Church Sermon - February 8, 2004

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Epistle Lesson; 1 Corinthians 14:12-20
Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 6:1-13
Sermon Text; Luke 5:1-11

Before reading through our text for today, I want to start with a little background of the relationship between Jesus and Peter. When the events of our text took place, Jesus and Peter already had a relationship with each other. For example, it was Peter’s brother Andrew, who was present when John the Baptist pointed at Jesus and said,

"Behold the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world."

The first thing Andrew did was run off to get his brother Peter and tell him,

"We have found the Messiah."

(We have found the Christ).

John 1:35-42

And, he brought Peter to Jesus.

Peter also knew who Jesus was, from another incident that took place, before today’s scripture reading. Jesus had come to Peter’s home. Peter’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked Jesus to help her. Jesus had compassion on her. So He knelt beside her, bent over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She then got up and she served the people. Luke 4:38-39

It is with that background, which sets the stage for today’s text, ‘The Great Catch of Fish’.

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee), with the people crowding around him and listening to the Word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 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.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

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."

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

These are Your words, Heavenly Father. Lead us in the way of truth, your word is truth.

Amen.

Jesus was a teacher. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was often times found with crowds of people gathered around Him, as they listened and hung onto every word that He was teaching. Such is the case, in our text for today. Imagine the scene. Jesus is standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, teaching. A large group of people has gathered, crowding around Him, listening to the Word of God. We can almost imagine the scene. The crowd is getting larger and larger. Jesus is standing on the water’s edge and the people are pressing against Him. He is running out of room, and has nowhere to go. His words are not able to reach all of the people who have gathered around Him.

That is when Jesus spies a couple of boats, one of which belongs to Peter. He asks Peter to drop his boat into the water, so that He can sit in that boat and continue to teach the people. It became a natural amphitheatre for Jesus’ voice to carry across the water, to all the people who had gathered there.

When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Peter, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Here, Jesus was talking to Peter as a fisherman.

Now, I’m not a fisherman. I don’t claim to be one. And yet, there are two things that go against Peter’s experience, as a fisherman. Listen to what Jesus asks Peter to do. "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

First, Jesus asks Peter to fish in broad daylight. That went contrary to Peter’s experience. Every fisherman knew that nighttime was the most favorable time for fishing! He had been out fishing the night before, and had not caught anything. And now they were busily cleaning their nets, preparing for another night of fishing. Peter told Jesus, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything."

Note too, that Jesus ordered Peter to fish out in the deeper part of the lake. Jesus told him, "Put out into deeper water." This runs contrary to all of Peter’s experience. His experience, as a fisherman, told him that the catch of fish was in the shallower water. It sounded like ignorance on Jesus’ part. Peter knew (and the big crowd on shore knew it, as well) that the shallower water offered a greater promise of a good catch.

Yet, notice what Peter does, as he simply responds, "because you say so, I will let down the nets." Certainly Peter could have said, "Lord, you are crazy. I have fished all night and have not caught anything." Or, "Lord, it is broad daylight! You are telling me to fish in deeper water?" He could have said that, but he didn’t. He simply said, "because you say so, I will let down my nets."

Jesus intended his command to be one that sounded foolish to a knowledgeable fisherman, going contrary to Peter’s experience. He was summoning Peter not to rely on his human understanding as a fisherman, and to put aside what experience or reason told him. He intended Peter to simply to take Jesus at His word and lean on Him.

Notice the promise that Jesus adds to the command. He gives Peter the promise, "for a catch." Often times God gives us a promise, in our lives. Those promises are always designed to arouse, nourish, and strengthen our faith. To aid Peter, in meeting this test of faith, Jesus added a promise to His command, "Let down the nets for a catch."

Jesus’ promise accomplished its purpose. Now comes the astounding result, to the command that Jesus gave. Our text this morning tells us, "they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break".

Here, with this miracle, Jesus demonstrated His absolute power, in the realm of nature. But, if that is all that we see in this miracle today, then we are completely missing the main point. Yes, Jesus’ words do have command over nature. The main point, however, is that Jesus gave this demonstration of the power of His word so that those present could see it with their eyes. As Jesus was sitting in the boat, teaching the truths of the Gospel, His Word was charged with power. And, people were coming to faith. And yet, at that moment, everybody did not visibly see his or her faith. The powerful effect it was having on the hearts of His listeners could not be seen. In Jesus’ miracle, however, the power of His Word was made plain for all eyes to see. Everybody certainly saw the miraculous catch of fish!

It was Peter and the disciples who would later go out, with that charged and powerful word of Jesus, taking the Gospel into the world of their day. It was a world of work-righteous Judaism, on the one hand. And on the other hand, it was the world of paganism. That presented a gloomy prospect. But that gloom was dispelled by the certainty of victory. Jesus’ words are charged. Jesus’ words have power. God gave that promise, that assurance, that as they went forth in His name, they would win souls for their Savior. They would win souls for eternal life. The victory was assured them by the miracle Jesus performed. Their nets were filled to bursting, by the word Jesus spoke. Even so, the Word of the Lord would give them a full catch, as they followed their calling of Gospel-fishermen.

There is a reverse truth conveyed to the church by the words, which Peter spoke, "because you say so." If we depart from God’s Word, ignore it in part or in whole, then the promise, the blessing, and success in the church’s Gospel work of winning people for Him are not assured, and dismal failure will be guaranteed.

When the nets began to tear, there was danger of losing the catch. Peter and his fellow workers cried out and signaled to their partners, James and John, who were in the other boat. These rushed to help with the catch of fish by loading some of the fish into their boat. Even so, both boats were filled to the danger point, because both were riding deep in the water and now began to sink.

As we look at this miracle of Jesus today, we see how powerful His word really is. As fishermen for the Lord, we should take this promise of abundant blessing from Jesus to heart, and let it buoy us up in days when we think that the Gospel work is bringing in a poor catch, or no catch at all. Let us not look at the world as a place of gloomy prospects, where there may not be a catch of fish for Christ. There are people out there in abundance. May we ask other people to help us out and to win those souls for salvation. We too like Peter can say to Jesus, "because you say so".

To this point, Jesus was speaking to Peter as a fisherman. But now Jesus asks Peter to be a fisher of men. Notice the reaction that Peter has to this great catch of fish. He gets on his knees before Jesus and says,

"Go away from me, Lord;

I am a sinful man."

Peter recognized who Jesus was. He is true God. He is almighty. He is holy. How could it possibly be that Jesus could stand in the presence of such a sinner, as Peter? Peter saw that he was unworthy to remain in the Lord’s presence. This is confirmed by the reason Peter gave: "I am a sinful man." The miracle had brought home to him the truth that Jesus was the LORD. Not only is Jesus almighty, but also holy. How could Jesus remain in the presence of one like Peter, one who plainly was a sinner?

What did Peter mean when he called himself, "a sinful man"? Could he have been speaking of an experience that is shared by any Christian? Here, we recognize ourselves along with Peter. We recognize that Jesus is holy, and that His words are powerful. How can we possibly stand in His presence? As Christians, when abundant blessings come into our lives, we do not regard them as things that belong to us. They are not our right and due. Our sinfulness and our unworthiness hits home, as we recognize that we don’t deserve what God has given to us. And yet, we accept those blessings that God gives to us in true humility. We see and accept those blessings as benefits, which God in pure grace, grants us.

Peter and his companions were astonished by that great catch of fish. Our text tells us his companions, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, shared in the amazement over what they had witnessed. "For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken." It was only in Peter, the chief person with whom Jesus is here dealing, that the added effect of deepest humiliation is found.

Then the Lord made abundantly plain the purpose of the miracle just performed was to serve for Peter, James, and John, as well. "Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men’".

Jesus did not dispute Peter’s sinfulness. Rather, Jesus forgives Peter of his sins. He also gave added assurance to the heart of trembling Peter. He would take forgiven Peter into His service as an apostle. He would enable him, for His work, so that he would ‘catch men’, that is, win them for their Savior and for eternal life.

Jesus does the exact same thing with us, as we fall at His knees and say, "Lord go away from me, because I am a sinner." He absolves us of our sins. He forgives us of our sins. And He asks us to go forth in His name and win people for Him and eternal life.

Again, I underscore the meaning of this miracle that Jesus performed in our text for today. It visibly reveals who Jesus is. Jesus gave Peter and the other apostles a visible demonstration of the power and success of His Word. It was to assure them that as they spoke Jesus’ Word of salvation, to their fellow men, they would witness its power and success. That is what the Epiphany Season is all about. Epiphany means to reveal, or to make known.

Today we see who Jesus is. He is true God. We see that Jesus reveals not only the power of His Word, but He also reveals His grace to us, His grace of that gracious gift of everlasting life in Heaven.

What did the disciples do after Jesus called them to follow Him? Our text tells us that they left their boats at the shore. They left everything and followed Him. "So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."

Today we may ask why they left everything behind? Someone once said, "If Jesus is God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to make for Him." Jesus is true God. Jesus did die on the cross for you and me. He did win salvation for us. He gives that to us as a gracious and free gift.

Peter, James, and John left everything behind to go forth and to win souls for our Savior, to win souls for eternal life. May we do the same also, going forth, knowing that we are absolved of all of our sins, forgiven of all of our sins. May we go forth following Jesus, not to be fishermen, but to be fishers of men. May we too lean on Jesus’ words, the power and charge of His Word and say with Peter, "because you say so, I will let down the nets."

Amen.

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