From Now On You Will Catch Men

Luke 5:1-11

Key Verse 5:10b

Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

Today we would like to think about Jesus making a very important business decision, calling Simon Peter as his disciple. The four gospels and the book of Acts abound with evidence that in Jesus’ mind, Simon Peter occupied a special position, that is, the leader of the leaders among the followers of Jesus. Indeed, thanks to Jesus’ help, Simon Peter took leadership among the disciples. He played a pivotal role in establishing the church of Jesus Christ first in the territory of Jerusalem, then in Judea, and then in the Gentile world. Jesus is the Son of God. He is God incarnate. As God, Jesus sees the end from the beginning. So we can rest assured that from the day one of his calling Simon as his disciple, he must have seen through the works he planned to fulfill in and through Simon Peter. So it is not difficult for us to see that calling one person Simon Peter was not a small decision. It was a very important business decision, not the decision of any worldly business, but the decision to do God’s kingdom business, the business to save souls into God’s kingdom. Let us then think about what qualities Jesus saw in Simon that he focused on him and called him as his disciple. We can say seven things about the reason why Jesus called Simon as his disciple. 

First, a sacrificial spirit

The first quality Jesus is looking for within Simon Peter as a disciple-candidate is “a sacrificial spirit.” Jesus wanted to see whether or not Simon Peter was sacrificial enough to meet the needs Jesus had as the Savior of the world. 

Look at verses 1-3. “One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.” In this passage Simon complied with what Jesus asked him to do. And he did it even though it meant much sacrifice on his part. Indeed, Simon’s response to Jesus’ request indicates that Simon Peter was willing to go the extra mile to meet the needs Jesus had. In other words, he was willing to sacrifice his time, his desires (for rest and sleep), and his material possessions (such as his boat), all for free, all for the sake of others. 

This sacrificial spirit is perhaps the first and most important quality as a disciple of Jesus. Jesus came to serve others. He did not come to serve his own interest. Indeed, the life story of Jesus as recorded in the four gospels demonstrates that Jesus sacrificed his everything (including the last drop of his blood) to serve the needs of others. Like teacher, like student. Just as Jesus gave his life to save others as a ransom sacrifice, so also his disciples are to live sacrificially, not for themselves but for others. The bottom line is that a self-seeking man, a man who seeks his own interest alone, and therefore is very reluctant to serve the needs of others, cannot make himself a disciple of Jesus. Maybe he may be able to follow Jesus for a while, sacrificing his time and energy, his money and other possessions a little bit, but not all the way. Sooner or later as the going gets tough, he will give up. He will stop following Jesus. 

Jesus, who looks for a sacrificial person as his disciple candidate, is very much like the chief servant of Abraham in Genesis 24. Towards the end of his life, Abraham gave his chief servant the important task of going to his hometown and finding a wife for his son Isaac, and bringing her back home. As Genesis 24 powerfully describes, after arriving at the town of Nahor, Abraham’s chief servant knelt down before God and prayed, “‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, “Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,” and she says, “Drink, and I'll draw water your camels too”—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master’” (Genesis 24:12-14). The expression, “I will draw water your camels too,” especially the word “too” indicates that Abraham’s servant was looking for someone who was willing to go the extra mile to meet the needs others have. In his opinion, the chief quality of a “mother of many nations” is a woman with a sacrificial spirit. Indeed, the subsequent event described in Genesis 24 tells us that Rebekah was a very sacrificial woman. It turned out that she was a woman of love, not an erotic or romantic kind of love, but an agape love, the love that first seeks others’ interests even at the sacrifice of his own interest. Just as through the spirit of self-sacrifice, Rebekah took possession of the glorious position as the wife of Isaac, the type of Jesus Christ, so also through the spirit of sacrifice, Simon Peter took possession of the glorious position of the top disciple of Jesus, and became the rock foundation of the church, the spring fountain of God’s kingdom here on earth.  

Second, a hard-working spirit

Jesus calls his disciples to serve others. In fact, Jesus wants his disciples to serve all peoples on earth. And serving one sinner, one unsaved soul requires lots of work. In order to meet this requirement, that is, serving many, a disciple must demonstrate another important quality, that is, a hard-working spirit. A lazy person will never rise to the level of serving others, for a lazy man will end up depending on others rather than serving others. He will only be a burden to himself and to others, never a blessing to himself much less to others. 

Therefore it is very natural for Jesus to look for someone with a hard-working spirit as his disciple-candidate. And it is not difficult to see that in verses 4-5 Jesus was looking for a man of hard-working spirit as his disciple candidate. Look at verses 4-5. “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’” Notice the expression “we’ve worked hard all night.” In front of Jesus was a huge number of people. But above all, it was obvious that it was Simon who was one of the most hardworking men. Indeed, Simon Peter was a hard-working man. He was not a lazy person. The four gospels and the book of Acts prove that thanks to his hard-working spirit, he was able to discharge all the duties as a disciple and then an apostle of Jesus. Thanks to his hard-working spirit, he was able to finish Jesus’ discipleship training program successfully. Thanks to his hard-working spirit, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, he fully obeyed Jesus’ command to go, stand in the temple courts, and tell the people the full message of Jesus’ new life. In his hard-working spirit, he led Bible studies visiting from house to house. In this way, through his hard-working spirit, he successfully paved the spiritual super-highway for Bible Israel and Bible Rome.

Third, the spirit that never gives up

Verses 4-5 also indicate that Jesus chose Simon Peter as his disciple, knowing that he was willing to try again, even after failing big time. The previous night, Simon worked hard, yet he caught nothing. Then when Jesus asked him to try again, he said, “Yes, Sir!” If you put yourself in the shoes of Simon Peter at that particular moment, it might not have been easy for him to say, “Yes, Lord, I will try again.” Yet, he overcame himself, and said, “Yes, Lord. I will try again.” And indeed he tried again. 

Later this capability to try again played a critical role in helping him to bounce back from the place of his failure. As we know he denied Jesus three times. Three is a complete number. The nature of his failure itself was also very much devastating. It was not just failing the California driver’s license test. I know one missionary who failed the California driver’s license test seven times, and on the eighth try she passed. I also know one missionary who failed the RN exam twelve times, and on the thirteenth try, she passed the exam. But these failures are “administrative” in nature; they have nothing to do with your integrity as a moral, ethical, or spiritual man. But the nature of Simon’s failure was different. It was moral, ethical, and spiritual in nature. He failed on all different levels: moral, ethical and spiritual. His integrity as a human being, and as a disciple of Jesus, was shot down. The blow was humiliating enough to finish his career as a disciple of Jesus. Yet, upon Jesus’ help, this man eventually bounced back. Like Judas Iscariot he could have committed suicide in self-pity. But he did not do that. In my opinion the difference between Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter is paper-thin. And the point of difference is that Simon Peter was willing to try again. He had the spirit that never gives up, so to speak. 

A. W. Tozer, an important American pastor and Christian thinker once said, “God may allow his servant to succeed when he has disciplined him or her to a point where success is not necessary for happiness. The one elated by success and cast down by failure is still a carnal person.” Mr. Tozer noted that just as a man puffed up by success is not a spiritual man, so also a man who gets easily cast down by failure is not a spiritual man either; he is still a carnal man. A spiritual man is the one who looks up to God who is the author of ultimate successes, and is capable of pulling a man out of the pit of ultimate failures. And Simon Peter demonstrated the resilience to bounce back after hitting the bottom. 

The capacity for a man to bounce back from the record of his failures through the spirit that never gives up is a very important key to overcoming his own limitations and attaining to the level Jesus wants him to reach. Jesus is the God of perfection. Jesus’ disciples are called to scale God’s loftiest ideals. To live as a disciple of Jesus then is like a man climbing Mt. Everest. If you want to climb a small mountain like Mt. Baldy, you may or may not fail even once. But it is not so with attempting to climb Mt. Everest. From a spiritual standpoint, reaching God’s ideals in Jesus is far more challenging than the challenge to conquer Mt. Everest. Therefore, one must anticipate failing here and there not just once or twice but many times. 

The question then is: “Are you willing to bounce back from your failures?” You may fail once, twice, or seven times, or even seventy-seven times, and are you still ready to try again? About a month ago, as I was coming to the center around 5 a.m. for a daily bread meeting, I read from the sign-board established by the Warren High School, “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” In a way, Simon Peter hit bottom when he said, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.” Yet, he was willing to try again. And when he really hit the real bottom, thanks to the spirit of trying again, he powerfully bounced back from the bottom. While praying, he received God’s help. He then stood up. And when he stood up, the whole body of Jesus began to stand up. And the revolution continued. 

Fourth, the spirit of obedience

Again, look at verses 4-5. “‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’” 

Notice Simon’s words, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Simon Peter had his own ideas. Perhaps he knew that one cannot find fish in deep waters during the day time. After all he was a professional fisherman, and Jesus was not. Most likely Jesus (the son of Joseph, the carpenter) might have had better knowledge on carpentry than Simon, but not on fishing. Yet, realizing that Jesus is a better person than he, he called Jesus “Master,” and then he said, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Because you say so, I will… 

This is a very important point for us to consider, for it is on this point that Simon Peter distinguishes himself from many who already know Jesus Christ as his or her own master. In fact, a number of Christians know that Jesus is not only their own “master” but the Lord of lords and King of kings! Surely they have no problem to profess their faith in Jesus as their master. But are they all willing to obey Jesus’ word as such? Or do I really treat the word of Jesus as the word of God? Do I demonstrate such an awesome and reverent respect for Jesus’ word, and thereby actually obey his word?  

Again this quality that regards Jesus’ word as better than one’s own ideas is the key to living a fruitful life as a disciple of Jesus. When we study the Bible we quickly learn that there are easy commands and difficult commands. Easy commands include a command such as, “Come and have a breakfast.” Hard commands include a command such as, “Feed my lambs,” or, “Make disciples of all nations.” In the case of Simon Peter, the command, “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch,” was a hard command. The command did not look reasonable; it was not likely to produce any fruitful result. Furthermore, by the time Jesus issued this order Peter must have been dog-tired. Yet, he denied himself and obeyed Jesus’ command. 

Later this quality (i.e., the spirit of obedience) enabled him to build the kingdom of God in Jerusalem, Judea and beyond, despite great difficulties. Tradition says that thanks to this bold spirit of obedience, particularly in obedience to Jesus’ command to even love one’s enemies, after leading the early Christians through the fiery persecutions under the Roman Emperor Nero, he himself suffered martyrdom, finishing his life hanging on a cross upside down. 

Fifth, team-spirit

The fifth quality Jesus is looking for in a disciple-candidate is team spirit. In other words, Jesus is looking for someone who is willing to work together with his fellow workers in the Lord. Look at verses 6-7. “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.” As everyone knows Jesus came to save all kinds of people. And not all people are the same; in fact all are different – different in characters, talents, cultural, educational, and growing backgrounds, likes or dislikes and much more. They are all different. No two persons are the same. Naturally, Jesus puts in a church fellowship all different kinds of people. Therefore team spirit is absolutely necessary for the church to fulfill Jesus’ desire to save all kinds of people. Indeed, the magnitude of success depends on our ability to work together with our fellow soldiers in the Lord. The greater the team work, the greater the success.

In the passage Jesus tested Simon’s capability to work together with others by intentionally granting him a catch that was far bigger than the size of his own abilities. The size of the catch far exceeded Simon himself. Had he relied on his abilities alone, he would not have been able to haul the catch into the nets. And thank God. Simon had his partners. Upon seeing the bigness of the catch, he waved his hands to his partners! “Come over here! Let us work together!” With great enthusiasm they all came and helped him out. Later, his team spirit worked beautifully so that through the joint-work with his partners like John, he could lead thousands of souls to God’s kingdom each day. CSULB coworkers demonstrate a beautiful example of team spirit. May the Lord bless their example, so that through their example, all of us would work together to pioneer all other college campuses in this nation. 

Sixth, a humble spirit

Look at verses 8-10. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.” This passage indicates that Simon Peter saw God in Jesus. At the same time, he found himself sinful before God. Interestingly, the new discovery of God and of himself came through the miraculous catch. The catch was a huge success. When we combine these factors together (the factor of success, and the factor of discovery of God and of himself), we can see that the success that came from God (and through the work of his own hands), the victory that fell in the Simon Peter’s bank account, made Simon Peter humble enough to see who God is and who he is, for through the huge success he saw God’s glory in Jesus, and his sinful condition before God. In short, success made Simon humble rather than proud.

In practical life, however, it is not easy for one to not become proud, but rather remain humble in a time of great success. We find the same truth in the history of the Israelites. While in Egypt, the Israelites lived as a slave nation. The order of the day was to fail, fail, and fail some more. In order to pull them out of the life of perpetual failures and into the life of lasting victories, the Lord God granted them an exodus from Egypt into the Promised Land. Before putting them in the Promised Land, the Lord put them through a training program in a desert land. While they stayed in the desert land the Lord God gave them a number of instructions such as the ones recorded in Deuteronomy.  As we saw a few weeks earlier, the Lord God gave them these instructions as cardinal rules for lasting success. One of the rules of success Moses gave them is found in Deuteronomy 8:16-18. “He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” Looking at the catch, Simon could have said, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But he did not say that. Rather in time of success he “remembered the Lord his God.” This is one of the important keys for lasting success in the Lord. And Simon Peter demonstrated this quality as a disciple of Jesus. 

Upon demonstrating this humble quality, Jesus blessed him with a truly great blessing. What was it? Look at verse 10b, “Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’” Here “catching” men means helping people commit themselves fully to the relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. Man is slippery. In his sinful state, man finds committing to Jesus as the last thing to do. But when you think about it, nothing is more blessed than for anyone to be in a committed relationship with Jesus Christ. And no task is nobler than the task of working to help people commit to the Lord. In fact, this task is so noble and fragrant that the Apostle Paul asked, “Who is equal to such a task?” (2Co 2:16)

Yes. Who is equal to such a task? Jesus found Simon equal to such a task. Why? It is because Simon saw God in Jesus, and found himself as a worthless sinner before him. 

Seventh, the spirit of commitment

The last point we are going to think about is the spirit of full commitment. Let us say to our neighbors, “full commitment.” Here the word “full” is very important, for the spirit of “full” commitment to the Lord (not half-hearted commitment) is the key to making one to be a fruitful disciple. And Simon Peter demonstrated this quality. Look at verse 11. “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” Here, “left everything” does not mean that all of you should quit your job or drop school studies to build your own career, and go to a seminary so that you would be a full time pastor or a full time missionary. No. All it means is that they fully committed themselves to the Lord. They decided to live and die together with the Lord. Indeed, tradition says that for the sake of the gospel, all of the disciples except the Apostle John suffered martyrdom. But the point is not for you to suffer martyrdom like the disciples. The point is that as one fully commits oneself to following the Lord, the Lord can use that person fully. This full commitment is not just for a special person with a special title like a “disciple” or an “apostle” or a “pastor” or a “missionary,” but all those who follow Jesus Christ. In Jesus, what counts is “all or nothing.” And Simon Peter demonstrated this important quality as a follower of Jesus Christ.

One word: From now on you will catch men

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