Most people rush to the phrase about fishing for people – it captures our imaginations, it calls followers of Christ to a clear task, and it inspires hope for dwindling congregations that dream of full pews and overflowing offering plates – but I want to focus on who he recruits to help him, because it has implications for us.
![[1] “Homecoming” by Norman Rockwell](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ff6591_b61687b0be46487ca3f2c45cf701e663~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_242,h_264,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/ff6591_b61687b0be46487ca3f2c45cf701e663~mv2.png)
Luke 5:1-11
February 9, 2025
Dr. Todd R. Wright
Luke says that “Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” I want you to imagine that scene:
After his baptism, Jesus’ fame spread throughout Galilee and the surrounding countryside.
In Capernaum they were astounded at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.
On the sabbath, in their synagogue, he healed a man with an unclean spirit.
That afternoon he healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law who had a fever.
As the sun was setting, and word spread, people brought their loved ones
with all sorts of diseases, and he cured them! He cast out demons too!
No wonder there is a crowd!
They sense the miraculous and want a piece of it!
The crowd is swelled by the curious, and the hopeful, and the suspicious.
(It is the same at Spring training, when every fan is dreaming of the playoffs; or Black Friday, when people are chasing bargains; or political rallies, when a new face is making headlines; or churches, when there is a new pastor, like when Frank Mansell arrived in 1983!)
So by the time Jesus walks along the lakeshore, the crowds are desperate to see him!
Can you hear the noise of their cries, their calls for his attention, their questions?
Can you smell their sweat in the heat of the day, the odor of fish and wet nets?
Can you feel the people pressing in to be close enough to hear, to be healed, to be first in line?
They back him into the shallow water and still they move forward. He’s up to his shins, his knees, his hips, and still the crowd grows!
What is he going to do about the crowds?
He does three things:
First, he hops on a boat and moves out into the water creating a natural amphitheater.
Second, once people can hear better, he preaches the good news. Luke says, the crowd is there to hear the word of God, so he gives it to them.
Third, he responds to the press of the crowds by calling disciples to help him.
And that’s where things get interesting!
Most people rush to the phrase about fishing for people – it captures our imaginations, it calls followers of Christ to a clear task, and it inspires hope for dwindling congregations that dream of full pews and overflowing offering plates – but I want to focus on who he recruits to help him, because it has implications for us.
Go back and consider the story Luke tells us. He includes some important details.
Notice where Jesus is – the lake of Gennesaret – about 80 miles from Jerusalem.
This is not the center of power:
It is a long way from the Temple, from the place God was expected to be found.
Far from the seat of government – of Rome and its occupying armies or the Jewish authorities.
And even further from the movers and shakers who get recorded in histories.
And yet place matters. As Kathleen Norris points out in her book Dakota, “people who live on the prairies think differently than do city folks, mountain folks, or those who live on the sea.”
Scott Hoezee elaborates. “We may have a hard time describing such things, but all of us
know that certain areas of the country carry certain associations. Rightly or wrongly we point to areas of the map and make descriptive comments: one region may be called urbane, another redneck; one place would be labeled conservative and another liberal. In more recent times we talk about ‘Red America’ and ‘Blue America,’ about ‘The Liberal Coasts’ as opposed to ‘The Conservative [heartland].’ Place matters.”[1] It matters now; it mattered then.
Jesus starts his crew with fishermen from the lake of Gennesaret. Interesting!
Scholars tell us that Gennesaret is the plain to the west of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Magdala. Only four miles long sand two miles wide, “the soil is rich like the Nile delta. There was plenty of water available from streams flowing out of the surrounding hills. The land produced important crops such as grapes, figs, olives, walnuts, rice, wheat, vegetables, and melons. The rabbis spoke of this plain as ‘the Garden of God’ and a ‘paradise.’”[2]
But Simon Peter and James and John are not farmers. They make their living as fishermen.
Leah Schade describes their situation like this: “These laborers were on the lowest level of Rome’s hierarchy of occupations. They owned no land and were forced to pay for both the right to fish on the emperor’s lake and the right to sell the fish they caught. Their work was physically demanding and dangerous, often leaving them with barely enough money to sustain their families.”[3]
It is humbling work. They are always on the edge. Empty nets meant hunger. Empty nets meant nothing to pay the tax man. Empty nets might make you cry out to God … or take chances.
They are as desperate as the crowds.
Notice too that the people he recruits are fresh off a failure.
They have fished all night and caught nothing. They are skilled fishermen, but their nets are empty. They have put in the work, but it has produced no results.
Do you ever feel that way?
It might make you question your life and the choices you have made; or provoke some hard
conversations with God; or make you wish for something different … maybe even … escape.
So these fishermen are primed to listen to Jesus’ pitch.
They are as hungry for the miraculous as the crowds.
Finally, notice that he recruits people who know him.
He has been in Capernaum for a while – preaching and healing.
He has preached in the synagogue – maybe they heard him, or maybe they heard about it.
He has been in Simon Peter’s home – healed his wife’s mom – that’s personal!
He is not some fly-by-night grifter, a traveling salesman, a flash-in-the-pan prophet.
He is a carpenter, good with his hands, quick to laugh, and just as poor as most of them.
They know him. They talk with the same accent. They trust him.
So when Jesus makes a silly request, they row out into the deeper water and put their freshly cleaned nets back in the water. It has been a ling night, but they indulge him.
And they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break!
So you’d think that they’d be overjoyed!
Now they can pay their taxes! They can feed their families! And settle some debts. And share their good fortune with the rest of the village!
They are experiencing what the crowds hoped for – the overflowing blessing of God!
But here’s where things get even more interesting, because at a word from Jesus they leave everything behind and join him. They will learn how to minister to the crowds.
For two thousand years disciples have been following in their footsteps, doing what Jesus did, for crowds of people who are desperate and hungry, body and soul.
For 75 years this church has been engaged in that ministry.
It has never been about the size of the group following Jesus. It has always been a response to the crowds. God hears their cries and sends humble, hardworking people to respond.
May we continue to answer the call! Amen
[1] From his reflections on the text for cepreaching.org, 2/10/19
[3] From her reflection on the text for workingpreacher.org, 1/26/25
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