Now
while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”
Luke 5:1-5
Luke 4 [42.] When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place, and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn’t go away from them. But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.” He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. - PIB from the World English Bible.
Luke 5 [1.] Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luke 5 [5.] Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.” When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking. They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”
Luke 5 [11.] When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him. While he was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
Meaning:
After preaching in the synagogues of Galilee (Luke 4:42-44), Jesus is now teaching in the open air by the lake. Luke tells the call of Simon Peter more fully than Mark and Matthew, who give only the short summons by the shore (Mark 1:16-17; Matthew 4:18-22). Simon already knew Jesus: Jesus had healed his mother-in-law in his house at Capernaum (Luke 4:38-41). Now, through an ordinary working morning, Jesus prepares him for a new life.
- “The multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God”
Luke calls Jesus’ teaching “the word of God.” The crowds were not only drawn by healings; they wanted to hear God speak. The lake of Gennesaret is Luke’s name for the Sea of Galilee, named after the fertile plain of Gennesaret on its north-western shore.
- “The fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets”
After a night’s fishing the men were cleaning and mending their nets, the end of a long and fruitless shift. Fishing on the lake was done at night, when the fish came nearer the surface and could not see the nets. Jesus met these men in the middle of their daily work, tired and disappointed.
- “He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s”
Jesus asked a favour: to use Simon’s boat as a pulpit. A boat a little way out from the shore made a natural platform, and the water carried his voice to the crowd on the slope. On another occasion he did the same (Mark 4:1). Simon gave what he had, his boat and his time, to serve Jesus’ teaching.
- “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch”
When the teaching ended, Jesus turned to Simon’s own world. A carpenter’s son from Nazareth was telling an experienced fisherman how to fish, and telling him to fish by day in deep water, against all his experience. The command tested Simon’s trust.
- “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing”
Simon was honest about his weariness and failure. Then comes the turning point of the story: “but at your word I will let down the net.” Simon did not understand the command, but he obeyed because Jesus had spoken. That is the heart of faith. Jesus later asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46), and he said that his true family are “these who hear the word of God, and do it” (Luke 8:21). Simon’s obedience opened the way to the great catch that followed (Luke 5:7-9).
The Significance of Luke 5:1-5
- Jesus meets us in ordinary life
Jesus came to fishermen washing their nets after a night of failure. He meets people in their work, their tiredness and their disappointments.
- Obey even when you don’t understand
Simon’s reply, “at your word,” is a model of faith. Obedience to Jesus does not wait until everything makes sense. It trusts the one who speaks.
- Give Jesus what you have
Simon lent his boat for Jesus’ teaching before he received anything. Small acts of service can start a changed life.
Cross-References:
Mark 1:16-17: “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men.” Mark’s account of the call of Simon and Andrew.
Luke 5:7-9: The great catch of fish and Simon’s confession, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
Luke 6:46: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?” Faith shown in obedience.
Luke 8:21: “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it.” Hearing and doing.
Conclusion: In Luke 5:1-5 Jesus teaches the crowds from Simon’s boat on the lake of Gennesaret, then tells Simon to put out into deep water and let down the nets. Simon, tired after a fruitless night, answers that they caught nothing, yet he obeys because Jesus has spoken. The passage shows Jesus meeting people in their everyday work and calls us to the same trusting obedience: “at your word I will let down the net.”
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible