Luke 5:1-11
"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," Luke 5:1-11.
Our actions proclaim what we believe. We are what we do. The old adage, "Words are cheap, but actions speak louder than words." It is easy to say something, but when it comes time to "put your money where your mouth is," we may find ourselves reconsidering what we said. It would be very beneficial if we were to learn from this. It would help us to think before we speak, and if we think before we speak, we may not say anything at all. Some want to talk just to be talking, others want to talk so that others will think they are something. Some always have to put in their two cents. "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath," James 1:19. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves," James 1:22. Life is short, we do not have time to waste it with empty words.
In our text, as Christ continues preaching and teaching the people, the crowds are pressing around Him trying to get in position to hear what Christ had to say. They were listening with attention; to give ear to, listen to. Their purpose in being there was to hear what Christ said. This is very encouraging. They were outside. There would be many opportunities to be distracted by what was going on around them, but the people were focused on Christ. They wanted to be there, and they wanted to hear the word of God. To get there, the people had to walk. Different distances for different people. They would have to sit on the ground or stand for hours. No padded pews, no climate controlled building, and none of the pleasantries of our American churches. Yet the purpose they were there was to hear the word of God. For those of us whom the Lord has saved, we desire the scriptures. We want to feed upon the scriptures, but not just to grow intellectually. We want to know Christ. We want to experience Christ. "We ought to believe that Christ cannot be properly known in any other way than from the Scriptures; and if it be so, it follows that we ought to read the Scriptures with the express design of finding Christ in them." John Calvin. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me," John 5:39.
Christ is standing on the shores of lake Gennesaret. This is also known as the Sea of Galilee, and the Sea of Tiberias. It is a fresh water lake that could become very tumultuous quickly as we will find out as we continue going through Luke. It is on this lake that Simon Peter and others made their living by fishing. They were professional fisherman. Verse two tells us that they were on the shore washing and mending their nets. After a night of fishing they would wash their nets so they could see any defects that needed to be repaired and properly store the nets in preparation for the next night. Day in and day out this is what they did, this was their livelihood. Because of the press from the crowds, verse 3 tells us that Christ entered one of the ships and asked them to push out from land. Once they did, Christ sat down and continued to teach the people the word of God. It is obvious that it was a calm night on the water. The water and the surrounding hill side would give an amphitheater effect. The people would be able to hear what Christ was teaching.
As the fisherman were cleaning their nets, they would also be able to hear Christ teaching. Picture Christ finishing His instruction to the people as the fisherman are finishing up cleaning and repairing their nets. In verse 4 Christ tells Simon, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." What Christ says goes against all that Simon Peter knew to do. Peter is a good example of us in many ways. He has knee jerk reactions; he is easily provoked to pride and anger; he is concerned how other people see him; he is very hard on himself and has a hard time getting over when he messes up; he is an emotional roller coaster all the while he is impacting others around him. We know that Peter loved the Lord, but he often spoke and reacted without thinking.
We have so much to learn from the Scriptures. Sometimes we learn about ourselves, and other times we are learning about Who our Lord and Saviour is. We know we are unstable like water, and we know that Jesus Christ is Who we trust in all things, and all the time. Our trust is in Him, not ourselves, the church, or anything else. The question is, how much do we trust Him? Lord willing we will learn more about this next time. Our God is good and faithful. If you are not a Christian according to the bible, we beg you to trust Christ alone to save you. In saving you He forgives you of all your sins, and gives you eternal life. How wonderful it is to know that Jesus Christ has saved you. Some may say that they have done too much wrong and they do not think that Christ would have them. Oh, dear sinner, Christ will have you. He will save you and make you a new creation in Him. Look to and trust Jesus Christ. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
