Luke 5:1-5 1Now it happened, while the crowd was pressing in on him and was hearing the word of God, he was also standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen having gone out were washing their nets. 3And after getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land, and after sitting down, he taught the people from the boat. 4And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for catching.” 5And in answering Simon said, “Master, after having worked hard all night we took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
As some point, Jesus had returned to the area of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, which Luke calls here the lake of Gennesaret. The name Gennesaret was used in ancient times to describe the area around the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee, and sometimes the lake was also called this. Jesus spent a considerable amount of time in that area. This was the home area of Simon, whom Jesus had visited in the previous passage in 4:38-39. Jesus always attracted people. So many had gathered around him that he needed a different strategy. As the story progresses, what takes place was no accident or spur of the moment decision. Jesus purposefully taught the people right where two boats and their fishermen were working on their nets.
The topic of his teaching was the word of God. This new phrase is another way of saying the gospel or good news that Jesus proclaimed everywhere. The grammatical construction of this phrase could be interpreted either as a subjective genitive, a word from God, or an objective genitive, a word about God. What Jesus said was just what the people needed. Simon and his fishing partners were listening to what Jesus said in as they washed their nets. After a long night of catching nothing, it was time to call it a day and go home and rest. They must have felt discouraged. No food and no income for the day. But there was something in what Jesus said that brought hope and optimism.
Jesus strategically got into Simon’s boat and had him put out into the water again. This would allow Jesus to speak to all the people who had gathered. But he had another reason for doing this besides improving the acoustics or being in a place to address more people, who may have kept pushing him to the edge of the water. The other reason for this plan comes out beginning in verse 4.
Jesus was testing Simon when he invited him to put his nets into the water again. Simon was a seasoned and skilled fisherman. After fishing and working the nets all night, he and his companions were all tired. Simon is the focus of this passage, although James and John are mentioned later in verse 10. It can be discouraging to work hard at something and not accomplish much. This situation was different, however. Simon had already seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law and may have heard him teach in the synagogue. He had been listening in to Jesus’ teaching from the shore and now from his boat. Even though the situation looked hopeless based on their experience that night, Simon agreed to do as Jesus said. He had a spark of faith that would grow into a great roaring fire in the coming years. Jesus saw great potential in this lowly fisherman. Simon did not need to be a great scholar or rich business man or leader in the community. Jesus can use anyone with a heart willing to listen and obey his simple commands.
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