Question
BECAUSE YOU SAY SO
Luke 5:1-11
Key Verses 5:4-5
“4When He had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ 5Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.’”
Read vs. 1-3. Describe Jesus’ lakeside Bible conference. How did Simon find himself
involved in it?
Read v.4. What did Jesus ask Simon after He had finished speaking to the crowd? Why do you think Jesus asked him to do such a thing? Read v. 5. What was Simon’s reply? Why do you think he decided to let down the nets? What does his reply show about him? How could Jesus’ direction been difficult for Simon to listen to?
Read vs. 6-7. What happened when Simon obeyed Jesus’ Words? What can we learn here?
Read vs. 8-10a. When Simon Peter saw this what did he do? Why? Read v. 10b. What did Jesus then say? What does it mean? What can we learn? Read v. 11. What did Simon and his companions then do?
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BECAUSE YOU SAY SO
Luke 5:1-11
Key Verses 5:4-5
“4When He had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and
let down the nets for a catch.’ 5Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and
haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.’”
Last weekend we had a wonderful bible conference, titled, “He had compassion on them.”
Through the conference we learned that Jesus saw people as sheep without a shepherd and had
compassion on them. Jesus’ compassion is different from mere sympathy. His compassion
produced prayer and prayer produced action. He saw that the workers were few, so through
prayer He picked up the prayer topic, “Father, send out harvest workers into Your harvest field.
In today’s passage we see how God led Jesus to one man, Simon. Jesus had compassion on him
and, with His compassion, Jesus called Simon into a new life. Jesus called him to grow up to
become a fisher of men.
First, Jesus taught the Word of God to the crowd of people (1-3).
One day, early in the morning, Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, praying, as
He often did (Mk 1:35). Out of nowhere, the lovely calm of the lake was disturbed by a
crowd of people. From early in the morning, many people began coming to Jesus. Soon,
they formed a large crowd. We have to ask the question: why did so many people come to
Jesus from early in the morning? Needless to say, people came to him for healing. As the
gospels narrate, they were mostly sick and needy people. Probably they were depression
patients or discontented, and all kinds of invalids who were too pitiful to look at. There
must have been lepers secretly following behind the crowd, covering their faces with their
rake-like fingers, wishing to be touched by the Messiah's hand of healing. Their needs
were so urgent that they could not think about others at all. So they all came to Jesus
from early morning. Jesus knew that they needed physical healing. But instead Jesus
taught them the word of God first in order to heal their real sickness, their sin sickness.
So how did they respond to his teaching? Did they demand Jesus, saying, “Jesus, enough
talking! Can you please start healing us!?” No. Verse 1b says, "...with the people crowding
around him and listening to the word of God." Surprisingly, they were genuinely happy to listen
to His Words. They had come to Jesus to be healed of their various physical diseases. But when
Jesus taught them the word of God first, they were like a thirsty man, drinking the fresh water
of an oasis in the desert. Jesus knew that they were miserable not only were physically sick, but
they were more miserable because they were sin-sick. So Jesus taught them the word of God
to heal them from their sin. So this seaside conference which was first expected to be a healing
conference became instead a Bible conference.
The word of God is the word of life. God’s Word helps man to be transformed, grow up to be
Key Verse 5:4-5
a godly, wholesome person and wise enough to receive salvation, eternal life, and the kingdom
of God. When we look around us today, there are many pleasure-seeking people. They claim
that they are happy and when we look at them it appears they are. But in reality, they are sick
and exhausted with their lives of sin. They long for the word of eternal life because they too are
human beings whose souls are like stars twinkling in the sky.
The people listening to the word of God grew so large that Jesus could not effectively serve them
the Word of God. So what did He do? Look at verses 2-3, “2[H]e saw at the water's edge two
boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the
one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and
taught the people from the boat.” Jesus looked around and saw two boats that had been left at the
water's edge by some fishermen. One of the owners of the boats, Simon, was busy washing his
nets after fishing all night. Even though he was washing his nets, he had been secretly listening
to Jesus’ words. At that moment Jesus got into his boat and asked a favor of him, “Would you
mind putting out a little from shore?” Simon was dumbfounded that Jesus had come into his boat
and asked him this question. All he could do was nod his head and say “Sure.” So after Simon
positioned his boat a little from shore Jesus continued to teach the people God’s Word. So now
Simon became a captured audience; instead of listening while washing the net, Simon became
completely focused on Jesus and His words.
Now during this brief encounter, Simon could not be indifferent to Jesus. The more he heard
Jesus speak the more his eyes were transfixed on Jesus. Simon’s heart burned with joy and
excitement at Jesus’ Words. A new hope rose in his breast. God’s Word planted into his heart
planted hope in him.
May God help us to plant God’s Word in the flock’s heart that they may receive eternal life and
be restored as wholesome sons and daughters of God.
Second, “Because You say so” (4-7).
Look at verses 4-5, “4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep
water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ 5Simon answered, ‘Master, we've worked hard
all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’”
In these verses we see that Jesus challenged Simon to see what kind of man he was. This was
Simon’s job interview, even though he didn’t know he was in a job interview. Jesus tested
Simon in the hope of choosing him as one of His disciples. So what kind of person was Simon?
First of all, Simon was a hardworking man. Simon and his fellow fishermen worked hard all
night and hadn’t caught a thing (5a). It had been a bad night of fishing for them. Now, they
were weary, discouraged and hungry. So Simon could have gone straight home, had a small
meal and fell straight into bed without taking a shower and removing all the fish smell from
his clothes and body. But he didn't do that; instead Simon mended and rearranged his nets so
that he would be prepared for the next night. In short, Simon was a hardworking man and he
wasn’t easily discouraged. Simon had the quality to become a great man of God because of his
hardworking spirit.
I was really impressed with our disciples at the Bible conference because Summer time is the
time for them to take a break from their busy schedules. But instead of taking a break, they
worked hard to prepare Symposium messages, drama and even the Mexican dance. And at
the conference many of them helped to make a good environment for us to have a wonderful
conference. When I saw how hard they worked, I could have vision for our prayer to pioneer all
west coast campuses. They all have a hardworking spirit and I thank God that He is answering
our prayer to raise up harvest workers for this generation from among us.
Simon also was humble enough to listen and obey Jesus’ Words. Look at verse 4. “When he had
finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’”
As far as fishing was concerned, Simon was a veteran fisherman and Jesus was a carpenter.
Simon knew that night was the time for fishing, but now it was bright morning. Yet, Simon
did not say, ‘What are You talking about?’ Amazingly, Simon humbled himself and put aside
his own ideas and listened to Jesus. He said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t
caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (5). Simon ignored all his
experience as a professional fisherman for one simple reason. “Because You say so”. Simon
listened and obeyed Jesus, because Jesus said so.
Simon had an obedient mind. A humble learning mind is the source of obedience. Obedience
is also the expression of love. John 14:21a says, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them,
he is the one who loves me." When Jesus said, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets
for a catch," Simon obeyed Jesus' command unconditionally. It was because Simon Peter fell in
love with Jesus. We don't know why he fell in love with Jesus. Probably Simon felt happy and
honored that Jesus had chosen him and his boat out of all the boats that were along the shore that
day. Basically, he felt loved by Jesus. One who loves God can obey God and can obey others.
It is not easy for anybody to obey. But Simon obeyed Jesus' word because he loved Jesus.
Here we also see Simon’s leadership quality. One thing about fishing (the kind of fishing they
did, not with a rod but with fishing nets) is that it requires co-working. To throw a net, to pull
the net, they have to work together. When Simon said, “because you say so I will let down the
net” it involved not only Simon. At least Andrew had to come along with him. Other partners
also had to stop their washing of their nets, to watch or perhaps help what Simon started doing.
One person’s obedience can have a great impact on others, so that they too can experience the
blessing of obedience. May God help us to be men and women of obedience to Jesus’ Words so
that many can also experience God’s blessings in their lives.
What was the result when Simon obeyed? Look at verses 6-7. “When they had done so, they
caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners
in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they
began to sink.” When Simon obeyed Jesus he experienced the blessedness of obedience. When
his nets began to break, he waved over his partners and together they hauled in the large catch
that Jesus had led them to. Simon failed fishing trip became a resounding success. When Simon
obeyed Jesus, Jesus enabled him and others to experience a great success. There's no failure in
Jesus. Jesus restores all our failures.
Finally, Simon came to know that he was a sinner. Look at verse 8. “When Simon Peter saw this,
he fell at Jesus' knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Why did Simon
say this? After being filled with Jesus’ Words and seeing the great catch of fish after he obeyed
Jesus, Simon saw the God Almighty in Jesus (8). He saw that even the fish in the sea obeyed
Jesus' word. In the past, Simon did not think much about God or about himself as a sinner. But
now he recognized himself as a sinful man. In the past, he thought he was a good man. But
when he met Jesus, he realized what a sinful man he actually was.
What kind of sinful man was he? First, before God, he was a morally sinful man. Nobody can
say that he has kept all Ten Commandments. Maybe Simon had violated all of them. But this
was not the extent of his sin. Secondly, Simon was ethically a sinful man. In order to eat three
meals a day, Simon became a selfish man. He focused only on his fishing business and making it
a success. Because he was so busy with himself, he never had room to care about others. When
a person only thinks about himself, he can have no compassionate heart on his neighbors, nor
love them as much as he loves himself. Third, Simon was a spiritually sinful man. Simon did
not live for the glory of God. Instead, he lived a selfish life, mundane life. God did not create
man for a small purpose; God created man for His purpose; later we learn that God created us to
be fishers of men.
Look at verse 10b. "Don't be afraid..." Jesus saw Simon’s inner man. Outwardly, Simon looked
bold as a man of the sea. But inwardly he was a slave of fear because of his sins. Those who are
outside of Jesus are all slaves of fear (Ro 8:15). But those who are in Jesus are full of love and
power (2Ti 1:7). As soon as Simon listened to Jesus' voice, his fear was gone and God's peace
was overflowing in him.
Third, "from now on you will catch men" (10-11).
Look at verse 10b. “Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch
men.’” What does it mean, ‘from now on you will catch men’? Matthew and Mark said, ‘fishers
of men,’ instead of ‘catch men’ (Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17). It is better to think a little more about "from
now on you will catch men."
God gave Simon a new life in Jesus. In the past, Simon was a fisherman. People thought he was
a courageous man of the sea and perhaps a leader among all the fishermen, at least in the Galilean
district. But inwardly he was very fearful and sorrowful. One night, he tried all night to catch
fish but he caught nothing. Nevertheless, Jesus showed him God by restoring his great failure of
catching fish. Since Jesus came into his heart, he became a happy man; and he learned the
purpose of his life. “From now on you will catch men.” Men who do not know God’s purpose
of their lives can never truly be happy. Inwardly, they are full of fear especially of failure and
sorrow becomes their trademark because of the power of sin over their lives. But those who meet
Jesus personally are completely different; their lives are full of joy and peace.
“From now on you will catch men,” meant he should be a shepherd of God's flock of sheep.
Once, Jesus went on a retreat with his disciples to a quiet place. But the crowd of people came
to him for help. They were really shameless people. But when Jesus saw the crowd of people
they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mk 6:34). In other words, they could have been much
better people, but because they did not have shepherds they became wretched people. It was
because they had no shepherds; they had no one who would care for them. Yet, Jesus saw them
He set aside everything and served them. What this generation needs more than anything is
people who are willing to set aside their own matters and serve the flock of God. When Jesus
told Simon, “from now on you will catch men,” it meant Simon would become a man who is
responsible for the world evangelization to declare the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus (1Pet.
2:9-10). Jesus also wanted to establish him as the foundation stone of the Christian church (Mt
16:18).
What was Peter's response to Jesus’ calling? Look at verse 11. “So they pulled their boats up
on shore, left everything and followed him.” Before meeting Jesus, Peter was in the darkness
of failure and filled with great fear. But after meeting Jesus, he was to be the shepherd of God's
flock under his care in the early church.
Simon shows the best example for us. Simon passed the job interview with flying colors.
He left everything behind in order to listen and obey Jesus. There are two kinds of people in
this world; those who listen to themselves and those who listen to Jesus. Those who listen to
themselves live a cursed life; but those who listen to Jesus experience the blessed life that Jesus
has to offer. They are happy and know the purpose of their lives. They grow up to be a source
of blessing and life for those around them. May God help us to listen carefully to Jesus Word’s
and go to the deep waters of our campuses and let down our nets for a catch. May God bless us
to double our ministry by the end of the year.
One Word: Because You say so.