Fishers of Men

Bible Passage: Luke 5:1-11

The purpose of this series is to explore some Biblical pictures of what the church is called to be, through a framework of devotion, community and mission. This part of the series focuses in on Mission, and goes right back to the calling of the first disciples and the purpose that Jesus gave them to be fishers of men.

The Miraculous Catch (v1-7): The passage begins with a miracle, where Jesus shows his divine power to produce a result that is not possible by our best human efforts. Simon Peter and his co-workers were experienced fishermen, but on this given night they were struggling to catch any fish, despite working all night. In some ways this can parallel our own inability to see lives changed for God by our own strength. And yet, despite the seeming absence of fish, when Jesus speaks into this situation and the disciples follow his lead, the result is a catch so large that the fishing boats couldn’t contain it! Jesus is sovereign and able to provides abundance where otherwise we would struggle. When we think about our mission to make disciples, this story helps us see that it is Jesus who is sovereign in our mission, and it is in following him and responding to his word in faith and obedience that we will see this kind of powerful impact.

Repentant Humility (v8-9): Seeing what Jesus did had a profound effect on Simon. It made him realise that Jesus was no ordinary teacher but that he had seen the power of God at work, and this led him to fall to his knees and confess his own sinfulness before the Lord. In a lot of ways, this response parallels what we see from Isaiah when he had his own encounter with God’s holiness and declared ‘woe is me’ (Isa. 6:5). In order to be equipped for the mission Jesus has for us, we must first catch a glimpse of who he is, and from this place our understanding of ourselves is transformed. We are not the main characters in the story, but are those who have fallen short but been gloriously forgiven by his grace. And it is this grace that we are sent out to proclaim to others.

A New Mission (v10-11): Having seen the response of Simon, Jesus tells him not to fear and then explains to him what his purpose will be. This is framed in terms of his previous purpose, but from now on instead of his life being about bringing fish onto the boat it will be about bringing people into God’s kingdom. The same calling is expressed on many occasions in the New Testament using different kinds of terminology. At its heart is a called people, sent into the world by Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the good news and call people into the kingdom of God. As a church, this is the mission that motivates everything we do.

Potential Applications

• Challenge people to think about who God has put in their lives and what opportunities they might have to share about Jesus with them.
• What response have people made to Jesus themselves? Can you create a moment where people can see something of Jesus’ holiness and repent just like Peter did in this encounter?
• Encourage people to pray for the ‘big haul’ of salvation as the Spirit works in power.