Luke 5:1-11

Introduction
The Uniqueness of Luke 5:1-11
Althoughit is obvious, as we have
seen, that Luke depended upon Mark
for the general outline of his material
on the public ministry of Christ in
Galilee, including in his own Gospel
nearly all the incidents Mark records
about Christ's
ministry;
nevertheless,
Luke departs
from Mark's
outline when it
suits his
purposes and
theme.
The first
such departure
of Luke from
Mark's outline is
ourtext, 5: 1-11,
whichinterrupts
the parallel
course of the narratives of Luke and
Mark with the story of the miraculous
catch of fish by Christ's apostles.
This is one of the six miracle stories
recounted only by Luke, (5: 1-11;
7:11-17; 14:1-6; 17:11-19;
22 :51). Whereas this story that has
as its climaX Jesus' words to Peter,
"Do not beafraid;from now on you will
be catching men.," is similarto Mark's
account of the calling of the disciples
by jesus to leave theimets and follow
Him with the summons, "Come after
Me, and I will make you to become
fishers of men," (Mk. 1:16-20),
nevertheless these two stories are
basically so different that Luke's story
cannot be a simple revision and
amplification of Mark's story. Mark's presupposes an acquaintance with
story and Luke's story differ in details, him, vs. 3; previously Jesus healed
location, situation, content and Peter's mother-in-law, 4:38; and
purpose. Furthermore, once again unlike the record in Mark and
we see Luke's almost lack of concern Matthew, Luke does nOt mention the
for chronological sequence, for he
tells this story "without establishing
any connection with what precedes
or what follows."- Stonehouse
The Relation of Luke 5:1-11 to
Luke 4:1-44
In CHAPTER FOUR Luke
presentedJesus "inHis self-revelation
as the Messiah of God, as the One
who repelled the temptations of the
evil one, who spoke with absolute
authority, cast out unclean spirits
and healed physical In
CHAPTER FNE he continues to
portray the Savior in His revelation
of power. Here in verses 1-11 he
shows how He is also the Almighty
Disposer of the fish of the lake and
how He is recognized and followed
by His diSCiples as a unique Person."-
Geldenhuys
The Focus of Luke 5:1-11
Although this is the first mention
by Luke ofJesus' contact with Peter,
James and John, Luke does not
consider this incident to be the first
contact between them. Jesus freely
going aboard Peter's boat
summons to these three men to be
His disciples; it presupposes their
call to discipleship. "Basically the
story is concerned withaprofouncl
personal experience Peter
underwent as he came face to face
with thesupernatutal,and through
which he comes to acknowledge
jesus as transcendent Lord".;"-
Stonehouse
Exposition
(5:1) The
Geographical
Location of
This . . Mira-
culous Catch
ofFish
T his
incident in the
life of Christ
took place on
the shore of
and ina fishing
boat on "the
lake of
Gennesaret," near Capernaum where
Peter lived. The other Gospel writers
use the popular reference, "the sea of
Galilee," but Luke refers to it more
literally as a "lake," Which it was. The
"lake of Gennesaret" is seven miles
wide and thirteen mileslong. ltis six
hundred feet belo'i\' sea level,
beautifully situated among
mountains and hills. In the time of
Christ it was surrounded by busY
towns and villages, carrying on a
large fishing business.
(5:1-3) The Historical Context of
This Miraculous Catch
ofFish
The Activity of the Disciples in
Their Fishing Business
4 ;. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t October, 1995
Although] esushad already called
Peter, James, joh.n and the others to
be His apostles, john 1:35-52; Mat.
4:18f; Mk. 1:16[, from this story it
becomes clear that , altllOugh the
newly called apostles had obeyed
His call, and were following jesus,
their following of Him was
incomplete, They were still, to some
degree, engaged in their fishing trade,
They apparently had not yet left all to
follow Jesus, vs, 11. Jesus used this
situation, to bring them to full and
total commitment to Him,
The Preaching Ministly oflesus
"Now it came about that while the
multitude were pressing
harder on Jesus, that in order to be
heard by all the people, He got into
one of Simon Peter's fishing boats,
"put out a little way from land," and
continued preaching to them, "Christ
uses Peter's boat as a pulpit, whence
to throw the net of the Gospel over
His hearers ,"- Plummer
(5:4-5) The Unusual and
Laughable Command of
Jesus to Peter
The Purpose of the Command
After Jesus had finished His
message to the crowds from the boat,
He turns to Peter, who is in the boat
with Him and commands him: "Put
and contrary to all experience. All
this must be fully appreciated in order
to understand this order ofJesus. He
intended it to be an order like that,
and Peter's face must have been ' a
study when he heard it.",- Lenski
Jesus made this unusual and
laughable command of Peter to
stretch and complete Peter's total
commitment to Himself, Will Peter
leave all and be willing to do anything,
even that which seems ridiculous
and which could be embarraSSing,
just to please Christ and to follow
Him? Will you?
The Obedience of Peter
Simon Peter answers
around Him and listening
to the Word of God, He was
standing by the lake"" ---
And He got into one of the
boats, which was Simon's,
and asked him to put out a
little way froM1 the land, And
He sat down and began
teaching the multitudes from
"WllIPeter leave'all and be willing to
do anything, even thilltwhich 6eemS
, ..... which could be >"
Jesus with these words:
"Master, we worked hard
all night and caught
nothing, but at Your
bidding I will let down
the nets."
erf,barrak;6ing; jU6t top/ease phrist
andt(} follow Him? Wi/fyou?" ' "
The Recognition of
Jesus' Lordship
the boat." Here we see Jesus busily
engaged in the ministry He came to
earth to accomplish: "1 must preQLh
the kingdom of God to other cities also,
for 1 was sent for this purpose," Lk.
,4:43, The response of the people to
Jesus' preaching was so favorable,
that it was almost impossible to escape
the crowds of people that were
continually "pressing around Him, "
This particular crowd was pushing
itself aroundJesus because they were
"listening to the word of God" (ton
logon tou theou) which He was
speaking, "The, Speaker, in His own
captivating and authoritative manner,
was bringing the 'word' or 'message'
of God to His audience, That
message, (logos) was 'the gospel of
the kingdom,' tlle reign of God in
hearts, lives and (lmman) spheres,
Mk. 1:14,15,"- Hendriksen
The crowds kept coming closer
and closer and pressing harder and
out in to the deep w'lter and let down
your nets for a catch," This is an
unusual and laughable command of
Jesus, because all seasoned fishermen
know that the best fishing is at night,
and the worst fishing was in the day,
The disciples had already put up
their nets and were washing and
mending them, a long night of
fishing,
"A startling command indeed!
What did Jesus know about fishing
in contrast with an expen like Simon?
It sounded like ignorance for this
former carpenter to designate 'the
deep' as the place for making a catch
of fish and like double ignorance to
ask tllat this effort be made now, well
on in the day, about noon. Jesus
orders this while multitudes line the
shore , many of whom were
conversant wit h fishing, who
certainly would give Peter the laugh
for doing something that is so
apparently irrational, really foolish,
Peter addresses Jesus as "Master"
(EPISTATA) in verse 5 and as "Lord"
(KURIE) in verse 8, We see from
these forms of address that "the
ordinary forms of address applied to
Jesus in Luke are simple honorifics,"
(i.e" titles showing respect and
honor),- B,B. Warfield, THE LORD
OF GLORY, pg, 99, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Baker Book House, reprint
1974), In Luke's Gospel, Jesus is
addressed as "Teacher," mostly by
those who are not yet His disciples,
7:40; 10:25; 11:45; 12:13; 18:18;
19:39; 20:21, 28, 39; 8:49; 9:38;
21:7; as "Master," by His disciples,
which new tenn is unique to Luke
who does not use the title, "Rabbi,"
due to his non-Jewish audience, 5:5;
8:24,45; 9:33, 49; 17:13; and as
"Lord," 5:12; 7:6; 18:41; 19:8; 9:59,
61; 13:23;6:46; 5:8; 10:17,40; 11:1;
12:41; 17:37; 22:33, 38,49,
The term, "Master, " (EPISTATA),
"indicates that the user of it stands in
October, 1995 * THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon * 5
the closest relation to Jesus, and
acknowledges Him as His Superior
Officer ---Chief, Commander, Master,
Leader. --- The prevailing form of
address to Jesus in Luke is, however,
the ordinary Greek honorific, 'Lord'
(KURiE), used','however, obviously
as an honorific of especially high
connotation. ---' ... to address Him as
'Lord' was ,to acknowledge His
authority and involved subjection to
His commandments, and accordingly
the term is represented as employed
chiefly by His professed followers ... "-
Warfield, pg. 100f. when Simon
Peter uses both terms, "Master" and
"Lord" to address Jesus, it is obvious
that the words are "charged with
very high significance," and that by
them he intends to convey to Jesus
that he, Peter, recogniZes his place of
total and unqualified submission to
His,]esus', total sovereignty over him.
"The copious designatory
employment of the title, 'Lord', of
Christ, however, is characteristic of
Luke, 19:31,34; 12:36,42,43;24:34;
1:45. -"- This implies ... that Jesus
stood to His disciples for whatever
the title, 'Lord,' meant to them. There
is involved in it certainly the
recognition of His Messianic dignity,
and there is included, therefore, the
recognition of Hini of all that they
saw in His Messianic dignity. ---
... He was thought of as 'Lord' in
contrast to the earthly potentates who
were claiming lordship of men, and
especially in contrast with the
emperor in Rome, the 'Lord' by way
of eminence in all men's minds. To
Jesus, rather than to the emperor,
was allegiance due. --- The simplest
thing to say is that the term 'Lord'
was applied to Jesus by Luke
obviously with the deepeSt reverence
and obviously as the expression of
that reverence. The full height of this
reverence may be suggested to ,us by
certain passages in which the term
'Lord' occurs in citations from the
Old Testament, where its reference is
to Jehovah, though in the citations it
seems to be applied to Jesus, Lk.
3:4."" Warfield, pgs. 102-106. In
other words, calling Jesus, "Lord"
was identifying the person of Jesus
WithJehovah. THE LORD'S CHRIST
IS CHRIST THE LORD.
The Recognition by Peter of How
MuchJesus Was
Asking of Him
By Peter's response to Jesus, it is
obvious that he understood fullywhat
was being demanded of him. Peter is
NOT rebukingJesus with his words,
"Master, we worked hard all night and
caught nothing ... " "Peter is not raising
an objection as though he were
refusing Jesus; he is tittering a
misgiving, for he and his helpers
worked in the best places of the lake
at the best time and continued their
labor many hours with absolUte
failure. Jesus was asking much of
Peter, and by this word Peter shows
how strongly hefelt it." - Lenski. Peter
and the others were exhausted after
the sleepless, fatiguing and futile
night of fishing on the lake; but,Peter
understands that Jesus demands
more of him than does his fishing
business. Jesus elernandssubmission
of Peter that 'goes beyond the
demands of human relations and
vocation, that goes beyond
exhaustion, and that will govern a
man's desires and actions, regardless
of the cost or the embarrassment, in
spite of the fact that everything that
man thinks and sees in the
circumstances around him contradict
the command. Jesus commands
Peter to walk solely and totally by
faith and not by. Sight,
unconditionally, unhesitantly, and
unequivocally submitting himself
to the commanding Word ofJesus.
The Total and Unqualified
Obedience of Peter to Jesus
Peter totally surrenders himself
to the word ofjesus, leaving all claim
on his own life, decisions and energies
6 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon, f October, 1995
to follow Him, with the words, "".but
at Your bidding (word) I will let down
the nets. " The claim of Christ on
Peter is TOTAL; the obedience of
Peter to Christ is TOTAL. The
emphasis of Peter's response, in
. Greek, is on the phrase, "at YOlir
bidding (word)." Peter is saying to
Jesus: The fact that You have
revealed Your will to me in Your
Word commands my will. I
surrender my will to YOurs to be
governed by it. "That is exactly
what Jesus wanted: Peter was to
drop everything else and to throw
himself absolutely on His Lord's
utterance alone. Yea, he was ,to go
counter to all his own experience,
reason, or what
not, including all that men might say
and to hold to only one thing, his
Lord's word. It was a test of
genuine faith in whatever Jesus might
say; on top of that it was to be an
unforgettable experience for Peter to
have absolute cortfidencein his Lord's
word in all his future apostolic work.
-- It is thus that faith overcomes the
world; the faith that conquers by the
Word and nothing but theWord."-
Lenski
As soon as Peter put his confession
of total obedience into action, Jesus
performed an extraordinarymiracle
for Peter's benefit-c-"And when they
had done this, they enclosed a great
quantity of fish; and their nets began to
break; and they signaled to theirpartners
in the other boat, for them to come and
help them. And they, ta1J!e, arid filled
both of the,boats, so that they began to
sink."
(5:6-7) The Extraordinary Miracle
in the Catch of fish
The PW'Pose of Miracles in
Generlll
Jesus' miracles attest to Jesus'word
that it is true and verbal revelation
from God. Jesus' mighty miracles
and His authoritative preaching are
the vehicles through, which God's
kingdom in all its saving power is
realized and its presence made
'evident, The KingdomofGodmakes
its triumphant advance in the earth
with the powerful words and mighty
miracles of jesus, Christ's word is
charged with power, it brings to
r.ealization what it defines, It is not
afl,emptyword; it accomplish('S what
it promises; Therefore, there is a
close connection between His
revealed word and His miracles. The
miracles not only attest to the divine
authority of His word; the mirades
of] esus accomplish what His word
declares.
jesus' preaching of the Kingdom
confirmed by His miracles is at the
same time the manifestation of the
Kingdom, the VEHICLE through
which the Kingdom comes and the
SIGN that the Kingdom has come.
The crowds were continually
"amazed," "astonished,"
"bewildered," and "confused" not
only as they witnessed Christ's
miracles, but also as they heard His
preaching. "They are not merely
amazed at jesus' knowledge or
wisdom or ability in speaking, but at
bottom they respond to the powers
and the authority revealed in His
word. In this respect there is no
difference between jesus' preaching
and His miracles." - Ridderbos, THE
COMING OF THE KINGDOM, pg.
75.
The Nature of This Miracle
Peter did what jesus commanded
and cast his net into the deep. No
sooner had he done that thali. jesus
performed a great miracle. "And
when they had done this, they enclosed
a great quantity oj fish," so great in fact
that their nets began to break. The
fishermen in Peter's boat required
ar;sistance from their partners in the
other boat with them. Both boats
were so full of fish that they both
were on the verge of sinking.
The Purpose of This Miracle
The purpose of this miracle was
to be a visual demonstration of the
power and effectiveness of the
Word of Jesus. While jesus was
preaching from Peter's boat to the
crowds, His Word was going forth
with great power, but it was invisible,
for it affected hearts not bodies. "Who
could see that the mountains of
ignorance were removed, that the
flinty hearts were made like butter by
contrition, that the new, immortal
spiritual life of faith was coming into
existence, that the frightful, crushing
guilt and sin were blown away as far
as the east is from the west? Spiritual
things are invisible, nobody's eyes
see that they are wrought. -- And
how could Peter and the apostles
face judaism and paganism with
absolute assurance of victory when
they had only the Word? Here was
the visible answer: the nets full of fish
caught at jesus' word, and at that
word alone. So the net of the gospel
would becomefilled to the top. These
gospel fishermen would most
assuredly succeed. --- Nothing
saves souls except the Word, and
that Word unchanged in any way . .
The divine and saving power lies in
that Word and in nothing else."-
Lenski
(5:B-lOa) The Response of
Pekr to the Miraculous
Catch of Fish
When Peter saw this miraculous
catch of fish, "he Jell down at jesus'
Jeet, saying, 'Depart Jrom me, Jar I am
a Sinful man, 0 Lord!' For amazement
had seized him and all his companions,
because oj the catch oj Jish which they
had taken; and so also james and John,
SOilS oj Zebedee, who were partners
with Simol1."
The Amazement of Peter
and His Companions at
the Miracle
Everybody involved was
overwhelmed and awestruck at the
mighty and generous revelatiori of
jesus' omnipotence and sovereignty
over the fish of the sea. His disciples
saw that jesus was all He claimed to
be--j ehovah incarnate to save sinners.
This miracle, without doubt, testified
to the "Lord's complete dominion
over the animal creation. The fish of
the s.ea are as much obedient to His
will, as the frogs, and flies, and lice,
and locusts, in the plagues of Egypt.
All are His servants, and all obey His
comrnaJ;lds.':- john Ryle
When Luke writes that
"amazement had seized him (Peter) and
all his companions," he is not simply
describing the psychological frame
of mind of the diSCiples who saw this
miracle. He is indicating that 'Jesus'
word and work revealed the absolute,
the supematurai, and the divine in .
such a way that even the multitude
could not but be aware of it."-
Ridderbos, pg. 75. This miraculous
catch of fish made the disciples
realize in awe and adoration that
they were standing in the presence
of Deity in the person of Jesus! By
His Word and Miracle Jesus had
produced in His diSCiples the frame
of mind necessary for their giving to
Him their total devotion and
undivided allegiance.
The ConfeSSion oj Sin by Peter
After the Miraculous
Catch of Fish
The Impact of This Miracle
Upon Peter
When Peter saw.this astonishing
miracle, "he Jell down at jesus' Jeet,
saying, 'Depart from me, Jar I am a
sinful man, 0 Lord!m This miracle
brought home to Peter "a new sense,
. both of his own sinfulness and of
Christ's holiness."-Plummer
The Overwhelming Sense in
Peter of Being in tlte Presence
of God
Peter had already seen Jesus
October, 1995 t TliE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 7
for me, which I did not know. Hear,
now, and 1 will speak; I will ask Thee,
and do Thou instruct me. 1 have heard
of nee by the hearing of the ,ear; but
now my eye sees Thee; therefore 1 retract,
and I repent in dust and ashes," Job
42:1-6.
His response also reminds us of
Isaiah, who, when he had been
allowed by revelation to enter the
Throne room of Jehovah and to see
His incomparable glory, said, "Woeis
me, for 1 am ruined! Because I am a
man of unclean lips, and I live among a
people of unclean lips;for my eyes have
seen the King,jehovahofhosts, ISAlAH
6:5.
"When one is confronted with
Jesus, it is impossible to remain
neutral. Hisenerriies react to his
miracles with hatred and reviling;
his true disciples, with homage and
reverence. Theystoopand worship."-
Hendriksen
The Significance of Peter's Falling
Down at the Feet :
ofJesus
"This was an a,t 'of ' deepest
humiliation and abasement coupled
with worship. Peter realized the
deity 'of JeSUs ina way that whOlly
overcame him and made him feel his
utter unwonhiness and nothingness
in Jesus' presence. Up to


display His omnipotence in the
performing of miracles. He healed
his mother-in-law. He ' cast out
demons from people. "Although
these had imptessed him and even
made him agree to follow Jesus; this
revelation of His power of disposal
over the fishes of the lake spoke to
him in avery special manner. , For he
was a fisherman by trade and, knew
how humanly impossible it was to
catch fish successfully in the lake in
the early morning houts. The Lord's
revelation of power in the field of
Peter's particular calling--the
trade of a fisherrnan--consequently
made a very powerful impression on
him. That is why it was
precisely after this event that
he fell down before the Savior
under an overwhelming
sense ofBis superhuman,
divine glory and with a deep
realization of his own utter
sinfulness. -- ... this event
narrative; but when he is
iV:;.i',f?In" t;j tria n this act, Luke
h::
formed a tremendous turning
point in Peter's life. -'-- When
Peter, through. Jesus'
revelation of power, began
.
-"->--'. '-:.-':'" .y:; " ... _ . >. '; " .. . . . mature .m That faith
to see Him in His divin<tmajestjr, this
immediately brought him
instinctively to realize his own '
sinfulness. The first natural reaction
of a person under such circumstances
is to feel that one cannot exist before
the Holy One, and therefore Peter
cried out impulsively, 'Depart from
me, 0 Lord!' This, however, does
not mean that it was his permanent,
definite desire that the Lord should
really leave him."- Celdehhuys
was now showing' its humble grace
Whenever the HOLY God makes in Peter. _ Lenski
Himself known to SINFUL man,
sinful man trembles under a sense df
guilt. Some other examples, besides
Job and Isaiah, are Abraham, Gen.
18:27,30,32; Manoah and his wife,
(Samson's parents), Judges 13:20;
the apostle John, Rev. 1:17; Israel the
nation, Exod. 20:19; Deut. 5:25; and
The Humbling of Man in
The Presence of the
God of Glory
Peter's response to this miracle
attesting to Jesus' deity us of
Job, who said, "I know that Thou canst
do all things, and that no purpose of
Thine can be thwarted. Who is this that
hides counsel without knowledge?
Therefore I have declared that which I
did not understand, things too wonderful
the nations, Isa. 64:2.
, The Reintegration of
Personality of the DisCiples by
This Miracle'
"The impression Wrought by JeSus
was profoundly inward and moral.
The disciples are stirred to the depths
of their nature by the transcendent
qualities of the character of Jesus,
and there begins for them what can
only be called a reintegration of
personality round a new center: -W.
Manson by Geldenhuys
8 THE COuNSEL of Chakedon October, 1995
;
The Meaning of Peter's r:;ollfession
of Sin '
Peter immediately ', .testifies that
l;1e is imworthy of the Lord's presence
in his boat. Jesus is the "Lord,"
(KURIE), and Peter is the "openly
sinful man." How can .the, )ioly and
theuhholy, the Infmite and the fmite,
the Uncreated and the created remain
together as friends? The omnipotent
and holy l.ordJesus must withdraw
Himself from this sinner, who is
unworthy to, be in His presence,
worthy only to be, destJ;oyed by Him
for hls' ;;lus. (ro BE coNnNtiiD.)
,
"
"