s touch can be soft like a gentle breeze or whisper. The conversion of C. S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian thinkers, was not a sudden, dramatic and emotional experience. It was rather a rational and intellectual one. Some people experience the change very slowly over a long period of time. Some don’t even realize when it took place in their lives. However, whether it’s dramatic or not, a realization of one’s inability and unworthiness is possible only by a divine intervention, which is God’s one-sided healing touch through the Holy Spirit. Jesus compared the work of the Holy Spirit to the wind, saying in John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Look at verses 10b. “Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” Obviously, hearing what Peter had just confessed, Jesus must have been pleased because it was the work of the Holy Spirit in him. We make Jesus sad when we remain proud and self-righteous for any reason. Jesus would never depart from a person who feels convicted of his sins and confesses, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man.” God could use Simon Peter because he knew that he needed God, not the other way around. From time to time, we see that some people in the ministry giving the impression that God would really be struggling if it were not for them. But that was not the case of Simon Peter. Simon understood that as a sinner he brought nothing to the table except what God was able to direct. God does not need people to direct him. He needs people who will serve him, surrendering to His authority and power and humbly obeying him. Those qualities do not make Simon Peter insignificant. But his strength came from knowing and admitting his weakness and unworthiness before God and letting God direct the work. What Peter didn’t realize was that admitting his inability and unworthiness is the prerequisite for service to God, since then he can fully depend on God. In fact, Peter’s humility became his resume for service to God. Humility is the elevator to spiritual greatness.

What did Jesus mean when he said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch men!” Matthew and Mark phrased it differently, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17) But Luke said, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch men!” Although they are phrased differently, the spiritual meaning is the same. Jesus issued a call to Simon Peter to enter into the process of gathering people and rescuing them from the danger of sin and a fallen world. Simon, as a fisherman, used to catch live fish to strip off the skin and kill. But from now on he would be catching people who were dead in their sins to give them life and restore the fullness of God’s glory in them through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus had great vision to make people alive to the fullness of God’s glory through his ministry. That’s exciting business. “From now on you will catch men.”

What could be more exciting than finding people who do not know Jesus and helping them discover who he is in order that they might be saved from sin? A few months ago, one of my sisters who has been an atheist for a long time accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord. She said that whenever she hears the word of God through sermons, she cries and has such peace in her heart. She lives in Japan. Do you know how many members are in her church? Only 9, including the pastor and his family. How many people live in Japan? Nearly 130 million. But less than 1 % of them know Jesus as the Lord. Many people are wounded and hurting emotionally, mentally and spiritually. They need to know the Lord who came to save and heal us. We can find them everywhere, in our homes, workplaces, campuses, street corners and everywhere.

Many people are struggling just to survive. Recently, due to economic downturns, millions of people lost their jobs. People are desperately searching for a job. The newly passed economic stimulus package bill promises to create around from three to four million jobs in the nation. That’s good news. But what are we going to do with the rest of our lives? Struggle to survive? Enjoy our lives comfortably while people are hurting and dying? Of course not. We have a job beyond making money. We are to rescue the people from perishing in this fallen world and from dying in their sin.

Evangelism is a huge challenge for all of us. Some people say, “I cannot do evangelism because I am too young and not perfect.” But we don’t need to be perfect. God does not need perfect people to do the job. He needs honest people who admit to their mistakes and sins so that God’s grace and mercy might be displayed in and through them. A woman criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord. Moody replied, “I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. I don’t know the other way. So why don’t you tell me, how you do it?” The woman replied, “I don’t do it.” Moody replied, “Then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.” Why are most of us not evangelizing? Too busy? Maybe. But the main reason is fear. Maybe that’s why Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid” before saying “From now on you will catch men.” In fact, everyone is afraid to go out preaching, even M. Zechariah Choi who is always full of the spirit of evangelism. But it’s good to have fear because it can remind us to depend on God before doing anything. Jesus didn’t say that we should go out and try to convert people because we cannot covert anybody. But he said, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” Actual converting of a person is not our work, but the work of the Holy Spirit. We are not alone. We are participating in God’s greatest rescue mission along with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how many of you tried to catch fish. Catching fish is by no means automatic. Much labor is required. Sometimes it takes teamwork in catching a large number of fish.

Our work is to give people a chance to hear the good news either by sharing of the word of God with them or offering our love, kindness and respect. Just look around. You will find some who are really hurting and need you to tell them the good news. What are we going to do with the rest of our lives? Jesus invites us, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”

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