Nets

As we begin to look into this chapter, I wanted to point out a few things that we as believers can learn from these verses.

As we begin reading this chapter in, Luke 5 verse 1. “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 down the net.”

OK, I want to stop right there momentarily with the scripture and sorta bring us up to speed if you will. First off, remember the setting. These were fishermen by trade. This was not their first rodeo so to speak. Simon was at home with his trade in fishing. I for one would not have wanted to give him advice on how to fish. Also, keep in mind that their job was no doubt, hard work, they had toiled all night. They were tired and no doubt probably sleepy and to make matters worse, they had not caught any fish. They probably didn’t exactly need the practice. So here they are back at shore, tired, sleepy and all they had to count for a whole night of work was the joy of “washing” their nets instead of cleaning fish. So in the process of all this and getting ready to go home and most likely getting some rest.

Now Jesus shows up, and also some folk on shore of the lake. The people wanting to hear Jesus teach a while, Jesus goes into one of the ships, which belongs to Simon. He prayed Simon to thrust out a little from the land. There he taught the people and maybe also giving time for the fishermen to finish washing their nets.

Sometimes, it seems like when we are tired and wore out and not so much interested in the things of God and just want some rest from it all. Then Jesus will show up with something He wants us to do! Generally, faith is not a high priority in our lives during those times.

So now Jesus ask more of Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your “nets” for a draught. ( Remember that word nets). Now lets look at Simon once again and the setting. Simon is a fisherman. He knows fishing, this is his trade. You fish at night, not in the day. If you can’t catch them at night, you certainly are not going to catch them in the daytime. He is tired, they have just finished cleaning their nets which is no easy task. I’m sure he could have thought in his mind, Jesus, I know, you know all about teaching, but I know fishing, that’s what I do for a living. Then Simon goes ahead and does what some believe to be a great act of faith. Well, maybe not, let’s look at this in the context and follow the story all the way through.

Remember, Jesus said to Simon to let down the “nets”. Great faith would have let down the “nets”. Plural. Problem is, Great faith was not at work. Luke 5:5 . “And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night , and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let the net.” Just one “net”. Great faith would have let down the “nets” Plural. I believe in Simon’s mind, there are no fish to be had this trip. I’m tired, I’m not going to let down all the “nets” plural just to get to clean them all again. But just for you Jesus, I’m willing to clean one more net one more time, and go home.

So, lets go on a little further in the scripture. Verse 6. “And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net break. 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.”

OK, so here goes, the net is going down, and all of a sudden, all the fish in the lake want to get into that one net! Fish can really be strange sometimes. Perhaps, Simon didn’t have the right fish caller before. But now the fish caller was in the ship! Now, maybe in the thinking of Simon, we’re gonna need a bigger net, and certainly a bigger boat. This net is beginning to break. Maybe about now Simon is thinking, just maybe more “nets” was a good idea after all. Because Jesus had put all the fish that were to go into all the “nets” , into that one net. In North Carolina mountain language, we call that “loading your wagon”.

As we said earlier, it’s not looking like great faith was what Simon was exercising here. Notice the next verse. verse 8. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Simon see’s he may not know fishing like he thought he did. Maybe he see’s that just laying all you might think you know aside, and simply take Jesus at his word will turn out to be the best route to take. I can identify with that situation many times in my life. It is said that hindsight is 20-20. Another note of interest at this point is that up to this time, the scripture was referring to Simon’s old name only, but now the name Peter, is added. Well Simon has to do with his old nature and trade, whereas Peter has to do with his new nature and new trade. His old nature and trade was catching fish and relying too much on his ways. His new name Peter has to do with his new trade, catching “men”. Jesus had to reopen his eyes to this truth. We as believers tend to forget this great truth sometimes.

Simon Peter was not the only one that was astonished with this of course, the ones with him were also. In verse 10, we see something the loving, forgiving Jesus we serve says. Even though Simon had failed the test of faith, in doing all that Jesus had said unto him concerning the “nets”. “And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” Something else we notice is back in verse 5, Simon addressed Jesus as Master when he said, “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” But in verse 8 , he realizes after, his lack of faith, he says, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” It’s one thing to see Jesus as Master but a totally different view to see Him as Lord. Sometimes it takes the trials in life to come to the realization seeing Him as Lord. I prefer to call Him Lord.

Perhaps to my fellow believers reading this, we can take away the truth that Jesus understands, our lack of faith we have sometimes, and yet continues to love and forgive us for He knoweth, our frame and that we are at best, just unprofitable servants. Nevertheless, He uses each and everyone of us in His special way to catch fish (men) . Never think that He cannot use you. Simply take Him at His word. Faith all boils down to simply taking God at His word. Fear not to take Him at His word, He will reveal Himself to you in ways that will flood your soul with His presence. It is impossible to go wrong trusting Jesus. Remember, even though Simon had wavered in his faith, Jesus still kept His word. When He said in verse 4, “let down your nets for a draught.” “For a draught” was a promise, and Jesus will always keep His promises. So we see in concluding this page, it was not great faith that saved the day, but rather it was Great Promise! Let us never forget, it is not about us, it is always Jesus! Don’t be afraid to let down all your “nets”. Give Him your all.