Luke 5:1-11 Catching men alive

Like all companies, the coffee shop, Starbuck's, has a mission statement: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola seeks To refresh the world...To inspire moments of optimism and happiness...To create value and make a difference.

Now on the one hand, we could pooh-pooh these claims as outrageously optimistic – how could flavoured drinks possibly inspire & nurture the human spirit, refresh the world and inspire moments of optimism & happiness?
And yet, on the other hand, Coca Cola operates in 200 countries, employs 71000 people and, on average, each of the 6.9 billion people in the world buys 3½ coca cola drinks every year!
So Coke's $2bn marketing budget is doing its job.

Now in Luke 4, Jesus comes along and says,
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.

One man. One massive mission statement. No marketing budget. No mass media. No employees.
It's a joke, isn't it?
It would have been if anyone other than Jesus had said this.

But Jesus comes with the power & authority of God himself – he is anointed with the Holy Spirit, 4:18, and sent by God the Father, 4:19.
And in the rest of ch 4 he demonstrates this power & authority by freeing people from the oppression & imprisonment of evil spirits and of sickness.

Of course, as far as these few people were concerned, this was fantastic! – they were healed - freed, and could return to normal life.
But the healings always point to something greater – or rather, to someone great – to Jesus – to who he is.

And already in Luke, we've seen that he is the Son of God, that he is able to resist temptation as we cannot, that he has the power & authority of God himself – that Jesus is God's anointed King.

So Jesus has come to announce that the kingdom of God – that is, that the good & perfect rule & reign of God's King – has begun to break into this sinful world.
And he begins to invite people to become citizens of this kingdom, to join him in his mission to announce the presence of the K of G to the whole world.
Yes, it's a massive mission. But it's a mission with the backing of all the infinite resources of the Lord God Almighty.
It started small, but it grew fast.


So when Jesus comes to Lake Genneseret (Galilee), he's the only one proclaiming the K of G. But the people crowd round him and listen to the word of God (5:1).

But there are so many people that it's hard for them all to hear – but hear they must: this is the mission – to get people to hear the word, the message, about the K of G.
So Jesus borrows Simon's boat, pushes out a little way from shore and sits there to teach the people as they gather round in one the natural amphitheatres formed by the inlets and hills of the lake.

Then, when Jesus finishes speaking, v4, he turns to the boat owner, Simon, and says, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.' Let's go fishing!
Now you might think Simon would dismiss the request. After all, he's the experienced fisherman, and he's been out all night – the best time for catching fish – and caught nothing. Now this preacher-man is telling him to go out in the middle of the day, and to fish in deep water – the very time & place you would never fish!
So this is a test for Simon.
He's seen something extraordinary in Jesus: the way he healed his mother-in-law; the way he teaches with such authority.
But now comes the test; will he submit to Jesus? Will he obey what is, humanly speaking, a crazy request?

Simon replies, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.'

He passes the test.
He's ready to take his first step of faith – it's not a leap in the dark, but a step of trust based on the evidence.
Simon's learned enough to put aside his ordinary expectations. Jesus is no mere preacher – no mere man. This Jesus is very, very special.

And Simon's trusting obedience pays off: they catch such a massive haul that their nets began to break, and they have to get their mates to come and help them. Even then, both boats are so laden with fish that they begin to sink.

Clearly this is a miracle – a work that only God could do, but a work done by this man Jesus.
So Simon falls at Jesus' knees and says, 'Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.'

And, you'll know what I mean when I say that as Simon falls down at Jesus' feet, he takes another step of faith.
Simon realises that the Jesus is God, and he's afraid. He knows that he is unworthy of God – that he is sinful but that before him stands the just, pure, holy God.
He knows that sinners cannot associate with the holy God.
And just as fire destroys everything combustible, so God will consume everything sinful and evil.
Simon, James & John are terrified of Jesus because they see that Jesus is not just a man – he is the very presence of Almighty God.
Then Jesus said to Simon, v10, 'Don't be afraid'.
This is pretty much a declaration of forgiveness – Jesus has accepted Simon. In fact, this sinner has a new future, 'From now on you will catch men.'

Previously, Simon had caught fish, killed them and sold them – he'd caught them for death.
But now, says Jesus, using a slightly different word, 'You will catch men alive – for life.'

And this is both a promise and a commission for Simon.
It's a promise – 'you will catch men'. And the fulfilment of the promise was illustrated by the huge catch of fish.
Humanly speaking such a catch was impossible. But Jesus has the authority and the power to do the impossible.
His mission statement might is, in human terms, outrageous. And let's face it, recruiting a few fishermen in Galilee seems like a pathetically small step to fulfilling this mission.
But Jesus demonstrates that this is no mission impossible. Not when the entire resources of God are at his disposal – so Simon will catch men.

And history records how Jesus' word was fulfilled – in the space of a few years, there were Xns not only in the middle east, but in Asia, Africa and Europe.
This promise to catch men was massively successful.

But catching men is also a commission. Simon has a new job.

From now on he's to catch men for the Kingdom of God by telling people who Jesus is.

'So', v11, 'they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed Jesus.'
From now on, they have have one master to follow, one mission to fulfil.

Their allegiance is no longer to the Galilee Fishing Co-operative with its mission statement, 'to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one fish and one neighbourhood at a time.'
Now their allegiance is to Jesus and his mission to announce the good news of the K of G.

And because these men left everything to follow Jesus, we – you and me – have heard the gospel – we are part of the success of that mission.

And the same promise and the same commission passes on to us.

This is not just a commission for the disciples – if it had been, the church would have died out in one generation and J's mission would have failed.
Each and every Xn is commissioned by Jesus to tell others, 'From now on', he says, 'you too will catch men & women.'

But to our great relief we too realise that this is also a promise. When we tell others about Jesus, we do catch men.
Of course, not every fishing trip is a success. But Jesus is building his kingdom. Men & women are being caught here & all over the world.

Sometimes, we throw in some ground bait, try a catch but fail, and then much later discover that someone else came after us and made a catch because we'd enticed the fish in.

So let's get on with it.
Let's get up & leave our small personal missions, ambitions and goals behind.
Let's go fishing!