The Big Catch - Not For A Touchdown, But Fish

The Big Catch
Luke 5: 1-11
5th Sunday after the Epiphany
February 7, 2010

Today is the biggest day of the year for two cities, New Orleans and Indianapolis. More huge than Mardi Gras or the Indy 500.

A colossal event took place, too, in today’s Scripture reading from Luke chapter 5. For a commercial fisherman named Peter, something more exciting than the Super Bowl took place in his life. He had a catch of fish that was probably record breaking for a boat his size.

Before we look at his miraculous catch, here is a little background of this event.

Setting

Jesus has been a full time rabbi for about a year. He hasn’t recruited many disciples yet. In fact, he at the time when Luke 5 takes place, Jesus only may have had Matthew on board. Others had still not fully made the commitment to give up all things in order to be a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus concentrates his work in Northern Israel especially in the region around the Sea of Galilee which is really a lake.

Lake Galilee is not as big as Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, but it’s not a pond either. It is eight miles wide east to west---from here to the Waikoloa Resort hotels on the shoreline and 13 miles long north to south—from here to Hapuna Beach.

Back in Jesus’ time, the Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the Lake of Galilee supported a thriving fishing business. Josephus recorded that there 230 fishing boats that worked the waters of Galilee. One of those boats was Simon Peter’s.

Lake Galilee has 23 varieties of fish of which the most sought after are the fresh water sardines and tilapia which looks like a bluegill.

We don’t know what kind of fish Simon Peter caught with Jesus on board, but there surely was a mess of them.

This then brings us to a few points from Luke 5.


Sometimes A Fishing Boat Is Not Just For Fishing

Please turn to Luke 5: 1 – 3.

“On one occcasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”

Only Jesus could do this. A whole crowd of people are pushing in on him, and so he sees two boats, but instead of asking permission first to get into the boat, he jumps right on one of them, and then asks the owner Peter to take him a little offshore so that he can speak to the people without them stampeding over him.

Try that at Kona’s Honokahau Boat Harbor and see what kind of reaction you get. The probability that the captain or owner of the boat will throw you overboard is very high unless you knew the owner very well. In Jesus’ case, he was acquainted with Peter or Jesus was of course the Son of God and He knew Peter would oblige.

Either way Peter’s fishing boat becomes a speaker’s platform for Jesus. Christ doesn’t always create things out of thin air to do his work. He could, but he chooses rather to use “fishing boats” for purposes other than for fishing. He often uses what has already been created by Him. He is the ultimate recycler.

The lesson for us is that we may have a car for our own personal use, but Christ may jump into it one afternoon and say, “Drive this car to visit your friend who is going through a rough time.”

We may rent or own a house and one day Jesus pops in and says, “Invite one of your neighbors over. I want to have a talk with her or him, and you are going to be my spokesperson.”

We may have a cubicle or office at the place we work and one morning Jesus drops in and says, “Call over one of your fellow employees over here. He or she is under acute stress, and you need to talk to him or her.”

We all have “fishing boats” and don’t be surprised when Jesus jumps right in it and says put it out a little from land so I can do some work.




Work All Night With Nothing To Show

Please follow along with Luke 5: 4

“And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!”

Some of us can relate to Simon. We may have worked on our marriage for decades only to end up with nothing. We may have toiled for 40 years at our job only to be laid off. We may have labored for years in raising our children into adulthood only to see them wander away from the values we stand for.


Working all night and having nothing to show is a symptom of the human condition. Because sin has infiltrated every component of life, there are constant obstacles and interferences to overcome.

Jesus understood the frustration of not getting results. He worked for three and half years as a rabbi to teach the people of Israel the word of God and how he was the fulfillment of it. Many at first received his teaching with open hearts, but then most of his followers deserted him, including his own 12 disciples when he was died on the cross.

Yet He triumphed on Easter Sunday which gives us reason to have hope when all our efforts into our relationships, our jobs, or our health all seem to sum up to zero. Because Christ ultimately was victorious, there is at least one thing that we can be certain of and that is his love and everlasting blessings which begin right here on earth.



Faith To Do What Seems So Worthless

Please refer to Luke 5:5.

“And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Those who fish with nets in Lake Galilee say that the worst time to set your nets is in broad daylight when the nets are easily visible. The best time is on a moonless night when it is darkest.

Yet Jesus says to Simon Peter to set his net down in the brightness of the day. The likelihood of catching even one fish was next to impossible.

Simon Peter in faith obeys Christ’s command and behold a massive school of fish swim right into his net. There is more fish than Simon’s boat can handle and so he yells for James and John to bring their boat to help him. When they arrive and unload the fish, both of their boats begin sinking because of the poundage of fish.

A typical boat at that time was about 15 feet long. Maybe 15 adults in a small boat like that would cause the boat to sink. 15 times an average of 150 pounds equals 2,250 pounds. That’s about 1 ton. Two boats sinking. That’s one ton in each both. That’s a lot of Filet of Fish.

Sometimes God asks us to do things that seem worthless and unproductive such as saying good morning to a person at work who is trying to get us fired. Or helping the needy when we ourselves are in need. Or not giving up in praying for a friend who doesn’t believe in Jesus.

In situations like these we ask the Holy Spirit to grant us faith to respond as Peter did who said, “But at your word, I will let down the nets.”



When God Assigns Us A Task, He Gives Us The Resources

Please ponder upon Luke 5:11.

“And when they [Peter, James and John] had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

Peter, James and John retired from their fishing careers in glory. They left their nets and their boats holding probably the lake’s record for most fish caught in their boat size category.

A number of Bible scholars have noted that the money which Simon Peter, James and John made from their catch of around 2 tons of fish probably eased some of the financial obligations they had.

With money made from the catch. they may not have had to say to Jesus, “I’ve got a loan to pay on my boat. I’ve got some relatives who are going to need some adjustment time to get financial help since I won’t be fishing anymore.”

Some of us during this economic times are praying, “Lord, I want to share with others. I want to volunteer more. But I am stretched to the limit now.”

Be assured that if the Lord is assigning us to do specific tasks, he will provide the means. He did so for Peter, James and John.


The Great Catch Is A Signal

The amazing catch of fish that almost sunk two boats is just a hint of the great catch that is going on in the world today as Christians all over the world are being caught by the Holy Spirit and coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We ask that God would give us the excitement in being part of this catch as we carry out our chores in the lake that God has place us in.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.