Exposition of Luke 5:1-11; Quite a Catch

I will write two essays today, the first of which will lay out several theological themes that would be fruitful to discuss from these verses and the second of which will give you a good "three-point" message from the text. Let's begin with the text.

"Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5 Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him."

Context and Themes

1. Let's first understand how Luke 5:1-11 functions in the development of Luke's Gospel. After Jesus' baptism and temptation, he provided a short narrative about Jesus teaching and preaching (4:14-15) and then a long narrative (4:16-30) illustrating that message. That message emphasized the importance of "release." I developed that theme here. Then, in 4:31-44, we have a series of short narratives about release, and then a long narrative (5:1-11) illustrating release. Just as 4:16-30 was crucially important for Jesus in articulating that message of release from Isaiah, so 5:1-11 is signficant for showing how release works in the context of forgiveness of sins. Thus, as we approach 5:1-11 we know that this also is an "anchor passage" for Luke to highlight the importance of one aspect of the release which Jesus promised to bring to the people. Indeed, Luke will not let us forget that this is foundational for Jesus' ministry, for in a following narrative (5:17-26), he has Jesus say to the hearers.."Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Stand up and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." We are ready, then, for a thoughtful and powerful treatment of forgiveness.

2. The structure of Lk. 5:4-10 exactly reflects the structure of Is. 6:1-10, which is our OT lectionary reading for the week. It is almost as if Luke has crafted it with Isaiah's call in mind. Both texts deal with the theme of the day: the "revelation" or "epiphany" of God or God's Son. Note the following:

Is. 6: 1-4 Epiphany--Angel
Is. 6: 5 Isaiah's Reaction
Is. 6: 7 Divine Reassurance
Is. 6: 8-10 Commissioning

Luke 5:4-7 Epiphany-- Christ
Luke 5:8-- Peter's Reaction
Luke 5:10b--Jesus' Reassurance
Luke 5:10b--Commissioning

I am indebted to Joel Green (The Gospel of Luke, 233) for this. One can probe the nature of a biblical epiphany through these texts and ask the question of how we react if and when God should appear for us and our community. If the table above permitted me space, I could have traced the nature of the epiphany or the similarity of Isaiah's and Peter's reactions, for example ("Woe is me, for I am lost!" or "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.").

3. An interesting linguistic development happens in Luke 5:7-10. When Peter calls his friends over from the other boat to help him bring in the catch of fish, these fellows are called "metochois," which is the Greek word for "business partner." Herodotus uses the word in that way, and a papyrus from the 3rd century BCE is consistent with this when it uses this word to describe various people's "shares in the orchard." The word is very appropriate in 5:7, because Peter and his partners are being considered from the perspective of their business success or failure. But note that in v. 10 we are introduced to James and John, who are called "partners" again, but the Greek word is different. Here they are "koinonoi"--and that word ought to set off all kinds of theological fireworks in you, for it stresses the communion, the commonness, the community we share together in Christ. This kind of linguistic development is reminiscent of but more sophisticated than that in John 15 where Jesus says that he will no longer call his disciples "servants" but "friends." Forgiveness, then, the theme of the passage, means to go from being a "partner" to a "sharer," from being a business associate to being in intimate connection with the Christ.

4. There is a contrast in the passage that ought not to be overlooked: from catching fish which die to catching people who live. The last participle of the passage (v. 10 zogron) is rare in the NT and Greek literature in general but is a term that means "to capture alive" or "to spare life." The Greek prefix or root "zoe" means "life." This means that the emphasis of Jesus' words to Peter and the other new disciples is that they will be bringing people new life or, in the language of the Gospel so far, "release." "Caught to Live" would be an accurate three-word phrase to capture the meaning of these verses.

5. Two other contrasts in the passage help heighten the focus on Peter's response. First is the irony in the professionals' having nothing after their long night of toil to them receiving great riches when they leave their professional lives' behind. Then there is the contrasting reactions between the crowd and Peter. The crowds want Jesus to stay around, thinking maybe they will be able to get a free miracle or two. Peter wants Jesus to "depart from him," because he knows he is unworthy of Jesus. Those who want Jesus to stay lose him; the one who wanted Jesus to leave him eventually spends all his time with Jesus.

Let's move now to a three-point exposition of the passage.

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