Fishers of Men - A Reflection on Luke 5:1-11



 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

 

I love this story. It is, very often, my retreat starter. It is a very powerful passage with a lot of dramatic imagery and it really resonates with the audience. One particular part that captures their imagination is the response of an ordinary fisherman to Jesus after he has an encounter with him. He immediately leaves his business of catching fish to catching men. How is he able to do this so spontaneously? I believe one of the main reasons is realizing that he had just met God and God didn’t vaporize him!

 

Let me explain. As we are probably aware, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). A holy God cannot stand the sight of unholiness, and should a sinner dare to come into his presence he would strike the sinner down right where he stood. Even Moses wasn’t allowed to look upon his face (see Exodus 33:17-23). So here we have Peter, who meets Jesus who is the Son of God, only Peter doesn’t know it. Not yet. He has spent the entire night fishing but hasn’t caught anything. Then when Jesus tells him to go fishing again and catches so many fish his boats began to sink, he realizes that the man before him was divine.

 

He drops to his knees terrified that he is going to be burnt to a crisp. “Lord, stay away from me,” he says. “I am a sinful man.” And Jesus answers, “Hey, buddy, don’t be afraid, you’re safe.” And although he doesn’t say it here, we hear an echo of the words from John 3:16 and 17. “I have not come to condemn the world, but to save it. For God so loves you, that he sent me, so that if you believe in me you will not perish but have eternal life.” Take a moment to imagine what Peter felt here. He was not struck dead, he was being given eternal life.

 

Now tell me, how could Peter go back to fishing after that? He understood that others would perish too and they needed to be saved like he was. So he was done catching fish; he was gonna catch men from now on. Do you ever wonder what my motivation is for doing things like these reflections? Or the Schools of Discipleship? I do it simply because having been saved, I cannot sit back and watch others perish. I want everybody to make it to heaven along with me. 

 

Now, if you are a Christian watching this, here is a question for you: Are you saved? Are you sure? If you truly believe you are, then how can you just sit back and let an entire world perish?  I really need you to think about that for a long time until you come to the realization that if you really are saved, you will want everybody else to be saved too. And then you will do whatever you can to bring people to salvation. Do remember the job is not to convert anybody; it is just to bring people to a knowledge of Christ. 

 

And remember although the wages of sin might be death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). 

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/ts0hvz64bE0

 

 

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