by Barbara Lane Geistfeld, DVM
“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, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 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. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 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. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 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.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:1-11).
Commercial fishing is a dangerous, exhausting, and back-breaking occupation. Even today, with all manner of improved equipment and fishing boats, people still work long hours in extremely perilous conditions while risking severe injury or even death.
Simon Peter, James, and John were no strangers to these risks, and on this particular morning, they may have been tired and discouraged. Hard work, no reward, and their job wasn’t even finished. They still had to clean their nets for that night’s work. To top it all off, as they sat washing their nets, a tedious, time-consuming job at best, the local rabbi came by, commandeering Simon’s boat (and Simon) and telling him to put off from shore. Scripture doesn’t tell us what Simon was thinking, but I know what I might have been thinking: “Are you kidding me? I don’t have time for this.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, when He was done talking, Jesus told Simon to go out to the deep water and put down his nets. I believe Simon Peter showed remarkable restraint when he responded, “… because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Again, I might have been thinking, “Are you kidding me? What could a carpenter possibly know about fishing?” But reluctantly or otherwise, Simon obeyed, and we all know what happened next. The resulting catch was so huge that it took two boats to hold it, and even then, they were starting to sink. Simon responded as I would hope we would all respond—he fell to his knees and recognized Jesus as someone worthy of his awe, trust, and commitment; he recognized Jesus as someone much greater than himself. He may not yet have known that Jesus was the true Messiah, but without question, he left everything and followed Jesus.
There are several things to ponder here. Simon had a wife and family to support. Just before he left his business to follow Jesus, he was given a cash crop beyond his wildest dreams. This profit would help support his family while he traveled with Jesus. This is always true for us as well. When we trust in Him, God always provides for our needs.
Secondly, Jesus now had a different calling in mind for Simon, something that would be as dangerous and as difficult as commercial fishing. He would be fishing for men. The Greek text puts it in words I had never heard before. “Fear not. From now on, you will be taking men alive.”1
What an incredible statement! What an incredible job we, too, have been given!
You might wonder how this text, usually interpreted as bringing unbelievers to Christ, applies to you and me—the life-affirming believers in the pews. Do you know someone in your family or in your congregation or your workplace who truly knows Jesus but is not life-affirming? Do you know someone whose heart the Lord desires to capture For Life? Do you know someone in the Body of Christ who believes the abortion slogans “My body, my choice” or “It’s not a baby … it’s a blob of tissue”?
How about “A person has the right to end their own life to avoid suffering and pain”? Or “I can be a man or a woman. My gender is whatever I choose.” These are all variations of “My body, my choice,” are they not?
I believe the For Life harvest field is ripe. I believe we, the disciples of Christ who believe in the sanctity of life from fertilization until forever, are the laborers God has already chosen to work in this field—the one right in our own front yard.
Jesus has so much more in store for us than we can ever imagine. It takes a faith like that of Simon Peter, James, and John to follow Jesus when we don’t know the rules, we don’t know the profit, we don’t know how long our journey will be, and we don’t know the dangers that lie ahead. And as we minister to our own brothers and sisters in Christ, we may be seen as intrusive—or perhaps even arrogant.
In gentleness and love and persistence, we claim the promise that Jesus is our master, our brother, and our Savior. We claim the truth that God gave life to every human being and that this life is sacred. We know we have been called to the harvest as were Simon Peter, James, and John. “So they pulled up their boats on shore, left everything, and followed him.” Let us pray for the strength to do the same.
- The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, eighth printing, 1982.