Amy C Walters

Jesus Calls the First Disciples – Luke 5:1-11

Jesus’ call to Simon Peter was costly. He had to give up his rights, his stuff, his time, and his career at a moment when he was the most successful. So why did he say yes? Maybe because Jesus’ miraculous catch of fish shows Simon what’s possible.

In the last two posts, we’ve looked at Jesus’ requests and invitations to Simon, and how Simon has responded to those requests with humble obedience. Today, let’s look at what this all means for Simon. What is it going to cost him to follow Jesus?

First of all, in this story, there was a cost in Jesus asking to use Simon’s boat. Simon has to hold his possessions open to Jesus to say, “Yes, you can use my boat.” 

There was also a cost to Simon’s pride. He is an expert fisherman and Jesus is asking him to go against his instincts and fish in the middle of the day after an unsuccessful night. Can you imagine if there were other fishermen around too, seeing Simon head out in his boat in the middle of the day to catch more fish? They must have been thinking, “What is he doing? Is he crazy? Why would he fish right now?”

Another cost to Simon is his own discomfort in feeling the weight of his sin. We know that after Jesus does this miracle and brings in all these fish, that Simon has an acute awareness of his sinfulness. He even tries to send Jesus away saying, “I know I’m a sinful man.” 

If you have ever wrestled with the reality of your own sinfulness, you know how heavy that can be–to be aware of your limitations and guilt and flaws. Simon is confronted by those in the presence of Jesus.

So for Simon to follow Jesus means opening himself up to further exploration of those limitations. He’s going to be confronted time and time again of where his faith falls short, where fear overtakes him, of where his vision of the future is different from what Jesus wants to accomplish. 

We also know that at this moment, Simon is the most successful he has ever been at his job. This is the biggest catch of fish he has ever had. He is at the pinnacle of his career. And he is going to walk away from it all. That’s a sacrifice.

That’s the kind of thing where other people look at it and say, “Are you crazy? Look how good you are at this! Look at how much you have accomplished. How could you leave that all behind?” 

And yet Simon recognizes that his success is only possible because of Jesus. And that success is pointing toward something bigger, something even greater than career success. It’s eternal significance.

This sacrifice for Simon also means a sacrifice for his family. We know that Simon is married. If you remember in the previous story, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. We don’t know what this conversation between Simon and his wife looked like. But we do know that sacrifice is harder when it involves the people that you love also sacrificing as well. And that can make us sometimes rethink, do we really want to do this if this means that my loved ones are also going to be impacted?

Think also about what we know about Jesus’ ministry that Simon would be joining. In Nazareth, Jesus was driven out of town, threatened with death because they didn’t like his message. In Capernaum, Jesus was up all night long healing people. Jesus’ ministry is tough work, and that’s what Simon is invited to join.

But even in the face of all of this–the challenges that are ahead, leaving career success behind, Simon still chooses to leave everything and follow Jesus.

It’s interesting that even though Matthew and Mark also record the story of Jesus calling the first disciples (Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:14-20), only Luke mentions the miraculous catch of fish. I think Luke is showing us that this miracle is critical in Simon’s decision. It also tells us something about following Jesus.

Think for a moment: how could this miracle help Simon decide to follow Jesus, even in light of the cost? 

First of all, this miracle shows us that Jesus can provide. When Simon and his companions hadn’t caught anything, Jesus says, “You want some fish? I’ll give you some fish. I’ll give you so much it will blow your mind!” 

So Jesus is able to provide for them, and not just barely meet their needs. He gives them more than enough, far more than they could ever get on their own. 

We’re also left to think, if Jesus can do this with fish, what else is possible? If this catch of fish mirrors the catch of people that Simon’s going to have because he’s following Jesus, just imagine that! Imagine how many people will be impacted for eternity by Simon choosing to follow.

If this catch of fish shows us anything, it shows us what is possible with Jesus. And the possibilities are mind-blowing.

I wonder if Simon, throughout the rest of his life, looked back on this moment. When he faced beatings and imprisonments and challenges, did he look back at that and say, “but look at what’s possible through Jesus! This might catch a few more souls. This might bring more people into the kingdom.” 

And you know what? Simon, even though he died centuries ago, is still catching people. The catch has not all been brought in yet. People are still being impacted for the kingdom through Simon Peter’s life and ministry, through the stories of him in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts, and through the books that he wrote that are part of Scripture. Simon is still catching people, and we won’t know the impact of that until eternity. What an incredible idea!

So yes, accepting Jesus’ invitation was costly, but the results are incomparable. They don’t even match up. It’s like comparing Simon’s working hard all night and not catching anything to these moments of letting out the net because Jesus said so and almost sinking two boats with the catch.

The invitation was costly, but the results are incomparable.

The key truth that I want to leave you with today is actually not really a truth. It’s more of an invitation: imagine what is possible with Jesus. 

Some of you out there might be visionaries, people who don’t have a problem seeing the possibilities. But if you’re like me, then maybe you see all of the ways that something could go wrong. You see the obstacles. You like to point out why things won’t work. I consider myself a practical person that way, but sometimes my practicality gets in the way of imagining what’s possible with Jesus.

But Jesus has called you and me to follow him. He’s called us to join him in his work of making disciples of all nations. And Jesus is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). 

So why do we spend time trying to poke holes in what he is calling us to do? Why do we drag our feet and delay? Yes, it might cost us, but imagine what the results could be.

What could happen if you tell your relatives about Jesus and at some point they are interested and they start to believe and they want to know more? How could that impact your family?

If you started telling your fellow students and classmates about Jesus and they were interested and they wanted to know more and the word spread from there, imagine what could happen!