BECOMING A FISHERMAN OF PEOPLE (LUKE 5: 1-11)

 A man, upon his death, arrived at the gates of heaven.  After reviewing the man’s record on earth, Peter stated, “you didn’t do anything especially good or bad during your time on earth.  However, if you could tell me one good deed that you performed during your lifetime, I will let you remain here in heaven.”  The man replied, as if he waited for this offer by Peter, “I did something really good one day. Seeing a group of bikers harassing a young woman, I stopped my car, took the crowbar out of the trunk and approached the leader of bikers.  

 Not only was this leader of the bikers big, but he had a chest full of hair and even had some nose rings.  I grabbed the nose ring of the biker leader, yelled, “leave this woman alone!” and stared down the rest of the bikers.  After that, I yelled, “get out of here immediately, or answer to my wrath!”   Peter was impressed by the man’s story.  So he asked the man, “when did this take place?”  The man answered, “about two minutes ago.”  (The man, by taking on the leader of the bikers, was beaten to death and came to heaven.)

 A life that does not benefit or harm others on surface, such life seems desirable and good; however, in becoming a good Disciple of Christ, such life is not favorable or desirable.  In Book of Revelation, chapter 3, verses 15 to 16, Christ states, “so then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”  Therefore, in seeking a path to becoming a true Disciple of Jesus, we must choose a path either actively supporting or passively declining and understand that a lukewarm attitude will not enable us to become a true people of Christian faith.  The fact that Peter, upon meeting Christ and gathering all the knowledge and understanding, shows us that Peter was able to discard everything for the sake of our Lord.  It shows his true strength and inner character.  Let’s think about the spiritual lesson taught by today’s scripture.

 The main character of today’s gospel is Peter.  The Bible does not explain, until Luke, chapter 5, what type of person Peter was.  In Luke 4: 38-39, when Peter’s mother in law was sick with high fever, Jesus enters the house of Peter to cure his mother in law.  By this, we can deduce that Peter, through personal experience, already knew Jesus had the power to cure the sick and the ill, that He had the power to perform miracles. 

Up until Luke, chapter 4, Jesus is already famous around the Galilee region for being able to perform miracles in curing the sick, exorcising demons, and teaching about the heavens; hence, multitudes of people gathered by Jesus’ side to witness and benefit from these miracles.  When the popularity of Jesus reached its peak in the Galilee Lake region or Gennessaret Lake, as described in Luke Jesus understands the work to be done by His ministry team and calls forth the first of His Disciples.  The most important passage of the scripture is verses 10 and 11, which states “ ‘Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men.’  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.”  How did Peter and his partners James and John, sons of Zebedee give up on their life-long occupation of fishing, throw away the nets and the boats, and become Disciples of Christ?  How could they transform from fishers of fish to fishers of men?

 First, we must pay close attention to verse 3, which states that Jesus taught the masses from Peter’s boat.  Up until Luke, chapter 4, Jesus is delineated as a Healer of the sick; in chapter 5, when He calls forth His first Disciples, Jesus is described as a Teacher.  Jesus, who teaches about the life and the truth, taught masses from the top of a boat; the important thing is whose boat did Jesus teach from, and what were the circumstances at that point.  Of the two boats, one belonged to Peter; since they were not able to net any fish, both of the boats were empty.  Boats are needed to catch fish; however, since they could not catch any fish, the boats remained empty and the fishermen were washing their nets.  These were failed boats unable to fulfill their function of catching fish and the fact that Jesus, Who had already chosen Peter as one of His Disciples climbs aboard Peter’s boat to teach the masses is particularly important.

Second, after Jesus finishes speaking, He tells Peter to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  (Verse 4)  And Peter obeyed.  How did he obey?  In verse 5, Peter answers, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”  Of the Lake of Galilee, Peter probably knew much more than Jesus did.  By nature, Jesus was a carpenter from Nazareth, and Peter was a life long fisherman from Galilee, who intimately knew the profession of fishing.  Peter knew, all too well, the temperature, the time, the location, and the condition of water that is favorable for fishing. 

However, the day that he met Christ, Peter was unable to catch any fish and was in deep despair and disappointment.  Upon meeting Jesus, and hearing His teachings from the boat, Peter came upon an unexpected expectation that perhaps Jesus could solve their problem of not being able to catch fish.  He followed Jesus out of the expectation that perhaps Jesus could solve their problems.  The way I see it, Peter already knew of the power of Christ from watching Him cure his mother in law; Peter trusted in the miracle of Jesus, and came to expect that Jesus indeed had the power to do what they could not humanly do.  And as a result, they followed and obeyed Him.

            In verses 6 and 7, the result was as expected; they caught so much fish that the nets were about to rip apart; they called another boat over to transfer some of the fish that they had caught, but the weight of the fish threatened to sink both boats.  This was truly miraculous, indeed.  Peter, who had been a fisherman all his life, could not catch even a minnow no matter how hard he tried.  When He obeyed Christ and cast his net during a time and location that was not favorable for fishing, they caught so much fish that the nets ripped and the boats nearly sank.  What was the attitude of Peter once he experienced such miracle?

 Third, Peter, who, in midst of despair, was washing nets from his empty boat, obeys Christ and caught more fish than beyond all imagination.  In verse 8, Peter, terrified, kneels in front of Jesus and said “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”  He discovered that a disparity in quality and character that existed between himself and Christ that could never be bridged.  Christ possessed supernatural authority and majesty;

Peter, on the other hand, considered himself a mere sinner, and this brought out the utmost respect and reverence in his heart.  Of another interest is that Peter had been, up until this point in the Bible, referred to by his other name, Simon; after witnessing this miracle, he is referred to as Simon Peter.  This tells us that Peter, after confirming that Jesus is indeed a different Being than any other human, entered the path of a true Disciple.  After realizing that he is a mere sinner, unworthy to be near Jesus. Who is holy and spiritually authoritative. Peter, who had called Jesus ‘master,’ begins referring to Him as ‘Lord’ or ‘kyrios.’  To Peter, Jesus was no longer just a great Teacher of life; rather, Jesus was the true Lord worthy of his life and all that he believed in. 

 Fourth, all people who experienced this miracle was greatly surprised (verse 9), and James and John, who are to become favorite Disciples of Christ, “brought their boats to land, forsook all and followed Him.”  (verse 11).  They became Disciples of Christ.  These three. Peter, John and James.witnessed and confirmed in spirituality and holiness of Jesus, and forsook their life-long occupation, families, and all that they owned and chose the path of being a Disciple of Jesus.

  I would like to concentrate on what Jesus said to Peter in today’s scripture: “From now on you will catch men.”  There are two images associated with a ministry:  ‘fishing,’ or catching men, and ‘shepherding,’ or leading a flock of sheep.  Becoming a Disciple of Christ means becoming catchers of people.  Jesus invited Peter, who had dedicated his entire life in catching fish, to become a fisher of men the one who changes people and leads them to salvation.  Therefore, rather than saying to Jesus, “Lord, where did all this fish come from?  Teach us the secret in catching so many fish,” Peter kneels in front of Him out of fear, and says “Depart from me, for I am a sinner, O Lord.” 

Peter’s interest no longer rested on catching fish or making more money; rather, it transgressed all secular concerns and arrived at matters concerning life and death, meaning of life, and the search of truth.  Becoming a fisher of man entails delivering the working gospel to people so that they become not people of earth but people of heaven; not people of despair, but people of hope; and not people of secular, but people of spirit.  Peter, James, and John realized that becoming fishers of men was a worthy endeavor, one that they could devote rest of their lives on.  They cast aside all they had and followed Jesus in pursuit of this life-long goal.

 A man named Charlie tried very hard to convert his neighbor.  However, the neighbor, whenever Charlie mentioned something about Christianity, would say “how can you believe all those false, fabricated stories in the Bible!  You are very foolish, indeed.”  Whenever Charlie tried to convert him, the neighbor berated him.  Charlie, convinced that the only way to convert his neighbor was through intellect and theory, began reading up on works of famous theologians.  One day, his neighbor experienced some problems with the rain gutter leaves had collected in the gutter and clogged it up.  However, the neighbor had very bad fear of heights, and could not clean out his gutter. 

Charlie, without thinking twice, cleaned his neighbor’s gutter for him.  The surprising thing was that from that week, the neighbor and his wife began attending the church that Charlie attended.  During the worship service, the neighbor was so caught up in the grace of the Holy Spirit and the power of the gospel that he accepted Jesus as his savior.  Later, the neighbor would confess to Charlie that the small act of benevolence by Charlie ultimately led to his conversion to Christianity.

 It is not difficult to become fishers of men.  During the course of our everyday lives, if we transfer a portion of the abundant love that we receive from Christ onto others, we can lead the hearts of these people to Christ.  Let’s become good fishers of men and good disciples.  Experience and realize our shortcomings and our sins, and welcome Jesus, who visits our boat, which may be wrought with failure and despair.  Obey the word of Jesus, and in the midst of the turbulent ocean called life, cast our nets in order to catch men.  Amen.