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Luke 5:1-11Introduction

The Uniqueness o Luke 5:1-11Althoughit is obvious, as we have

seen, that Luke dependeduponMarkfor the general outline of his materialon the public ministry of Christ inGalilee, includingin his own Gospelnearly all the incidents Mark recordsabout Christ'sministrynevertheless,Luke departsfrom Mark'soutline when itsuits hispurposes andtheme.

The firstsuch departureof Luke fromMark's outline isourtext, 5: 1-11,whichinterruptsthe parallelcourse of the narratives of Luke andMark with the story of the miraculouscatch of fish by Christ's apostles.This is one of he six miracle storiesrecounted only by Luke, (5: 1-11;7:11-17; 3 : O ~ 7 ; 14:1-6; 17:11-19;22 :51). Whereas this story that hasas its climaX Jesus' words to Peter,Do not beafraid;fromnow on you will

be catching men., is similarto Mark'saccount of the calling of the disciplesby esus to leave theimets and followHim with the summons, Come afterMe, and will make you to becomefishers o men, (Mk. 1:16-20),nevertheless these two stories arebasicallyso different that Luke's storycannot be a simple revision and

amplification of Mark's story. Mark's presupposes an acquaintance withstoryandLuke's story differin details, him, vs 3; previously Jesus healedlocation, situation, content and Peter's mother-in-law, 4:38; andpurpose. Furthermore, once again unlike the record in Mark andwe see Luke's almost lack of concern Matthew, Luke does nOt mention thefor chronological sequence, for hetells this story without establishingany connection wi th what precedesor what follows. - StonehouseThe Relation o Luke 5:1-11 toLuke 4:1-44

In CHAPTER FOUR LukepresentedJesus inHis self-revelationas the Messiah of God, as the Onewho repelled the temptations of the

evil one, who spoke with absoluteauthority, cast out unclean spiritsand healed physical d i s e a s ~ s . InCHAPTER FNE he continues toportray the Savior in His revelationof power. Here in verses 1-11 heshows how He is also the AlmightyDisposer of the fish of the lake andhow He is recognized and followedby His diSCiples as a unique Person. Geldenhuys

The Focus o Luke 5:1-11Although this is the first mention

by Luke ofJesus' contact with Peter,James and John, Luke does notconsider this incident to be the firstcontact between them. Jesus freelygoing aboard Peter's boat

summons to these three men to beHis disciples; it presupposes theircall to discipleship. Basically thestory s concernedwithaprofounclpersonal experience W h i ~ 1 Peterunderwent as he came face to facewith thesupernatutal,and throughwhich he comes to acknowledgejesus as transcendent Lord .; Stonehouse

Exposition5:1) The

GeographicalLocation oThis . .Mira-culous CatchofFish

T isincident in thelife of Christtook place onthe shore ofand na fishingboat on thelake oGennesaret, near Capernaum where

Peter lived. The other Gospel writersuse the popular reference, the sea ofGalilee, but Luke refers to it moreliterally as a lake, Which it was. Thelake of Gennesaret is seven miles

wide and thirteen mileslong. ltissixhundred feet belo'i\' sea level,beautifully situated amongmountains and hills. In the time ofChrist it was surrounded by busYtowns and villages, carrying on alarge fishing business.(5:1-3) The Historical Context oThis Miraculous CatchofFish

The Activity o the Disciples inTheir Fishing Business4 ; THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t October, 1995

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Although]esushadalready calledPeter, James, joh.n and the others tobe His apostles , john 1:35-52; Mat.4:18f; Mk. 1:16[, from this story itbecomes clear that , altllOugh thenewly called apostles had obeyedHis call, and were following jesus,their following of Him wasincomplete, They were still, to somedegree, engaged in their fishing trade,They apparentlyhad not yet left all tofollow Jesus, vs, 11. Jesus used thissituation,to bring them to full andtotal commitment to Him,

The Preaching Ministly oflesusNow it came about that while the

multitude were pressing

harder on Jesus, that in order to beheard by all the people, He got intoone of Simon Peter's fishing boats ,put out a little way from land , andcontinuedpreaching to them, "Christuses Peter's boat as a pulpit, whenceto throw the net of the Gospel overHis hearers , - Plummer

(5:4-5) The Unusual andLaughable Command ofJesus to Peter

The Purpose of the CommandAfter Jesus had finished His

message to the crowds from the boat,He turns to Peter, who is in the boatwith Him and commands him: Put

and contrary to all experience. Allthis mustbe fully appreciated in orderto understand this order ofJesus. Heintended it to be an order like that,and Peter's face must have been ' astudy when he heard it.",- Lenski

Jesus made this unu sual andlaughable command of Peter tostretch and complete Peter's totalcommitment to Himself, Will Peterleave all and be willing to do anything,even that which seems ridiculousand which could be embarraSSing,just to please Christ and to followHim? Will you?

The Obedience ofPeterSimon Peter answersaround Him and listening

to the Word ofGod, He wasstanding by the lake --And He got into one of theboats, which was Simon's,and asked him to put out alittle way roM the land, AndHe sat down and beganteaching the multitudes rom

WllIPeter leave 'all and be willing todo anything, even thilltwhich eemS, r i ~ i t u l o u s a n d which could be >

Jesus with these words:Master, we worked hardall night and caughtnothing, but at ourbidding I will let downthe nets.rf,barrak;6ing; jU6t top/ease phrist

andt } follow Him? Wi/fyou? ' The Recognition ofJesus' Lordshipthe boat. Here we see Jesus busilyengaged in the ministry He came toearth to accomplish: 1 must preQLhthe kingdom of God to other cities also,for 1 was sent for this purpose," Lk.,4:43, The response of the people toJesus' preaching was so favorable,that itwas almost impossible to escapethe crowds of people that werecontinually "pressing around Him, "This particular crowd was pushingitself aroundJesus because they were"listening to the word of God (tonlogon tou theou) which He wasspeaking, "The,Speaker, in His owncaptivatingand authoritativemanner,was bringing the 'word' or 'message'of God to His audience, Thatmessage, (logos) was 'the gospelothe kingdom,' tlle reign of God inhearts, lives and (lmman) spheres,Mk. 1:14,15,"- Hendriksen

The crowds kept coming closerand closer and pressing harder and

out in to the deep w'lter and let downyour nets for a catch, This is anunusual and laughable command ofJesus, because all seasoned fishermenknow that the best fishing is at night,and the worst fishing was in the day,The disciples had already put uptheir nets and were washing andmending them, f t ~ r a long night offishing,

A startling command indeedWhat did Jesus know about fishingin contrast with an expen like Simon?t sounded like ignorance for this

former carpenter to designate 'thedeep' as the place for making a catchof fish and like double ignorance toask tllat this effortbe made now, wellon in the day , about noon. Jesusorders this while multitudes line theshore , man y of w hom wereconversant wi th fishing, whocertainly would give Peter the laughfor doing something that is soapparently irrational, really foolish,

Peter addresses Jesus as Master(EPISTATA) in verse 5 and as Lord(KURIE) in verse 8, We see fromthese fo rms of address that theordinary forms of address applied toJesus in Luke are simple honorifics ,(i.e" titles showing respect andhonor),- B,B. Warfield, THE LORDOF GLORY, pg , 99, (Grand Rapids,Michigan, Baker Book House, reprint1974), In Luke's Gospel, Jesus isaddressed as "Teacher," mostly bythose who are not yet His disciples,7:40; 10:25; 11:45; 12:13; 18:18;19:39; 20:21, 28, 39; 8:49; 9:38;21:7; as "Master," by His disciples,which new tenn is unique to Lukewho does n ot use the title, "Rabbi,"due to his non-Jewish audience, 5:5;8:24,45; 9:33, 49 ; 17:13; and as"Lord," 5:12; 7 :6; 18 :41 ; 19 :8; 9:59,61; 13:23;6:46; 5:8; 10:17,40; 11:1;12:41; 17 :37; 22:33, 38,49,

The term, "Master," (EPISTATA),"indicates that the user of it stands in

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the closest relation to Jesus, andacknowledges Him as His SuperiorOfficer --Chief, Commander, Master,Leader. --- The prevailing form ofaddress to Jesus in Luke is, however,the ordinary Greek honorific, 'Lord' (KURiE), used','however, obviouslyas an honorific of especially highconnotation. ---' ... to address Himas'Lord' was ,to acknowledge Hisauthority and involved subjection toHis commandments, and accordinglythe term is representedas employedchieflybyHis professed followers ... Warfield, pg. 100f. when SimonPeter uses both terms, Master andLord to address Jesus, it is obvious

that the words are charged withvery high significance, and that bythem he intends to convey to Jesusthat he, Peter, recogniZes his place oftotal and unqualified submission toHis,]esus' , total sovereignty over him.

The copious designatoryemployment of the title, 'Lord', ofChrist, however, is characteristic ofLuke, 19:31,34; 12:36,42,43;24:34;1:45. - - This implies .. that Jesusstood to His disciples for whateverthe title, 'Lord,' meant to them. Thereis involved in it certainly therecognition ofHis Messianic dignity,and there is included, therefore, therecognition of Hini of all that theysaw in His Messianic dignity. --...He was thought of as 'Lord' incontrast to the earthly potentates whowere claiming lordship of men, andespecially in contrast with theemperor in Rome, the 'Lord' by wayof eminence in all men's minds. ToJesus, rather than to the emperor,was allegiance due. --- The simplestthing to say is that the term 'Lord'was applied to Jesus by Lukeobviously with the deepeSt reverenceand obviously as the expression ofthat reverence. The full height of thisreverence may be suggested to ,us bycertain passages in which the term'Lord' occurs in citations from theOldTestament, where its reference is

to Jehovah, though in the citations itseems to be applied to Jesus, Lk.3:4. Warfield, pgs. 102-106. Inother words, calling Jesus, Lordwas identifying the person of JesusWithJehovah. THE LORD'S CHRISTIS CHRIST THE LORD.The Recognition by Peter o HowMuchJesus WasAsking o Him

By Peter's response to Jesus, i t isobvious that he understood fullywhatwas being demanded ofhim. Peter isNOT rebukingJesus with his words,"Master, we worked hard all night andcaught nothing .. Peter is not raisingan objection as though he wererefusing Jesus; he is tittering amisgiving, for he and his helpersworked in the best places of the lakeat the best time and continued theirlabor many hours with absolUtefailure. Jesus was asking much ofPeter, and by this word Peter showshow strongly hefelt it. - Lenski. Peterand the others were exhausted afterthe sleepless, fatiguing and futilenight of fishing on the lake; but,Peterunderstands that Jesus demandsmore of him than does his fishingbusiness. Jesus elernandssubmissionof Peter that 'goes beyond thedemands of human relations andvocation, that goes beyondexhaustion, and that will govern aman's desires and actions, regardlessof the cost or the embarrassment, inspite of the fact t hat everything thatman thinks and sees in thecircumstances aroundhim contradictthe command. Jesus commandsPeter to walk solely and totally byfaith and not by. Sight,unconditionally, unhesitan tly, andunequivocally submitting himselfto the commanding Word ofJesus.

The Total and UnqualifiedObedience o Peter to Jesus

Peter totally surrenders himselfto the word ofjesus, leaving all claimon his own ife, decisions and energies

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to follow Him, with the words, .butat Your bidding (word) I will let downthe nets. The claim of Christ onPeter is TOTAL; the obedience ofPeter to Christ is TOTAL. Theemphasis of Peter's response, in

. Greek, is on the phrase, "at YOlirbidding (word)." Peter is saying toJesus: The fact that You haverevealed Your will to me in YourWord commands my will.surrender my will to YOurs to begoverned by it. That is exactlywhat Jesus wanted: Peter was todrop everything else and to throwhimself absolutely on His Lord'sutterance alone. Yea he was ,to gocounter to all his own experience,

~ S c i e n c e w i s d o m reason r whatnot, includ ing all that men might sayand t hold to only one thing, hisLord's word. t was a g r e ~ t test ofgenuine faith in whateverJesus mightsay; on top of that it was to be anunforgettable experience for Peter tohave absolute cortfidencein his Lord'sword in all his future apostolic work.-- It is thus that faith overcomes theworld; the faith that conquers by theWord and nothing but theWord. -Lenski

As soonas Peterputhis confessionof total obedience into action, Jesusperformed an extraordinarymiraclefor Peter's benefit-c- And when theyhad done this they enclosed a greatquantity o ish; and their nets began tobreak; and they signaled to theirpartnersin the other boat, for them to come andhelp them. And they, ta1J e, arid filledboth of the,boats, so that they began tosink.5:6-7) The Extraordinary Miracle

in the Catch o ishThe PW'Pose o Miracles inGenerlll

Jesus' miracles attest to Jesus'wordthat it is true and verbal revelationfrom God. Jesus' mighty miraclesand His authoritative preaching arethe vehicles through, which God's

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kingdom in all its saving power isrealized and its presence made'evident, The KingdomofGodmakesits triumphant advance in the earthwith the powerful words and mightymiracles of jesus, Christ's word ischarged with power, it brings tor.ealization what it defines, t is notafl,emptyword; it accomplish('S whatit promises; Therefore, there is aclose connection between Hisrevealed word and His miracles. Themiracles not only attest to the divineauthority of His word; the miradesof]esus accomplish what Hisworddeclares.

jesus' preaching of the Kingdomconfirmed by His miracles is at thesame time the manifestation of theKingdom, the VEHICLE throughwhich the Kingdom comes and theSIGN that the Kingdom has come.The crowds were continuallyamazed, astonished,

"bewildered," and "confused" notonly as they witnessed Christ'smiracles, but also as they heard Hispreaching. "They are not merelyamazed at jesus' knowledge orwisdom or ability in speaking, but atbottom they respond to the powersand the authority revealed in Hisword. In this respect there is nodifference between jesus' preachingand His miracles." - Ridderbos, THECOMING OF THE KINGDOM, pg.75.

The Nature of This MiraclePeter did what jesus commanded

and cast his net into the deep. Nosooner had he done that thali. jesusperformed a great miracle. Andwhen they had done this, they enclosedagreat quantity oj ish," so great in factthat their nets began to break. Thefishermen in Peter's boat requiredar;sistance from their partners in theother boat with them. Both boatswere so full of fish that they bothwere on the verge o sinking.

The Purpose of This MiracleThe purpose of this miracle was

to be a visual demonstration of thepower and effectiveness of theWord of Jesus. While jesus waspreaching from Peter's boat to thecrowds, His Word was going forthwith great power, but it was invisible,for it affectedhearts not bodies. "Whocould see that the mountains ofignorance were removed, that theflinty hearts were made like butter bycontrition, that the new, immortalspiritual life of faith was coming intoexistence, that the frightful, crushingguilt and sin were blown away as faras the east is from the west? Spiritualthings are invisible, nobody's eyessee that they are wrought. -- Andhow could Peter and the apostlesface judaism and paganism withabsolute assurance of victory whenthey had only the Word? Here wasthe visible answer: the nets full of fishcaught at jesus' word, and at thatword alone. So the net of the gospelwouldbecomefilled to the top. Thesegospel fishermen would mostassuredly succeed. --- Nothingsaves souls except the Word, andthat Word unchanged in any way .The divine and saving power lies inthat Word and in nothing else."Lenski

(5:B-lOa) The Response ofPekr to the Miraculous

Catch of FishWhen Peter saw this miraculous

catch of fish, "he Jell down at jesus'Jeet, saying, 'Depart Jrom me, Jar I amaSinful man, 0 Lord ' For amazementhad seized him and all his companions,because oj the catch ojJish which theyhad taken; and so also james and John,S ilS oj Zebedee, who were partnerswith Simol1.

The Amazement of Peterand His Companions at

the MiracleEverybody involved was

overwhelmed and awestruck at themighty and generous revelatiori ofjesus' omnipotence and sovereigntyover the fish of the sea. His disciplessaw that jesus was all He claimed tobe--jehovahincarnate to savesinners.This miracle, without doubt, testifiedto the "Lord's complete dominionover the animal creation. The fish ofthe s.ea are as much obedient to Hiswill, as the frogs, and flies, and lice,and locusts, in the plagues of Egypt.All are His servants, and all obey HiscomrnaJ;lds.':- john Ryle

When Luke writes thatamazement had seized him (Peter) andall his companions," he is not simplydescribing the psychological frameofmind of the diSCipleswho saw thismiracle. He is indicating that 'Jesus'word and work revealed the absolute,the supematurai, and the divine in .such a way that even the multitudecould not but be aware of it."Ridderbos, pg. 75. This miraculouscatch of fish made the disciplesrealize in awe and adoration thatthey were standing in the presenceof Deity in the person ofJesus ByHis Word and Miracle Jesus hadproduced in His diSCiples the frameof mind necessary for their giving toHim their total devotion andundivided allegiance.

The ConfeSSion oj Sin by Peterfter the Miraculous

Catch of FishThe Impact of This Miracle

Upon PeterWhen Peter saw .this astonishing

miracle, "he Jell down at jesus' Jeet,saying, 'Depart from me, Jar I am asinful man, 0 Lord m This miraclebrought home to Peter "a new sense,

.both of his own sinfulness and ofChrist's holiness."-Plummer

The Overwhelming Sense inPeter of Being in tlte Presence

of GodPeter had already seen Jesus

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for me, which I did not know. Hear,now, nd 1will speak; I will ask Thee,and do Thou instruct me. 1have heardofn by the hearing of the ,ear; butnow my eye sees Thee; therefore 1 etract,and I repent in dust and ashes," Job42:1-6.

His response also reminds us ofIsaiah, who, when he had beenallowed by revelation to enter theThrone room ofJehovah and to seeHis incomparable glory, said, "Woeisme, for 1 am ruined Because I am aman ofunclean lips , and I live among apeople ofunclean lips;for my eyes haveseen the King,jehovahofho sts, ISAlAH6:5.

"When one is confronted withJesus, it is impossible to remainneutral. Hisenerriies react to hismiracles with hatred and reviling;his true disciples, with homage andreverence. Theystoopand worship."HendriksenThe Significance ofPeter's Falling

Down at the Feet :ofJesus"This was an a,t 'of ' deepesthumiliation and abasement coupledwith worship. Peter realized thedeity 'of JeSUs ina way that whOlly

overcame him and made him feel hisutter unwonhiness and nothingnessin Jesus' presence. Up to

t ~ l & h ~ v e r 1 j h e } J i j ~ K , ~ ~ ~ ' f ~ ~ ~ ~ p ~ ~ t ~ ~ k ~ l ~ a s n c : e e ~~ ~ ~ S i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ' : ~ : ~ ~ l l ~ s ~ ~

display His omnipotence in theperforming of miracles. He healedhis mother-in-law. He ' cast outdemons from people. "Althoughthese had imptessed him and evenmade him agree to follow Jesus; thisrevelation of His power of disposalover the fishes of the lake spoke thim in avery special manner. ,For hewas a fisherman by trade and,knewhow humanly impossible it was tocatch fish successfully in the lake inthe early morning houts. The Lord'srevelation of power in the field ofPeter's o ~ particular calling--thetrade of a fisherrnan--consequentlymade a very powerful impression onhim. That is why it waspreciselyafter this event thathe fell downbefore the Saviorunder an overwhelmingsense ofBis superhuman,divine glory and with a deeprealization of his own uttersinfulness. -- ... this event

# ~ v ~ ~ ~ ; > { - ~ ; ~ ~ : " : ; ; ; : ' ~ : : : ~ ? E i f i 1 g ~ ~ 1 : & : @ ~ narrative; but when he isiV ; ,f?In t;j tri ~ ~ t : t ' b . ~ ~ : ( : j \ ' ~ ; : 0 ; ; ; d ~ s c r i b i n g this act, LukeH m h t r e n ' i b l e e Y u r i , 1 I ~ t i f : ? ~ : t ~ ~ ~ h:: = : ; ~ ~ r j ' e : : ~formed a tremendous turning

point in Peter's life. -'-- WhenPeter, through. Jesusrevelation of power, began

i ~ ~ ~ [ i [ l i j ~ ~ e n e ; ( j ~ t J , i i i ~ t ~ , ~ , f i : : l r l ; ~ .~ ~ ~ ~ l ~ ; ' f ~ ~ t h d e t ~ ~ a : o ~ ~ ~- ->--'. '-:.-':'" y ; .._> " ' - ~ > : - , : ; - - - - ~ ; ~ T _ T - - ~ _ , C : ". . . . mature m hat faith

to see Him in His divin