Fishers of Men
Luke 5: 1 – 11
Intro: As you can tell, I was born with straight, thin hair. I always wanted it to be wavy and “cool.” I’ve tried it all: permanents, body waves, dye jobs, short hair, long hair, and everything in between. When I lived in Port Neches, I went to a new person to have my hair cut. I told the stylist that I wanted my hair to look like I just stepped out of Gentlemen’s Quarterly magazine. I wanted to look sexy and young. She open a cabinet door and took a block of wood from inside and plopped it down in front of me. It read in huge latters,” I’m a beautician; not a magician.”
I I have always been fascinated by magicians. They cause me to be amazed.
A There were people at the time of Jesus who thought he was quite the magician. He turned water into wine etc.
B VS. 8 – “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” The word used here for Lord is KURIOS. It is often used in Greek as a respectful title.
C Translations include: sir, master, lord, God, controller. All of which imply for me that Peter was afraid because of the power of Jesus to control the situation.
II VS. 10b “Don’t be afraid…” Jesus is aware that Peter is fearful.
A The word for FEAR is PHOBEO and means to be frightened, or to be alarmed.
B The word can also mean to revere or to show reverence.
C Perhaps Peter is show reverence because of what Jesus had done. (ie. the miraculous catch of fish.)
III VS. 10b – “from now on you will fish for people.” There are some interesting words in this short piece of this verse.
A The word often translated “MEN” ANTHROPOS is a plural generic term which is better translated as HUMANITY.
B Then there is the word FISH which is a verb, not a noun. ZOGREO is a compound word created by Luke. It combines ZOOS meaning alive and AGREO meaning to capture or catch.
C In the O.T. and the Dead Sea Scrolls fishing is used metaphorically for gathering people for judgment. So, I believe Jesus is telling Peter, James and John that they will capture people for His kingdom.
Concl: The mental state of Peter, James and John that morning was one of disappointment and discouragement. They had fished all night a caught nothing. But, when Jesus arrived the impossible turned into an amazing catch. --- When we are at our weakest, when we are down in the dumps, that is the point where God can take over. When we are weakest; God is strongest. We are not called to the safety of the shoreline; but, to “Put out into deep water,” attempting the impossible with God capturing people for the kingdom.
