Questions for Further Thought

1. What does Jesus' rebuke of the fever in 4:39 and of the demon in 4:41 indicate about his authority in calling Simon?
2. What other passages in the Bible point to discipleship entailing the "Three P's": Proclamation, Power of the Spirit through prayer, and People?
3. Who is one person you can begin to implement this form of discipleship with in the next week?
4. How does disciple-making relate to the building up of the body in love (Ephesians 4:16; see Kenny Stokes' sermon, "Treasuring Christ Together: A Loving, Gifted & Growing People")? 

Luke 5:1-11

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting 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. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished 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. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Discipleship Series

As pastors and elders, we have been giving much thought to discipleship at Bethlehem. So it seemed fitting that this weekend I begin what, Lord willing, will be an eight-week series on discipleship, concluding on the last weekend of the year. My aim in the series is to foster a sense of one-mindedness and unity at Bethlehem from key biblical texts in the Gospels on basic questions such as “What is a disciple?” and “What is discipleship?” As an outcome, I hope and pray that the Lord will give us a sense of strategy and a renewed grace in living as disciple-making disciples of Christ.

Background: Jesus Public Ministry in Capernaum (Luke 4)

Our text in Luke 5 records the account of Jesus’ call to his first disciples. The “Simon” in our text is the apostle “Simon Peter.” In a very real sense, the core of discipleship is right here in our text.

Luke 4:14-15 states, “And Jesus returned [after his temptation in the wilderness] in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” As Jesus was teaching in the region, he went to Capernaum where, as our text records, he called Simon to be his disciple.

1. Jesus taught in Capernaum.

We know that once in Capernaum, Jesus went straight to the synagogue to teach on the Sabbath (cf. Mark 1:21). Upon hearing his teaching, verse 4:32 says, “[The people] were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.”

2. Jesus cast out demons in Capernaum.

We know that Jesus publicly cast demons out of a man in the synagogue. As he did, the demons cried out loudly, according to verse 4:34,“Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” Jesus commanded, “Be silent and come out of him!” (4:35). The demon obeyed, threw the man down like a rag doll and came out of him, having done no lasting harm (4:35). And according to verse 36, the people in the synagogue were, “all amazed and said to one another, ‘What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!’” The news of what Jesus did that day in the synagogue spread like a wildfire through Capernaum and the whole region (4:37).

3. Jesus healed the sick in Simon’s home in Capernaum.

We know that after teaching publicly in the synagogue, Jesus actually was invited to Simon’s home (4:38). The parallel account in Mark 1:29 explains not only that it was Simon’s home but also the home of his brother Andrew. Along with Jesus came the yet-to-be-called disciples, James and his brother John.

Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever and so the family, and presumably Simon, urged Jesus to come and heal her. And Jesus came and “rebuked the fever, and it left her” (4:39).

4. Jesus was recognized by demons in Capernaum.

We know that at the end of the day, sick and diseased people were flocking to him and he “laid his hands on every one of them and healed them” (v.40). And likewise, the demon-possessed came and declared aloud to him, “‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ” (v.41).

The grapevine throughout the whole region was buzzing with news of Jesus’ public teaching, casting out of demons, healing and being called the Son of God by demons. All this is significant to the calling of Simon. Why? Because no one can say that it was done in a vacuum or that Simon didn’t know the first thing about Jesus.

Jesus Teaching

Now, chapter five reports that Jesus was teaching again by the shores of the lake of Gennesaret, the northwest part of the Sea of Galilee near the city of Capernaum. What was he teaching? Verse 1 says that Jesus was teaching “the word of God.” The gospel message he spoke in the region is summarized in 4:17, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Simon was on the shore near the listening crowd, tending the family fishing nets with other fishermen after a night of fishing (5:2). The crowd, wanting to hear Jesus’ teaching, pressed closer and closer to him. As the crowd pushed closer, they were apparently pushing Jesus into the water.  

Beside Jesus on the shore were two fishing boats. One of them belonged to Simon and so Jesus climbed into Simon’s boat. Jesus just got into Simon’s boat. This reminds me of a time I offered a ride to a wayfarer in our church parking lot. The man said he wanted to go one exit east on Interstate 94. I drove him there and exited at Riverside. But when I stopped, he then said he wanted to go to St. Paul, a couple more exits to the east. I took him. When we arrived there, then he said he wanted to go back to Minneapolis. He wouldn’t get out. I wasn’t going to walk away from my car. So in some sense, I was stuck with him. It is very awkward.

If you believe in luck or coincidences, you’ll say, “My what a coincidence! Jesus needed a boat, Peter had one, and they had the chance to meet!” But in the basic worldview of the Bible, there are no coincidences in the universe. All is under Christ’s sovereign reign. This is no happenstance. Jesus is sitting with Simon, in Simon’s fishing boat. Simon is sovereignly and mercifully in the same boat, face to face with Jesus.

Then, Jesus asked Simon to put the boat out from shore a short way, near enough so he could sit in the boat and teach Simon, the other fishermen and the crowd gathered on the shore, his voice driven across the water to the ears of the people.

Jesus’ Authoritative Word

When Jesus finished teaching, Jesus said to Peter, in verse 4, “‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5 And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!’” Simon and his fishing crew had been fishing the whole previous night, albeit without success, because that’s when you catch fish in the Sea of Galilee, not in the heat of the day.

Now, Jesus, the teacher, the carpenter’s son, is advising Simon, the vocational fisherman, on how to catch fish. Sometimes the hardest times to live in the obedience of faith is at those times when common sense, experience, the opinions of others and family expectations are pulling us the other way. Although, it went against his sense as an experienced fisherman, Peter did what Jesus said to do.

I see faith, not contempt, nor rebellion, nor disobedience, nor unbelief in Simon’s response to Jesus because Simon referred to Jesus by the authoritative title, master. “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets” (5:5; emphasis added.) Then Simon put out into the deep and let down the nets. And when they pulled up, the nets were so beyond capacity full of fish that the nets were breaking (v.6).

The nets were so unmanageably full of that “they [Simon and perhaps his brother Andrew] signaled to their partners [James and John according to v.9] in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink” (v.7). It was a very good day at work for these men in the fishing business. Fishing couldn’t be better. The natural thing to do was to start singing, “We’re in the money; we’re in the money….”

Simon’s Response & Jesus’ Call

Yet, surprisingly, Simon did not orient his response to the multitude of fish but to Jesus. Verses 8-10, “But when Simon Peter saw it [the multitude of fish], he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished 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.”

What did Simon mean when he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”? I don’t take Simon to be literally telling Jesus to go away! Where is Jesus supposed to go? They are in a boat! That doesn’t fit his confession of his sinfulness and his kneeling posture at Jesus’ feet. When Isaiah was commissioned as a prophet of God, something similar happened.

Turn to Isaiah 6. Isaiah saw the LORD God seated on his throne, high and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple, and the angels hiding their faces and singing to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” That’s when Isaiah cried out, like Simon, expressing his awareness of his own sin, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5).

Likewise, Simon responded the way he did because he had seen the Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The apostle John begins his Gospel with this, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). Simon realized that in Jesus’ presence, he was in the holy presence divinity, the Son of the living God.

Verses 10-11, “And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” The parallel passages in Mark 1:17 and Matthew 4:19 add that Jesus also said, “Follow me.” And Jesus gave Simon, Andrew, John and James a word of assurance and a life mission. The assurance is, “Do not be afraid.” And the promise was connected to Christ’s mission for his disciples, “From now on you will be fishers of men.”

Two Closing Questions and an Assignment

1. What is a disciple?

Every believer is a disciple. It is synonymous with what it means to be a Christian. A disciple is someone to whom the living Christ has sovereignly spoken his word, revealed himself, and enabled the obedience of faith to follow Jesus as the supreme treasure of life. Additionally, linking this text with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, I would say each disciple is called to “catch men.” Or to put it another way, each disciple is called to be a disciple-maker.

2. What is involved in the work of disciple-making?

Last Monday evening the pastors, elders and seminary students met with the Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, the authors of the book, The Trellis and the Vine. Many of us have been reading the book and I recommend it. What I found helpful for Bethlehem in the book was a simple identification of three core elements of what they would call “vine work,” that is the work of disciple-making and growth toward maturity in Christ.

Remember these “3 P’s” as the three most basic components of all disciple-making work:

• Proclamation (of the Word)
• Prayer (for the Power of the Spirit)
• People

These three components are actually reflected early in Jesus’ earthly ministry. We see the proclamation of the Word in Luke 5:1, which states that Jesus was proclaiming the word of God, not to mention Luke 4 and the entirety of the Gospel. The power of Spirit through prayer: in Luke 4:18, Jesus applies these words from the Isaiah to himself and his public ministry, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Last: people. People are everywhere: the crowd, Simon, Andrew, John, and James. In calling Simon and the first disciples, Jesus here demonstrates the key, core elements to disciple making: proclamation, prayer for the power of the Spirit, and people.

Marshall and Payne state with refreshing simplicity,

However, despite the almost limitless number of contexts in which [discipleship toward spiritual growth and maturity] might happen, what happens is the same: a Christian brings the truth from God's word to someone else, praying that God would make that work bear fruit through the inward working out his Spirit. (Trellis and the Vine, p.39)

If you are not yet a disciple of Jesus, I hope and I pray that, for your joy now and forever, you hear his Spirit calling you by this word, “Leave everything behind as secondary and follow me.”

If you are a disciple of Jesus already, and he has become your treasure, you are by his command a disciple-maker. My assignment for you is to take the “3 P’s” and put them into practice. Simply open your mouth to speak or read a passage of Scripture to another person, praying for the power of the Spirit to enable spiritual growth. That’s it. That is disciple making at its core.