Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20090107.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part XIV: Christ's Identification As The World's Savior By His Call Of The Disciples
(Luke 5:1-11)
  1. Introduction
    1. One of the great evidences for Jesus' being God's Savior of all mankind is the way His disciples came to abandon their regular course of life to follow Him full-time in Luke 5:1-11.
    2. Thus, we view that passage to see evidences for Christ's being God's worldwide Savior (as follows):
  2. Christ's Identification As The World's Savior By His Call Of The Disciples, Luke 5:1-11.
    1. Peter and his fellow fishermen had had extensive contact with Jesus prior to the events of Luke 5:1-11:
      1. In John 1:41, Andrew had told Peter that he had found the Messiah in Jesus of Nazareth, cf. Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 216.
      2. Then, in Mark 1:16-20 with Matthew 4:18-22, Jesus had called Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John to follow Him with the promise that He would make them fishers of men.
      3. In a third interaction, Simon had seen Jesus fully, instantly heal his mother-in-law, Luke 4:38-39.
    2. Nevertheless, regardless of these significant interactions with Jesus, Simon and his fellow fishermen were not yet "full-time" followers of Christ: they were still involved in fishing, Luke 5:1-2, 5. (Ibid.)
    3. However, due to the events of Luke 5:1-10, we learn in Luke 5:11 that Simon and the other disciples with him forsook their occupations and tools of their fishermen trade to follow Jesus full-time! (Ibid.)
    4. The events of Luke 5:1-10 thus reveal how Jesus so powerfully affected and motivated these fishermen to abandon their occupation of fishing to follow Him as the Savior of the world:
      1. Jesus contacted Simon and his fellow fishermen He had called to disciple by teaching people by the Sea of Galilee where the men were washing their nets after a fruitless night's work, Luke 5:1-2, 5.
      2. Christ entered into Simon's boat and asked him to push it out from the shore to get away from the crowd, Luke 5:3. Jesus could thus use the water as a sounding board to communicate to all the people.
      3. After teaching, Jesus told Simon to launch out into the deep and let down his nets for a catch, Luke 5:4.
      4. This seemed like an illogical request to Simon: during the day, the fish moved to deep water, so Simon replied that since they had caught nothing the night before, it seemed futile to try to catch any fish then the way Jesus was directing, Luke 5:5a, Ibid. However, at Jesus' request, Simon said he would obey His directive, and he moved his boat out into deeper water and cast in his net, Luke 5:5b!
      5. The huge catch that Simon then enclosed astounded him and his colleagues, Luke 5:6-7, 9-10a:
        1. Simon's net became so suddenly packed with fish that it began to break, Luke 5:6.
        2. He and his helper(s) signaled for the other fishermen to bring their boat to their aid, and both boats eventually became so full of fish, they began to sink, Luke 5:7.
        3. Simon and the other experienced fishermen were astonished at this huge catch, Luke 5:9-10a.
      6. Thus, Simon fell down at Jesus' knees in the boat among all the squirming fish, announcing he was unworthy of Christ's presence for doubting Jesus' sovereignty over the creation and himself, Luke 5:8.
      7. Jesus replied that Simon was not to be afraid of God's judgment; rather, God would equip him to catch men just as miraculously and graciously as he had caught all of the fish, Luke 5:10b!
      8. Deeply moved as an experienced fishermen by the authority of Jesus over the fish of the sea, and thus of His vast authority over himself, Simon and the other fishermen brought their ships to land, and left them there with all of the fish and their nets to follow full-time the Savior of the world, Luke 5:11!
Lesson: The miracle of the great catch of fish Jesus performed in the disciples' realm of expertise showed He was their Sovereign Lord and Savior of the world, and it elicited their full-time discipleship.

Application: (1) May we believers understand that Jesus is our Sovereign Lord and so wholeheartedly heed His will. (2) If we realize we are not fully Biblically following Christ, (a) realize that we do not appreciate Christ's sovereignty over us, and, like Peter, become APPALLED at our LACK of RESPECT for CHRIST, and so REPENT to HEED His WILL! (b) If another believer does not fully follow Christ, may we pray for his enlightenment and exemplify wholehearted discipleship for his insight and benefit!