The Call of the First Disciples A Meditation on the Word of God | Luke 5:1-11

The Call of the First Disciples
A Meditation on the Word of God | Luke 5:1-11

Jesus is God. His Word is powerful. He commands, “Let down your nets…” and by the Word of Jesus, their nets are full. Everything depends on Christ’s Word. Apart from Christ, the efforts of men are futile. How far did Peter and the others get without Christ? “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” That phrase sums up the futility of one who strives without the Lord’s help. But with the Lord’s help, the nets are flooded with fish.

This is more than a mere fishing story. This is all about the future ministry of Peter and the others. It all starts with the Lord’s call: “Put out into the deep…” Those men Jesus was with there on Galilee’s shore, he would eventually send out as Apostles. They wouldn’t go of their own volition. In other words, they wouldn’t send themselves. It all starts with the Lord’s call, the command of Jesus, “Put out into the deep…” that is, “Take my Gospel to the ends of the earth.” Jesus sends the Twelve out into the world as Apostles to bring his Gospel to the nations. If they go of their own volition, they are bound to fail. If they go at the word and command of Jesus, they will succeed. And the success of their ministry—just like the success of this fishing expedition— will be dependent not on themselves, but on the Lord and his Word.

This story is an picture of faith. To Peter, it doesn’t make sense to go fishing in the middle of the day, or in the middle of the Lake. Any fisherman knows that fishing should happen in the morning hours while it is still dark, and by the shore. To Peter, who spend the whole night fishing unsuccessfully—that is, to his reason and understanding—going fishing again would be pointless. Another futile endeavor. But Peter had known something about the Lord Jesus by this point. He heard John the Baptist call Jesus, “The Lamb of God.” He witnessed Jesus cast out demons in Capernaum and preach the Gospel with authority. He witnessed firsthand the healing of his own mother-in-law. Through Christ’s Word, Peter had been brought to faith. He is beginning to believe, to trust, to be dependent and reliant, not upon his own intuitions and understanding, but upon the Word of Jesus: “At your word I will let down the nets.”

It is as if Peter said, “Jesus, this makes no sense to me. But I trust that you are good and that your Word carries with it the power to bring new realities into existence. I don’t know how, or why you are issuing this command. But I have come to believe that you will not deceive or mislead us, and that your will for us is best.” This simple trust of the heart that follows Christ is called saving faith. Saving faith takes hold of Christ and his promises. The Holy Spirit worked saving faith in the heart of St. Peter through the ministry of Jesus among them. Note too how, after the catch, Peter says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” That is just like Isaiah in the OT reading. Peter knows he is standing in the presence of God himself and that he doesn’t deserve to see God and live. Jesus says, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” This is an Absolution. Why does Peter need not be afraid? Peter, a man full of failures and shortcomings? The Lord came to die for Peter, to put away his sins by the shedding of his blood. Jesus would cleanse Peter of his sins in Baptism and empower him by the Spirit for the Apostolic ministry that lied ahead of him. But note how everything is dependent upon the Word of Jesus. There is no effort we can undertake that will succeed apart from it.