The Measure of Faith

Luke 5:1-11

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples

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 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

5 But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so 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.

Following Jesus and fishing for the souls of men is far more rewarding then feeding oneself or making a living alone from normal fishing.  The crowd had gathered to hear the word of God from Jesus, pressing in on Him until He had to get into an unused boat belonging to Simon Peter to get just far enough away for all to hear Him.  The acoustics of the sound rolling off the calm sea onto the land helped His voice carry into their eager ears and hearts as well.  This must have been marvelous to sit there under the teaching of the Lord in that setting, especially since many there likely were fishermen themselves.  After preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all present, Jesus asked Peter to push out further and cast the net to do some fishing.  The soon to be follower argued with Jesus because of his own failure and lack of ardent ability to catch any fish all night.  Still, there was a spark of faith to take the Lord at His word and cast out the net once more.  He was astonished at the results of that trust to heed the word of the Lord as they barely could pull the overflowing net onboard!  He needed help and even the second boat and its crew had difficulty bringing in the harvest as both boats were overwhelmed with the sheer number of fish and began to sink under the heavy load.  Peter saw the result of faith given by Jesus to him to receive this catch and confessed his sin to Him.  Instead of Jesus leaving the one feeling unworthy, however, Jesus called him to follow in order to catch the souls of men in the seas of the world instead of mere fish in this tiny pond.  Even the partners of Simon, James and John, left everything of their trade and followed Jesus on this mission of the kingdom of God which they did not yet fully comprehend what that would entail.  They just beached their boats and left them there to follow the Master who knew where to cast the net of the gospel to bring in the harvest at His word and according to His omniscient and omnipotent sovereign will.  Are we likewise willing to leave everything behind we hold dear when called to do so?  That is the measure of faith of a disciple of Jesus Christ as our Savior-Lord.  May we follow and fish for men whether we do so from the boat where we have been providentially placed or on a journey with Him elsewhere to the earth’ end (Acts 1:8).