Fishers of Men

One Sunday morning at the beginning of Lockdown we considered an event in the life of Jesus in which he miraculously calmed a storm with his disciples in the boat on the Lake of Galilee.

This morning, we’re in the boat with Jesus again, and this time with just one disciple – Peter.

I think it’s good to ask ourselves when we read the bible, why the flow of a text is the way it is.

In this case, I think we should ask ourselves: Is there any connection between the first 3 verses of chapter 5 and the next 8 verses?

I asked myself that question and I found that the connection only became obvious after working through verses 4-11. So, we’re going to take the passage in that order this morning. First verses 4-11 then 1-3.

Verses 4-11 are remarkable because they are so profound and yet every element contained in them is simple. Evidently Peter and his colleagues – all fishermen by trade – had been fishing the sea of Galilee for a full shift (verse 5) and had caught nothing.

Fishing is a hand-to-mouth kind of existence I suspect. If you don’t catch, you don’t eat.

But I think it’s safe to say that there must have been quite a wealth of fishing experience between these men. Peter, James and John were boat owners (verse 3 & 10) and they had a crew of fisherman hands (verse 9) – so I think it’s also safe to assume they were accustomed to fishing success.

Jesus commands Peter

At the time that Jesus was speaking to the crowds of people, these men were preparing their nets – washing them (verse 2) – presumably for the next shift at sea that night. Jesus had already commandeered Peter’s boat for the purposes of teaching the great crowd that gathered on the shore. He was now sitting in the boat, and Peter’s job was to keep the boat a little distance from the shore so that Jesus could be heard by the crowd (verse 3).

When Jesus had finished teaching the crowd he said to Peter (verse 4),

‘Put out into deep water and let down the nets for the catch’.

He’s not asking Peter; he’s telling Peter.

Peter do this: ‘go catch some fish’.

It’s a command to action from Jesus.

I think John 1 makes it clear that Peter had already been acquainted with Jesus for a little while by this time. Peter’s brother Andrew had been one of two of John the Baptist’s disciples who, when Jesus had come on the scene, had followed Him. And Andrew had tipped Peter off about the arrival of the Messiah. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to think that Peter knew that Jesus was a carpenter and not fisherman. What could Jesus possibly know about fishing that Peter didn’t?

Here was Jesus the carpenter telling Peter the fisherman to put down nets into fishless water for a catch. Not asking his fisherman’s opinion, but giving the carpenter’s command.

Not saying,

‘Peter, do you think the fish might have returned by now? –

Might we not put our nets back in the water to see if we can get something?’

But telling him what to do in his own boat.

Not surprising then that Peter has an objection:

‘Master (Peter recognises that Jesus commands respect) –

Master, we fishermen have worked our fingers to the bone all night long and we’ve caught nothing –

can’t you see, there’s nothing down there –

be reasonable!’.

But, he respects Jesus – he knows he’s no ordinary man. So, he puts the nets down into the water.

Nature of the catch

What happens next is inexplicable by any of the known laws of nature and we can be sure that that’s the case, at least partly because of the reaction of these fishermen.

Verse 6 tells us the catch of fish was so abundant that their nets began to break, their boat was under-sized and that even with two boats, the sheer weight of fish was overwhelming the boats to the point of sinking.

So, you conclude that the fish had returned. But that would be a misreading of the situation.

These successful fishermen had never encountered anything like this. They had never witnessed a catch of fish on Galilee that could break nets and sink boats before. If their previous night’s fishing had produced a really good catch they would still have been gob-smacked by this one.

The reality was that the sea had rendered nothing the night before, in Peter’s experience he had no expectation that the fish had returned – and now the most incredible catch any of these fishermen had ever witnessed, had come out of nowhere.

Verse 9 says all the fishermen were ‘astonished’.

But, that’s not the most compelling evidence that this was a miracle catch of fish.

The most compelling evidence is that Peter saw it and fell on his knees at the feet of Jesus and worshipped.

In Peter’s fishing experience, there was only one explanation for what had just happened, and it wasn’t a natural one.

It was a supernatural one!

This Jesus in the boat with him was not merely a master worthy of respect – he was the Lord of all creation. He had literally made fish appear in Peter’s fishing nets. He was not just a man, he was the sinless, holy God-man – And so, he says:

‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’

Peter afraid

Peter witnesses God at work in the boat with him and his overwhelming heart response was fear– he recognises the truth – he’s utterly unworthy to be anywhere near this man.

‘Get away from me Lord, I’m a sinner and your holiness will not put up with me in this boat with you’.

That Peter is petrified, is confirmed by Jesus in verse 10.

‘He said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid”’.

Now that’s a remarkable word from Jesus. It doesn’t mean that despite everything Peter has witnessed and the way that he feels, that Jesus is somehow less than what Peter is making of him. That conclusion would be erroneous. It’s not as if Jesus is saying to Peter,

‘You’ve made a mistake Peter, don’t be afraid, I am really just a fellow man –

your fear is misplaced’.

On the contrary, Jesus is showing here that he had the unique credentials to say to Peter,

‘you don’t need to be afraid’.

What kind of credentials would those be?

They are the kind of credentials that would mean that he could somehow make it possible for Peter’s sinful-being to occupy the same boat as Jesus’ holy, righteous God-being, and for Peter not to be annihilated instantly. That’s what Jesus’ words ‘Don’t be afraid’ mean.

They mean Jesus has done something – or is about to do something which is as good as already done – to cover Peter’s sin right there in the boat.

The power it took to put fish into empty fishing nets testifies to the greater power it took for Jesus to banish Peter’s sin from his presence so that they could co-exist in that boat.

Later, when Jesus had ascended into heaven, Peter said to the crowd gathered,

‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins’

(Acts 2:38).

Peter knew, later on, how he had survived this encounter in the boat with Jesus, Jesus had the power, not only to make fish, but to forgive sins!

Worship before forgiveness

Now notice, the miracle of fish preceded the miracle of forgiveness.

But Peter’s life depended on the miracle of forgiveness not on the miracle of fish.

The miracle of fish made him a worshipper and the miracle of forgiveness followed worship and made him acceptable.

I doubt anybody has experienced the miracle of forgiveness without being made a worshipper first.

People say, ‘show me the miracle of fish and I’ll be a worshipper’.

But these events were recorded for our benefit, they were written down so that we might believe. Not everybody who saw miracles in Jesus’ day became worshippers. Not everybody who reads them today believes.

But when God’s Spirit opens our eyes to see who the one standing in the boat with us truly is,

then we’ll say with Peter,

‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinner’.

If that’s not your response to this miracle of Jesus then you need your eyes opening to the truth about who he is. And to that end I encourage you to pray for eyes to see the majesty and holiness of Jesus.

After Jesus had said to Peter, ‘don’t be afraid’, he said something unusual – it’s not unusual for Jesus to say something unusual.

He said,

‘from now on, you Peter, will fish for people’.

Jesus evidently didn’t mean that Peter should be expecting to catch people when he let his nets down into the water instead of fish. This whole miracle had been a parable for Peter’s sake – and ours. Peter’s customary product was fish, but Jesus was about to change all that.

Peter’s main aim and focus going forward, would be to catch people for God.

Connection back to verse 3

Now, when was the last time in this passage that ‘people’ got referred to? The answer is verse 3. Here’s the connection between the first 3 verses and the next 8 verses.

If Peter had asked Jesus what does fishing for people look like? What will be the nets? Where will be the sea? I think the Lord Jesus would have said,

‘this very day, I’ve shown you the answer’.

There are people in this world who know nothing of God; know nothing of his character; know nothing of his purposes; know nothing of his deeds. But, they want to. They might not even know they want to, but they want to.

Verse 1 says, when Jesus was standing by the lake, people were crowding him.

Why were they crowding him? They wanted to hear God’s word. So, Jesus, got in the boat with Peter, pushed off a little from shore and taught the people from the boat.

That’s what fishing for people looks like. The world is a sea full of people and some are chomping at the bit to receive good news from God.

Christians are soul fishermen. They go out in their boats every day and they let down their nets and they seek to catch people with the Word of God, for God. They patiently teach and speak and exude the word of God. They share it with children in Sunday school and bible classes and at bedtime. They share it in conversations at work and around their dinner tables with invited guests. They read it and meditate on it so that it is in their everyday speech; it’s right there on their lips. They live out the reality of it in their lives in front of countless people. They support church initiatives to reach people who have never heard it before. They’re people who cast their nets far and wide, testing the waters to see who will come into the kingdom.

But, what happens when, day after day the results of a hard shift are empty nets?

Then what?

That’s why Jesus performed this miracle. Peter was the expert, but Jesus is the miracle worker. Know this, it’s Jesus who fills nets, not you or Peter. And know this, it was Peter’s nets that Jesus filled not one’s that he had brought with him. Jesus uses people to work the miracle of salvation.

Our new vocation

Our calling as Christians with Peter, is to speak the Word of God to people from this day forward in whatever ways and capacities we can think of.

If one single person swims into our kingdom nets, it was because Jesus worked a miracle of forgiveness in that life – it wasn’t us.

We are not the decisive difference. We are the essential means. Not because God can’t reach people without us, but because God has designed for us to be the fishermen.

Next year it will be 20 years since I went to Sheffield University with only the faintest notion that I should be a fisherman for Christ. My uncle preached a message on the broad and the narrow way the Sunday before I left, and I shared those words of God on the notice board in the department on the first day I arrived. My fellow student Dan Warren read them, he didn’t know he was searching for God to speak to him, but when He did, Jesus caught him in my kingdom net.

Jesus did that miracle in Dan, not me.

Jesus worked the miracle of worship and the miracle of forgiveness in his life.

Peter heard the command of Jesus, he objected but trusted Jesus enough to do what he said. Jesus worked a miracle that opened his eyes to who He really was. Peter became a worshipper and Jesus forgave him his sins. Then Jesus gave Peter his lifelong kingdom marching orders.

But what about Peter’s response in verse 11?

It is so fascinating, and so radical. It might even look strange to us – it shouldn’t. He along with the others, pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything – that means their livelihoods – and followed Jesus as fishers of people. Imagine leaving your house, your job, your income, your livelihood. Imagine leaving your security for Jesus.

Jesus demands at least a heart like Peter’s

I don’t think Jesus demands that of us in our practice – though for some of us He might –but I think he demands it of us in our hearts.

So that, if, in practice that was required, we would be ready to leave everything to advance his kingdom. It means living lightly to this world and making our new kingdom vocation our main focus - not our earthly vocation.

Peter only knew how to do one thing in the world – catch fish.

But he knew that people for Jesus’ sake are more important than fish for our sake.

And he was right of course.

Jesus made Peter his chief disciple and the number one representative of the foundation of the church (Matt 16:18).

My prayer is that our experience would be Peter’s experience – that we might all see Jesus like he did. And, that our response would be like his response – that we would be ready in our hearts to be fishermen for Jesus whatever the cost.

That’s how God has planned for all His fish to be caught!

May the Lord work his miracle of forgiveness in all our lives so that we might all be fishers of people for the glory of God.

Amen.