Called to Follow

January 10, 2021 Background Scripture: Luke 5:1 – 11 Lesson Passage: Luke 5:1 – 11 It is always a great study to spend time reading, researching, and meditating on the writing of Luke—whether it is the Gospel of Luke or the Acts of the Apostles. Luke adds a dimension of details that can be quite thought provoking. As a physician, details would have been very important to him. Since the intended recipient of his writings bore a Greek name, it is assumed that Luke tried diligently to ensure that a Gentile would be able to comprehend what had taken place as a result of Jewish-led ministries. Today’s text is written after Jesus’ visit to Peter’s house. Matthew and Mark indicated that this took place after the initial calling of Simon, Andrew, John and James. It should also be noted that Luke indicated that Peter called Jesus Master, or Teacher. This seems to be an indicator that Peter was already a disciple who had previously been called by Jesus to follow him. Given this, we should not confuse today’s text with the initial calling of the first four disciples. Otherwise, we would be tempted to think that witnessing one miracle of Jesus was enough to convince them to leave their occupation and spend the next three years following Jesus. Instead, we should see the opposite. Those men were not much different from us today. Jesus had to tell them several times to follow him and become fishers of men. We can look at today’s text as a reminder of their previous calling to follow Jesus. The initial enthusiasm of a new ministry can evaporate quickly. The miracle in the text is the kind that would have been needed by Simon, James, and John. They were all fishermen by trade. Furthermore, James and John were part of the business with their father, Zebedee. None of them were likely to leave their occupation to follow a stranger just because he seemed different. These men had fished all night long unsuccessfully and called it a day. They were now washing their nets in preparation for their next fishing expedition. The silt and trash in the water would have made the nets easier for fish to see and avoid. It would also lead to the nets deteriorating quicker. (That’s why they washed the nets after fishing with them.) When Jesus asked them to put the nets back in the water, this was not a simple request from their perspective. They had fished all night long and now they have washed their nets. Therefore, Peter objected to it. They were professional fishermen and Jesus was the son of a carpenter. Their professional opinion at this point is that this is not a good day to fish. However, because there was already a relationship of respect between Jesus and these men, Peter was willing to compromise and put one of the nets back in the water, but not all the nets. That one net caught so many fish that it was on the verge of breaking. Peter had to call for backup from the others to get the large haul of fish in the boats. Both boats were filled to the point of almost sinking. Peter discerned that the carpenter’s son was no ordinary man. Peter knew he was in the presence of spiritual greatness and he was convicted by it. Jesus allayed his feelings by telling him to not be afraid. Then, Jesus reminded them of their previous calling, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” This was not their first call to follow Jesus, and neither was it going to be their last. Until a person’s faith increases, answering the call to follow will always be challenging. We will look for ways to balance the calling with our “normal” life. The urgency of their calling was that the New Testament church was dependent on them answering the call. These men were going to lay the foundation for the Christian faith based on their tutelage under Jesus. They clearly struggled with releasing the familiar life they were living to walk in a calling that was strange to them. Today, we study this and are grateful they answered the call to follow. Robert C. Hudson December 2, 2020