JESUS SUPERVISES THE FISHING

Luke 5:1-11

Morning Meditation 10/1/16

Verse 1-11 says, “And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”

There we were on the sea of Galilee at dusk. It was a beautiful scene. I have already mentioned the fishing demonstration by a young Jewish man. Since I came back, I have been examining the events that took place around and on the Sea of Galilee. It is called the lake of Gennesaret in our present passage. Jesus is establishing His Messianic authority with His first disciples. He does this by manifesting His power over nature.

The way this happened is explained in the following: “And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land.” These were commercial fishermen. They had fished all night and had caught nothing. Jesus entered Simon’s ship and made a request. The word “prayed” translates “erotao” which means “to request.” It is not the normal word for prayer. It is an aorist active indicative verb. So, it was not a command. What Jesus did next, according to Dwight Pentecost, was to assume the position of a Rabbi. Remember, they had been fishing all night. This was in the early morning hours after sunup. This helps us to understand how quickly people in Galilee responded to Jesus. There was a large crowd of people so He positions Himself a little way from the land and sits down and begins to teach the people. The word “taught” translates “didasko” and means “to teach; to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, deliver didactic discourses.” Teaching is the basis for faith. Faith responds to the Word of God. There can be no faith apart from the Word. Jesus, the living Word, is now teaching and every word He says without exception is the Word of His Father. Jesus is asking them to believe His claim as Messiah.

For years I read over an important verse in Isaiah that describes Jesus relationship as a man to His Father during His earthly ministry. This is what it says, “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back” (Isa. 50:4-5). As a man Jesus had to grow. We are told in Luke 2:52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” It is impossible for me to understand the incarnation. All I know is that Jesus was both God and man. And as a man, He went through all that any normal child would go through. He had to learn. Who would teach Him? God His Father would. And this is exactly what this passage says. Isaiah says, “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned . . .” We have in the combination “Lord GOD” both submission and respect indicated by the word “Lord,” which translates, “adonai,” and “GOD,” which translates “Jehovah,” the I AM of the burning bush. The Jews did not pronounce the name “Jehovah” for fear of blaspheming God’s holy name by mispronouncing it. So, when they came to the name “Jehovah,” they left it unpronounced and used “adonai” instead. The King James translators help us when we come to the name Jehovah. When Jehovah is being translated, it is spelled in all caps, i.e., LORD or GOD spelled in all caps is always the translation of Jehovah. Jehovah personally taught Jesus the Son of man. We are also told when He was taught. Isaiah says, “he wakeneth morning by morning.” This means that Jesus met with His Father every morning to receive teaching and instruction for the day.

The words “he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” tells of illumination. We constantly need the Lord to waken our ears. What a passage! Then Jesus adds (He is the speaker in Isaiah’s passage), “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.” We have here both the Father’s teaching and the Son’s response. Jesus is the only one that can say, “I was not rebellious,” and add, “neither turned away back.”

What did Jesus teach as He sat in the ship. We do not know. Luke just simply says, “and taught the people.” But what Jesus does next suggests that what He taught needed authentication with a miracle over nature. Did He teach about creation? If so, He will demonstrate His power over creation and the creatures obedience to God their Creator. He told Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” The word “launch” is in the imperative mood. Jesus gave an order. Now let’s get the picture. When Jesus asked Simon to thrust off a little from the land, He used the word “prayed,” and was a simple request. This is not a request, it is an order. First teaching then command. This is the way faith works. Simon the commercial fisherman says, “Master” (a term of respect), we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing . . .” The word “toiled” translates “kopiao,” and means, “to grow weary, tired, exhausted.” Simon says, “Lord, we are worn out. We are commercial fishermen and we know the business of fishing. We wore ourselves out last night and we didn’t even catch a minnow.” But he added, “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” Is this patronization or what? Jesus ordered Simon to let down the “nets” plural. Simon came back and used the word “net,” singular. I think Simon thinks he is going to a lot of trouble to prove a point. But Simon’s problem was that he had not yet discovered who he was dealing with. And Jesus is going to establish His authority about His claims. You know the story. They cast out the “net” and the Lord put everything in the net that He was going to put in the “nets.” The result is described in the words of verse 8: “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” I think Simon saw more than the fish, don’t you? I believe this is Simon’s first glimpse of who Jesus really is. I believed Simon wobbled on the axel many times after that but his wheel never came off.

We stood on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We crossed from Capernaum to the area of Tiberias. It was good to be in the place where these things took place..

Remember, it is first teaching and then command. We must sit under the taught word in our God-appointed place (the local church), under our God called leader (the pastor), and listen for the voice of Jesus. He still teaches. Then as we hear His Word, He will give us orders. May we learn from Simon that when He says “nets” He means “nets.”

God bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White