Thou Shalt Catch Men: A Meditation on Luke 5, for the 5th Sunday in Epiphany

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 enclosed

 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 are few things that Christians both in our time and across the ages have struggled to do and understand, like Evangelism.  The desire for Evangelism has prompted both better and worse movements in different times and places throughout Church history, and the fear of Evangelism has often done the same.  Some in their zeal have harmed or coerced others into a superficial allegiance to the Church, while others in their fear have refused to share the Gospel with even those desperate for it.  Yet regardless of our collective human failures in Evangelism over the centuries, it is still a command which the Lord Jesus gave to His people, and at its best has brought the Gospel into nearly every dark corner of the world.  In the story recounted by St. Luke above, we have several key elements of Jesus’ witness and teaching which inform our understanding of Evangelism, and help us understand how to receive this command while avoiding the errors toward which our fallen humanity inclines.

 

For starters, notice that it is the Word of God which draws the people to Jesus.  This is, of course, a double truth, since Jesus is Himself the very Word of God made flesh, and He was speaking the Word of God in Law and Gospel to the people, calling everyone to Repentance and Faith.  Jesus didn’t need the machinations of marketing, slick sales pitches, or diverse programming.  In fact, so many people came to hear the Word of God that He was surrounded near the water’s edge, and asked Peter if He could use His boat to gain a little separation.  This is a key truth which the Church of our day, and every day, needs to remember:  what calls people to Jesus is His Word, and it is His Word through which the Holy Spirit works to both convict and convert the heart of those who hear it.  This means that Evangelism is not dependent on how savvy we are with social media, technology, or business principles, because the Church is not founded on Facebook, Google, or Amazon.  Rather, the Church of Jesus Christ is founded only upon Himself and His Word, with all those who believe in Him becoming the living stones built upon Him.  Modernity, like Antiquity, adds nothing to, and subtracts nothing from, Jesus.

 

Notice also that Peter, James, and John, are not made disciples of Jesus by their own powers or preparations, but by the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They were simple fishermen when the Lord arrived on their stretch of beach, and while there’s nothing to suggest they didn’t learn the fundamentals of the Scriptures as they were raised in faithful Hebrew households, observing the Law of Moses and the Prophets as best they understood them from the services in the synagogues and Temple, there’s also no indication that they went to any kind of advanced learning akin to what we might call today colleges and seminaries.  They would likely learn to read the Torah and thus have some literacy, but they were not scholars, lawyers, or members of any politically elite class.  What made them disciples of Jesus, was Jesus’ call to them by His Word.  They heard Him preach.  When He told them to push out into the deeper water, they obeyed Him.  When the miraculous catch of fish appeared, they marveled at the power and majesty of Jesus.  Jesus and His Word called His disciples, and would eventually make of them Apostles, sent to bear His Word to the nations.

 

Peter’s first response to Jesus and His Word is not unlike many who have encountered them.  He recognized his own sinfulness and unworthiness to be in the presence of Jesus, and begged Jesus to depart from him.  Yet Jesus persisted in His call to Peter, comforting him, and encouraging him in the grace that only Jesus could give.  Jesus knew that Peter was unworthy, just as He knows that all the world is unworthy.  The calling of Peter didn’t depend upon the worthiness of Peter, but on the Word and saving power of Jesus.  Jesus’ Word would strengthen Peter in his learning, recover him after his apostasy, and send him out as a rock among his fellow Apostles to Evangelize all who would hear the Word of the Lord and keep it.  It was Jesus who called His disciples, who made them Apostles, and made them Evangelists—bearers of His Word before the world.  And what the Lord has done through their witness, and the witness of Evangelists in every age after them, is the story of how this small group of peasants and fishermen in Galilee became what is today over two billion Christians of every tribe and tongue across the globe.

 

The response of Peter, James, and John, is one of faith.  They left their fishing boats behind, and became the fishers of men which Jesus called them to be.  While the Apostles were unique in their direct experience of Jesus during His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, but what is true of them is also true of us:  we live by every Word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth.  This Word is what sought us out on whatever mountain or plain or seashore it found us on, called us to faith and repentance, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, gave us a new birth from above.  This is the Word which gives us the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation from every dark enemy of the human race.  This is the Word of Life, the Light which pierces the darkness of a fallen world, and enlightens every heart and mind that will receive it.  This is the Word which seeks and saves, that raises us up to be bearers of His Word, and sends us out as Evangelists to be witnesses of that Word to everyone around us.  This is Jesus.  Hear Him, rise up in His Word, and tell the Good News He alone brings to every soul under heaven, just as He brought that Good News to us.  Amen.