Luke 5,1-11 4220
5. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 050
Pius, Bishop of Rome, Martyr 150
12. Juli 2020
1. O Risen Christ, our Deliverer; comfort us in pain and strife, give us greater love for You, renew our faith and hope, so that we take comfort and certainty in Your birth, passion, crucifixion and resurrection. Amen. (Starck 163 ¶ 3)
2. »One one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the word of God, Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3Getting 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. 4And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon: „Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.“ 5And Simon answered: „Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.“ 6And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7They signaled to their partners in the other boat to go and help them. And they arrived and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying: „Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.“ 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon: „Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.“ 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.«
3. Last week we heard Jesus exhort us to be merciful even as His Father is merciful. Today we hear an account of Jesus calling His first disciples.
4. Luke 4 details the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. After He was baptized by John, Jesus was tempted by the Devil for 40 days, and when that is completed He begins His ministry. Jesus began in Galilee, the province north of Jerusalem, and taught in the synagogues. He preached at the synagogue of Nazareth, His hometown. He preached Capernaum, the hometown of Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. Jesus preached in Simon’s house and healed those who were sick.
5. With this is context, Jesus called His first disciples: Peter, James and John. They were fishermen and business partners. The events in chapter 5 were not the first time they had seen Jesus. They had heard Him preach in their synagogue. Jesus personally knew Simon Peter, for He had stayed at his house and had healed his mother-in-law of a high fever. I think it is reasonable to say in chapter 5 that Jesus and Peter are friends. There is definitely a bond between them, one that naturally forms after Jesus had healed one of Peter’s relatives. It is also reasonable to say that James and John are familiar too with Jesus by the time of the events of chapter 5.
6. So it’s nothing shocking that Jesus got into Simon boat to preach, nor surprising that they heed His exhortation to fish after He has preached. This is no stranger doing and asking these things, but a man they are coming to know and trust. They have heard Him preach several times and have seen Him heal.
7. After teaching the crowd from Peter’s boat, Jesus tells them to row out and start fishing – this is the highlight of this pericope. Peter, James and John had just recently finished fishing overnight with no success. But they abide by Jesus’ command, cast their nets once more and they catch so many fish that their nets are at the breaking point and their boats are about to sink from the weight of all the fish they had caught. The seasoned fishermen were amazed at their catch.
8. Simon calls Jesus master, and in this context it could also be translated as teacher. He acknowledged Jesus as a wise rabbi not only teaches but does great miracles for this catch of fish was unexpected and miraculous. And this is Luke’s point in his pericope: the miracle of the nets that could find no fish now find an over abundance of fish because of the word of Jesus (Just 207). Jesus is showing these men, who in moments become His first disciples and later the first of His apostles, that the gospel will catch many people and convert them to faith in Christ. The Church comes into existence through preaching (Just 206).
9. Martin Luther saw the nets as the office of preaching: „We have taken refuge in the net of the Church. We are the people pressing upon Christ to hear the word of God; we were drawn from the sea of the world and the Lord became „my Light and my Salvation“. This was done first of all in Baptism and is also done in the Holy Communion. We are to leave everything and follow Him. The whole gospel is truly a glad message. The storm may howl around about us; bodily suffering, war, human weakness, rebellious will, all surround the kingdom of God. All human effort seems to accomplish little. Yet Christ lives in His Church. In faith we venture far out into the deep. Christ will fill the net of the Church. It seems that the Church works in vain, but in reality and unknown to the senses a great shoal of fishes is enclosed“ (Just 207 fn. 5).
10. To be a fisher of people, one needs absolution from Jesus and the commission to absolve others (Just 210). To fish for people is to declare to them the reign of God in Jesus and bring them into that reign through catechesis, teaching, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Just 210). In Luke 5 Jesus commissions Peter to go and do what Jesus has just done to him: preach and absolve (Just 210). This is how the Church is created, formed and preserved (Just 210). Where Jesus goes, His disciples follow. Next week we will hear that following Jesus and being His disciples means that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. Amen.
9. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior; reveal Your righteousness to all the nations, so that by preaching and teaching they hear the gospel and come to faith in You. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
Just, Arthur. Luke 1:1–9:50. Copyright © 1996 Concordia Publishing House.
Starck, Johann. Starck’s Prayer Book. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House.
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