Luke 5:1-11 – 1 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 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.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
In Luke 5 we learned that Simon is meeting Jesus for the first time. Maybe he might have already heard about Jesus or had seen Jesus before the events took place in Luke 5. We know in Luke 4:38-39 that Jesus heals Simon’s Mother-in-Law: “38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.”
Was Simon at the house at that time in Luke 4? Scripture does not reference if Simon was there during the healing miracle of his mother-in-law. Some bible scholars in the past have debated on if this is or is not the same Simon who would later become a disciple of Jesus and be named Peter. But archeologists believe they have found the remains of Simon Peter’s home in Capernaum, and we know that Simon Peter lived in Capernaum.
We also know according to the scriptures in Luke 5 that Simon is having an interaction with Jesus. Imagine how much faith it must have taken for Simon to listen to Jesus and to trust Him during his encounter with Him? Simon was tired and frustrated from fishing all night without a catch. Maybe Simon listened to Jesus just to try and prove a point that there is no fish to catch. Or maybe, well I believe surely, that Simon may have actually trusted Jesus at that moment. Trusted someone who he could be meeting for the first time, trusting someone he may not had known that well yet. But Simon knew enough to listen and to trust Jesus.
Crazy to think how often we as Christians, even though we know who Jesus is and we believe in Him, but yet even after serving Him for many years, we still sometimes struggle trusting Him. Why was it so easy for Simon to trust Jesus, but still hard for us sometimes?
It is also crazy to think of how often we trust random people we meet for the first time, people we barely know. We trust a stranger when we ask for directions. We trust a supervisor during a job interview. We trust the person sitting next to us on a plane or a bus. We trust staff at a restaurant when eating a meal. We trust ministers we do not know to pray for us. We trust lawyers with legal cases. We trust bank tellers with our finances. We trust politicians with our vote. We trust… and so on. So trusting Jesus should be easy for us, right?
We read in Luke 5:3 how Jesus asked Simon to take Him out on to the water in his boat, and Simon listened and did what Jesus asked him to do. Simon was probably ready to go home for the day. And then in Luke 5:4, Jesus tells Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch”. Kind of random to think about how Jesus said that to Simon after He was finished teaching the multitude, but we know with Jesus, nothing is random. In Luke 5:5 Simon replies to Jesus by saying, “Master we have worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” Imagine Simon being tired and frustrated from working all night without a catch, only then to be asked to go out and try again. But still Simon trusted Jesus.
Sometimes like Simon, we too get tired and frustrated, especially after working all day or night. We tend to become burned out, fed up and ready to give up. If you are worn out and ready to take a break from it all, then call on God of the breakthrough!
But despite being tired and over worked, Simon did what Jesus told him to do anyway. Simon stepped out in faith and trusted Jesus, he cast his net in the deep end of the water, and Simon received an abundance of blessing!
Simply by trusting Jesus and being obedient to Him, the nets and boat were full of fish. So much so that the nets were about to break, and the boat was about to sink. Imagine being so filled up with God’s abundant blessings that you cannot even stand or walk because of the overflow of God’s presence.
Are you tired and worn out? Never forget that when you are worn out and ready to take a break from it all then call on God of the breakthrough! He wants to give you the increase of His abundant blessings. So much of a constant flow that the enemy cannot turn off that flow unless we allow him to. We do not have to be scared; we do not have to be afraid. Just trust Jesus.
Simon recognized Jesus’s authority by calling Him “Master”, and it was before Simon knew who Jesus is on a personal level. But yet Simon still trusted Jesus when He told Simon to lower the nets again. Simon’s faith and trust in Jesus made way for him to receive a blessing of abundance. And at the same time opened the door for Simon to go from launching his net on the side of a boat to launching out into a life of ministry. Simon went from being a fisherman to being Peter, a fisher of men. May we never fail to recognize Jesus’ authority. May we never fail to trust Jesus. Just trust Him!
