Can You See the Church?

Dr. Tom Noble teaching his students how to punt on the Cam. 

Scripture:

Luke 5:1   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 signaled 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.

Observation:

Luke’s narrative now takes us into the lives of different individuals, beginning with Simon. Throughout the coming texts we will discover people who are forgiven, made pure, healed from physical infirmities, and who abandon their life of sin. This is the story-world that Luke is creating for us in chapter five. 

This specific story takes us to the shores of the Gennesaret, which is another name for the Sea of Galilee, just to the south of the city of Capernaeum. Jesus is not preaching in the synagogue, but teaching is now becoming an every-day event, and the crowds are following him, and pressing as close as possible to hear the word of God. 

To get away from the crowd, Jesus gets into an empty boat near the shore. The owners of the boats are nearby cleaning up from their night of fishing. Jesus sits down, just as he would normally do in the synagogue, and continues to teach the people. The early Church Fathers have always identified the boat with the church. Notice, the move of Jesus, out of the synagogue and into the boat. 

After Jesus finishes teaching he tells Peter to let down his nets into the deep water. During the daytime you only fish in shallow water. The deep water fishing is supposed to happen at night, but now Jesus is in the boat and things begin to change. Letting the nets down,  they became so full that they are about to break. With Jesus in the boat, the catch was so large they had to invite others to help them and now, both boats were so full they began to sink. 

This event was so unusual that Simon, the professional fisherman, fell to his knees. He recognized that Jesus was much more than what he appeared to be. Every one around was amazed at the catch of fish, including Simon’s partners, James and John. 

In that moment Jesus called these fishermen to become fishers of men. Their calling was to fill the boat of the church with the catch that Jesus would provide through their obedience. 

Application:

We often speak of the church being birthed on the day of Pentecost, however, there always seems to be a foreshadowing of the work of Christ. On that day, right there with Simon, James and John — and maybe Andrew, we catch a glimpse of the church that they will eventually lead. God has a plan and everything is working in God’s direction.  The idea of moving God’s work outside the walls of the synagogue and into a new mechanism — the church — would have been far beyond the peoples’ understanding, and yet, here is just a small picture of what is to come. 

The church exists on the sea of this world. The context of the church is local, for even the local name of the Sea of Galilee is given in this description. The boat does not have any control over the sea, and nor does the boat have power on her own. Only when Jesus is in the boat is there power - power beyond the imagination of those who think they know the business of the boat — fishing! 

Speaking of the business of the boat — the business of the church is to bring in the catch. A fisherman who goes fishing every day, day in and day out, year after year and catches absolutely nothing, should become discouraged. Fixing up the boat and making it look pretty and going out on the water every Sunday but never bringing in any fish will eventually lead to the end of the fishing industry. If anything, they have simply become a boat industry, which is not the mission of God. 

Jesus calls us to follow him, and our work is done in and through the church. The disciples became fishers of men, filling the boat, or the church, with those who were saved. This happened because they learned dependence upon Jesus. They knew that the only way they would have a miraculous catch of fish, was if Jesus was in the boat and leading them to the catch. The church’s success is not determined by programs, but by her dependence upon the presence and leading of Jesus. 

We read this story and we see a boat. Jesus saw a church. Could it be that even in this day and age, Jesus wants to fill the boat and help us all to be fishers of men? 

Prayer:

Lord, may my dependence upon You grow every day.  Amen.